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Rear Spring Removal Ideas

M

MYRZ98XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
CENTRAL ILLINOIS
First post here, discovered this forum from fella's over @ jeepsunlimited, anyway I'm about to embark on putting my 3'' springs (rear)on this weekend and have soaked the he## out of the front leaf spring eye's good with PB. I saw where a guy cut thru spring eye and chopped remaining bushing out to reveal bolt, would this be a way to get past cutting hole in body or frame to access possible nut weld breakage? The way I see it I wont need the old leaves so why not trash the spring to get to the bolt? I simply KNOW mine will break off since I broke tc bolts ,upper rear shock bolts Etc Etc off already! I figure once I get a clean shot at bolt a little heat and no bushing to hold me up should free the PITA bolt? PS -DD- so attempting all the preplanning possible. I've read countless threads on others demises and hope to have a good shot at it.(yeah right). Any thoughts appreciated!
 
It'll take you a year and a half to cut through the leaf spring. At least thats how long its going to feel. I pulled back the carpet, cut through the sheet metal and had a new bolt and nut in place in under half the time I spent cutting through a 1/4 of the bolt.

"Hardened Steel is hell on blades"
 
I have done several (5) lifts on XJ's. Only one that caused a problem was a 96. One side front weld nut came loose. I cut a 1.5 inch square out of the frame raiil right below the spring mount, re-inserted and welded in the nut and patched the frame rail. Really very easy.
Did a 94 with no problems at all.
If you soaked it, roll the dice and see if it doesn't come out first. The time you spend cutting the spring eye and removing the bushing would be as much or more than it will take to reset the weld nut.

My advice.
 
I had to cut off two bolts in the rear. I used a sawzall, it was not that bad but I would have rather not. The nut did not break off the frame but the bolts would not come out of the bushing. This was an 89 with original springs so they were stuck bad.

Good luck
katarn
 
Yes Yes Yes Thayer that picture is what I'm talking about! Grinder the ##stard spring wrap off and bushing to getter out. I'm hitting it Saturday morning and have 2 new bolts from stealership (6.99$ each!) I just basically want to leave good threads in nut and the weld intact on the nut in frame channel. Access to a welder doesnt come easy for me so I want to hopefully stay away from that. I will repost hopefully this weekend with good results or a good story either way! Thanks again for the info guys.
 
id say its gonna break the welded nut loose, but hey, dont know till you try right?

dont worry about cutting, youre gonna cut other stuff one day
 
MYRZ98XJ said:
Yes Yes Yes Thayer that picture is what I'm talking about! Grinder the ##stard spring wrap off and bushing to getter out. I'm hitting it Saturday morning and have 2 new bolts from stealership (6.99$ each!) I just basically want to leave good threads in nut and the weld intact on the nut in frame channel. Access to a welder doesnt come easy for me so I want to hopefully stay away from that. I will repost hopefully this weekend with good results or a good story either way! Thanks again for the info guys.
Click to expand...

Try removing it the normal way first. If the nut welds break off right when you turn it, that sucks, but it was inevitable. It would have broken off if you cut first anyways. If the nut weld doesn't break off, keep turning the bolt. You'll know if something is wrong when the bolt will turn but it doesn't come out. This is when must stop turning the bolt or you'll break the nut off. This is also when you start cutting.
 
I soaked the bolts every day for a week with PB on my '87 XJ. The bolts came right out. Then again, my XJ spent most of it's life in the California desert. These last 2 years in upstate NY.

Soak it and give it a try.
 
I had to cut open the rear shackle one one side of mine to split the inner bushing. PITA - That rubber smoke ends up in your interior for a bit if you use the torch. Better then snapping off the nut or the bushing ripping through the shackle box though. If you get it to turn out a few turns just keep working it in and out to get blaster through all the threads. Really wasnt that bad using the torch.
 
katarn444 said:
I had to cut off two bolts in the rear. I used a sawzall, it was not that bad but I would have rather not. The nut did not break off the frame but the bolts would not come out of the bushing. This was an 89 with original springs so they were stuck bad.

Good luck
katarn
Click to expand...

This is what I find usually happens, the nut doesn't break off. So once the bolt spins all the way out of the frame nut, just cut the bolt just inside of the outer bracket and the you can just twist the spring out.
 
My nut on my 90 stayed put but the metal sleeve in the bushing was rusted to the bolt. I cut of the spring eye and rubber with a 4" grinder and a utility knife in less than an hour. I had to get the air chisel out to seperate the seam in the metal sleeve 15 minutes. With out the air chisel it would have taken much longer. It took longer to drive to the parts store to get the new bolts than get it out. My Jeep spent 235k miles in Denver. Point being you never know what you will run into and have alternate transportation to get you to the parts store. Just start and see what happens. By the way it is a 13/16 bolt head and the lug wrench works great to get these out.

Matt
 
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