Greasable Rear Suspension Bushings

Fourwheeler Magazine's Project "Stinky" gained 50 points on the test ramp and about 1 ½" of rear shock travel just by replacing the shackle bushings.  These work!  Drilled and crossdrilled grade 8 bolts and sleeves and channeled bushings allow you to lube your poly bushings for better ride, less wear and eliminate bushing "squeak".

A often misunderstood fact is that factory rubber bushings offer less flexibility than aftermarket urethane.  Most people have heard or read otherwise but rubber does not work as well in the real world.  The reason is that the factory rubber bonds the inner sleeve to the outer sleeve and spring.  Since they're bonded together, the inner sleeve can't twist relative to the spring.  When you tighten your shackle and spring bolts the inner sleeve is locked solid to the vehicle so the suspension is limited by the rubbers inability to rotate.  Urethane bushings on the other hand, can rotate freely around the inner sleeve and will not bind up the suspension.

Description:

These kits consist of grooved polyurethane bushings, drilled grade 8 bolts with grease zerks, and drilled DOM steel sleeves.  Each kit replaces spring and shackle bushings on factory and aftermarket rear springs.

Read the tech notes below to find which kit to use for your truck.
These kits include 12 bushings, 6 bolts and sleeves with pinchlock nuts.  We can also do custom kits for just the shackles, just the spring eyes or whatever you need.

Doing a 64" rear spring swap?  Use #GU38002-IFS for a 1.5" shackle or #GU38003-IFS for a 1 3/8" shackle.

Tech Notes:

All K5, Suburban, 1/2 and 3/4T (with 52" springs) vehicles up to 1980 use the #GU38002 kit since these trucks commonly have a 1 1/2" shackle bushing.

From '81 up 3/4T trucks use 1 1/2" shackle bushings.  All lighter duty ratings (1/2T, K5 and 1/2T Suburban) use the 1 3/8" shackle bushings.

All 1 ton truck applications and any 3/4T with 56" rear springs must measure bushing size before ordering the kit. We've seen 1 3/8", 1 1/2", and 1 3/4" bushing sizes, all on the same truck!  To avoid sending the wrong parts we request that you measure first. Remember the outer sleeve is removed to use urethane.

We have encountered some '88-'91 Blazers and Suburbans with a metric spring eye bushing size.  These will measure about 1.7". ORD has the proper bushings to fit these springs if you call us.

Not all bushings are available with internal grease grooves.  These bushings will still lubricate OK and/or they can be grooved manually for maximum greasability.

'88-up trucks or truck with '88-newer springs use different bushings, call for price and application.

The only difference between our two kits is the shackle bushings.  Both use 1 1/2" diameter spring bushings. Most factory and aftermarket springs use 1 1/2" spring eye bushings.

The factory rubber bushing consists of an inner steel sleeve, the rubber and a thin outer steel sleeve. The urethane bushings fit directly against the leaf spring so all 3 components of the factory bushing must be removed. There are several methods to removing factory rubber bushings.  The safest is to use a small diameter drill bit to drill out the rubber around the inner sleeve until it is loose enough to be driven out.  After it is out, the rest of the rubber can be "chunked" out with a chisel or screwdriver and the outer sleeve split and driven out. Install the new poly bushings with plenty of grease or anti-seize on the outside and inside.  They should be a snug fit but shouldn’t need to be pressed in.

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