rubicon express leaf bushing loose?

Been awhile since Ive posted anything here on naxja...I need some input

I have a RE 5.5 lift with full springs....
The passenger side leaf bushing shackle end in spring eye started making a horrible crunching squeeking sound that took me forever to diagnose...

The steel shell that surrounds the rubber bushing is supposed to be a tight fit inside the spring eye....no?Mine is loose and everytime I hit a bump it makes a horrible noise.I can pry it back and forth from side to side with a crow bar.

Ive driven like this for a year now and fear that the movement has wallowed out the spring eye...dont understand how this happened in the first place.Anyone else have problems with REs bushing moving around in the spring eye???

Im gonna order a new bushing and throw it in there but fear that the play in the bushing has wallowed out the spring eye so I was thinking about tac welding the new bushing to the spring eye after I install it.

Im sort of hesitant to do this because I know that the heat from tacking will change the temper a little.....advice?Ill try to keep the tacks spread out as to not heat the steel up too much...I dont want the eye to break down the road...
Anyone ever do this?

I just replaced my front leaf bushing on the driver side (RE 3.5" full packs). I thought the bushing was worn, so i ordered a set. Upon removal, the old bushing still looked okay, but i installed the new one anyway. The steel sleeve around the bushing did not fit tight into the spring eye, and makes the same squeaky/crunching noise you described. The spring eye moves against the hangar and scrubs. Im guessing RE has shitted on us again with another faulty product. I havent measured yet, but I'd be willing to bet the spring eye has "stretched" to an ID larger that the bushing's OD.

EDIT: FYI, the spring packs are less than 1 year old, and actually started scrubbing at about the 6 month mark. Pretty upset since I saved up my money to buy "the best" on the market. Wishing I had spent my money elsewhere.

You too huh?!?!?!

Mine started about a year after i installed the kit.So your new bushing fits loose?Im thinking about using large washers on both sides of the bushing because if you notice the shackle is wide and has alot of room on either side of the bushing....why didnt they use a shouldered bushing?

washers or tack weld....hmmmm
Another option would be to find a bushing without the metal shell and that would press tightly into the spring eye....anyone care to chime in on this???

Im sick of the metal crunching noise from the rear....sounds like im being rear ended by a volvo:rattle:

outlander said:

Another option would be to find a bushing without the metal shell and that would press tightly into the spring eye....anyone care to chime in on this???

Click to expand...

I wish I knew just where to get such a bushing. I'm not sure if the washer idea would work for me or not. Not much room in the front hangar, and it may just ride and crunch on the washer then.

itnt a kick in the ass when you spend the extra money for quality on something with the hope of avoiding replacing parts all the time ???
Ive had issues with their trackbar bushings too.Not to mention they didnt supply mounting hardware for it and sent me two left braces for the dropbracket braces....i digress

mine do that. never made any noise, i just noticed it when i took the leafs out of the rig and they fall out

they dont make em like they used to!
my 5+ year old (many years on the shelf, or on a non-op'd, parked rig) RE leafs press TIGHT, and the bushings last....

xcm said:

they dont make em like they used to!
my 5+ year old (many years on the shelf, or on a non-op'd, parked rig) RE leafs press TIGHT, and the bushings last....

Click to expand...

i had some old 4.5" re leafs that did it (came into my hands in 2006, but were on a rig for at least a couple years prior)

and my 3.5 leafs which came into my hands in 2008 or 2009 did the same thing

i hate to think it, but they may be older than that now that i think it through, i bought them used right after i got into this, circa 2005-6? and they'd been in someones garage before that...... i like mine....

my leafs (RE3.5's) have been in since 05 and haven't had an issue

should have bought pro comps

so does anyone have a solution?what about my washer idea and or tack weld?

I had the same issue. I replaced the bushings about a month ago. When I did it, I did 2 things in an attempt to correct the issue.

First, the new bushings (especially on one side) slid quite freely into the eye.. I took the bushing back out and pounded the spring eye with a sledge to make it a little smaller. This helped a little - it stayed round and got a little smaller. After getting the bushings in place, I hammered outward dents into the outer sleeve on both sides to help it not slide either way. So far, they have stayed in place and have not made any noise.
Another thing I did this time that I did not do last time was I did not torque the bolts down until after the weight of the Jeep was on the springs. Whether this made a difference, I can't say, but still a good idea I think.

so anyone ever tack weld these in?!!!1

I tack welded mine, and no problems. The metal on the bushing is very thin so set your welder accordingly. I accualy ended up putting most of the weld on the spring to act like a shoulder to keep the bushing from sliding around.

outlander said:

so anyone ever tack weld these in?!!!1

Click to expand...

I'm probably gonna try this when I get a HH140 in a week or so. I'll just rotate my springs at the same time and see if that makes a difference.

Has anyone tried Green Lock-Tite?

Green loctight?never heard of it..

It is used to retain cylindrical parts; some of it will fill a 0.015” gap. A word of caution do not use it on bolts less than 1 ½”, you will break the bolt before the Loctite. It will come apart with a little heat but the residue will make it very difficult to remove.