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poly bushings in leaf springs with creeper joint

aintright

NAXJA Forum User
Location
eerie, pa
so i got some weld on creeper joints from trail gear to redo my spring hangers for my build. i'm not sure if i'm going to be using stock springs or getting some ome 2" hd springs.

i know the bushings in leaf springs are designed to give to allow for some suspension flex and overall ride quality. so here's my question:

what would be the drawbacks of finding some poly bushings for leaf springs if i'm going to be using a suspension joint on the shackle end for bolting the shackle too.

this is all given that i can find the right sized poly bushing for the leaf springs i go with.
 
I started turning my rig over to poly bushings and a lot of people do it but I have gone back to rubber especially on the rear springs because I got serious vibration transmission through the bushings. The rubber acts as a vibration dampener and I found ride quality to be better. Supposedly the polybushings do not flex so that your suspension does the work. My vibration source may have been there with the rubber but I didn't notice it but with poly it was terrible. You normally need to replace rubber busjhings more often than poly but I would rather do that than have the vibration issues. If you use your rig just off road then I think its fine with the poly but my problems showed up on the road at higher speeds. Crawling on trails at slower speeds was OK.Thats my experience other people on this forum may have had no problems with the poly. I think if your rig is in tip-top condition everything is aligned perfectly, no sources of vibration are present except the road etc poly might be OK.
 
Are you talking about welding the flex joint to the shackle(where the shackle bolts to the unibody) ?
 
well, that whole area where the shackle box used to be is kind of not there anymore. it was all rotted out so i cut that out too when i was chopping the top off. i made my own shackle relocation bracket.

shacklehanger.jpg


i plated over where the shackle box used to be and welded this guy on.

long story short i got some shackle hangers with creeper joints to fix a problem that i can't fix how i want to right now.

this is what i want to use and just get some poly bushings for a set of ome 2in hd springs

2008-1590b-600.jpg
 
i'm just wondering if vibrations are the only real drawback to using poly bushings on leaf springs. i'm used to driving rigs with all solid joints so that doesn't really bother me much.

i'm just new to the leaf spring world.
 
You need to take a serious look at safety issues! Orbit-eyes have been around for years and were designed for the leaf-packs,not the shackles.To do it with the shackles requires a rear trackbar(to be safe,Ive seen the other results).
http://www.alcanspring.com/orbit-eye.htm
 
i looked at alcan springs. i just don't really have the time or the extra 4-500 bucks for a set of 2in lift springs with the orbit eyes.

though i haven't talked to them to see if i can just get the orbit eyes.

why would it make a difference if the flex joint was at the frame side of the shackle or the leaf side? it seems like a horse a piece.

i can see why you might need a rear track bar with the joints in the mix.
 
ok i think i get what you guys are saying. the shackle acts like a pry bar, allowing the axle to move. the shackle will have some small amount of play in it. where if the joint was in the bushing it wouldn't be able move side to side without bending the spring.

i sent an email to trail-gear asking them what their recomendations were.
 
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