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Shackles

Y

YYYJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Lubbock
I have daystar 1.5 shackles that I was going to add to my existing lift... My question is: Is there some trick to getting the top bolt out of the shackle..... I can't get this thing to budge.... As an FYI my jeep is 218k old and lived its life on a salty beach....


Thanks,
Trey
 
step one:
take the box end wrench of the correct size (21mm?) and place it box end on the nut
step two:
review waranty for wrench
step three:
pound on wrench with BFH till it moves


try pb blaster/liquid wrench yet? Air tools with max torque?
 
Dont pound it. I did the same thing. The problem is, there is a nut inside the framerail that is welded that holds that bolt. I broke the weld and it costed $100 to fix since a mig wouldn't get it. My advice would be to drill a tiny hole in the round part on the frame rail (that's connected to the shackle) and shoot some "PB Blaster" penetrating oil in it. Then let it set. Then use a fairly long breaker bar.
 
Have a hi-lift jack? The handle works great as a breaker bar extension when necessary.
 
Just went thru the same thing last week. Man, what a PITA it was to get the rear bolts off the springs and shackles.

So here is my advice, I sprayed everything down with PB blaster or similar penetrating oil, as much of the bolts and nuts I could get to. Don't use an impact wrench, It didn't work for me, I heard the torque of the wrench makes it harder for the bolt to come off. By the second day I just about had enough. I was ready to use heat to help get them off, I have heard good and bad about using heat to help get bolts off. So I decided to get a breaker bar (Just bought a piece of pipe and stuck it on the end of the wrench) and try that. On the first try the bolts loosened. The only problem was that some of the bolts I could not get all the way out and eventually just had to cut them off with a grinder. A little tough to get to but it worked.
 
PB blaster or liquid wrench or some other penetrating oil. Bad news is it may take a couple of days for the oil to fully penetrate.

"I heard the torque of the wrench makes it harder for the bolt to come off" You heard wrong or the guy's an idiot.
"I have heard good and bad about using heat to help get bolts off" heat works if you can heat the whole thing.
 
Make sure the rear is lifted up off the springs, but not off the ground. You want to remove as much weight as possible from the bolt. It took me a good hour, a chisel, hammer, rachet wrench, a 3 ft pole and LOTS of PB. Like it was said before, dont beat it, but finess it. Once the outer nut is off, use the chisel to hammer the bolt out. It took me and one other person to put the shackles in b/c one person had to lift up on the jeep, while the other aligned the hole and re-inserted the bolt.
 
The first thing I did when I got my XJ was soak every bolt and nut that I thought I would take off with my fav penetrating fluid. If I know I'm going to be doing a paticular job soon, I try to soak them as soon as I can. Haven't had a problem yet.

If you can leave the job for at least a few days and let fluid soak while you drive, the vibration will help the fluid soak in a bit more.

Heat is OK as long as you don't quench it down, especially if its a fastner that you plan to re-use.

Hammering on the fastner head can help sometimed too, either use a drift and hammer or even better an air hammer.

Sometimes an impact gun works better, sometimes a breaker bar works better. I find it vary's from job to job.

Hope this helps :)
 
Last edited:
After I broke the bolt off with the pipe-on-wrench routine I had to get creative to get to that damn nut. I removed the rear bumper, used a zaw-zaw to cut a section out of the fake frame rail, then I had to zaw zaw a channel to were the nut is recessed into the frame. This took some precise cutting, so as to not cut into the hole on the frame but rather just far enough to peel the steel around the hole and be able to get a wrench on the nut. After that it was massive torque to break the nut loose from it's welds and then simply putting in a brand new bolt and nut. Not the right way I'm sure, but for a trail rig, who cares?

Maybe that will help.....
 
xj92 said:
Have a hi-lift jack? The handle works great as a breaker bar extension when necessary.
Click to expand...


ding-ding......we have a winner. Just spary everything down with penetrating oil for a few days and then put a socket or wrench of choice who's handle fits in a Hi-Lift jack handle and "get awn it". Have removed a few nuts and bolts that way. Like my bubby's pitman nut on the sterring box. that one is a real PIA.
 
Island XJ said:
what the hell's a "zaw zaw"? :huh:
Click to expand...

I think he meant a sawzaw or sawzall or however you wanna sell it. A reciprocating demo saw.

Ary
 
Update.....


I have been soaking the upper bolt in lube for a few days... The jeep body is on jack-stands.. I used an electric impact this morning and nada.... Didn't budge... I tried a socket with my high-lift handle and my socket just seems to deflect under that much load. (its a damn snap-on)... For some reason I don't have a 21 wrench so its off to the store I go...... I think I might have better luck with that and my "breaker bar".


Also lol..... I decided it was difficult to get the lube to the bolt so I just chopped off about 6" of the bottom part of the rear quarter panels...
 
mtxbigtruckin said:
After I broke the bolt off with the pipe-on-wrench routine I had to get creative to get to that damn nut. I removed the rear bumper, used a zaw-zaw to cut a section out of the fake frame rail, then I had to zaw zaw a channel to were the nut is recessed into the frame. This took some precise cutting, so as to not cut into the hole on the frame but rather just far enough to peel the steel around the hole and be able to get a wrench on the nut. After that it was massive torque to break the nut loose from it's welds and then simply putting in a brand new bolt and nut. Not the right way I'm sure, but for a trail rig, who cares?

Maybe that will help.....
Click to expand...

My left side came out with an 18" breaker bar and a strong back. Better workout than a rowing machine! The right side started to come loose, than the captured nut broke loose inside. :flamemad: I ended up taking off the bumper and using my torch to enlarge the holes in teh body to get a wrench in there. Just one of several places on the cherokee that is poorly designed!
 
I'm going to be attempting the same thing soon and now am wondering if I'll be able to do it in the parking lot of my dorm. I don't have access to any air tools, torches, or a welder. I do have the hand tools and a high lift.
My XJ is a 95 with 182,000 New England miles on it.
Also, what should I use to grease the shackles? They aren't the greasable type.
 
nhrocker said:
I'm going to be attempting the same thing soon and now am wondering if I'll be able to do it in the parking lot of my dorm. I don't have access to any air tools, torches, or a welder. I do have the hand tools and a high lift.
My XJ is a 95 with 182,000 New England miles on it.
Also, what should I use to grease the shackles? They aren't the greasable type.
Click to expand...
i strongly sugest that you make friends with a person that has a shop or a garage. Having tools that you might not have thought of before is a great help, and so is having plugs for power and lights (when frusteration sets in):banghead:

offer to pay your friend in beer :cheers: and friendship. offer to help him when he needs it.
:scottm:
 
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