Hi everyone.

First post.

I have a broken leaf spring bracket. The bracket is riveted to the frame. Looks pretty bad as you can see.

Is this a DIY project or one for the pro?

How do the pros remove the bracket?

Thanks guys.

 

Sheesh thats alot of rust!

If I were a pro, I would use some air tools. Either an air chisel or a grinding wheel, to get rid of the rivets. Im sure you could go at it with a dremel and a solid supply of cutting wheels, but that would probably take alot of time.
Luckily for you one of the rivets is already rusted out :P and it looks like the one above it is pretty close as well.

I would consider replacing the shackle along with the bracket, it looks pretty bad as well.

 

Hi Johngs, good suggestion. My mechanic wants $420 to change both sides. I think I will try to grind off the rivet heads myself, I got nothing better to do.
I guess I could use elevator bolts if clearance is a problem.

Thanks for replying.

Bob

 

Drill them out! Make sure to use a center punch, and get it in the center. Start with a 1/8" drill, and drill all the way through. Then do a 1/4" drill, and fianlly a 3/8 or 5/16" drill. Whatever you fianl size. Then, use a cold chisel and hammer to chisel the rivet head of. Should not be too hard. Use a drift punch to get the rest of the rivet out of the hole in the frame. Use Grad 8 bolts to attach the new bracket.

 

Hi EsoxShep, my stock of drill bits is like none. I never had much luck drilling things out. I'm sure your advice would work and thanks for replying.

I got the rivets off by grinding them off. It was pretty easy. I got a new disk and put it against the bracket and pushed it across the head. Other than lying on my back with sparks raining down it wasn't too bad.

The problem now is the bolt that goes thru the leaf spring. I had a friend get the nut off but the bolt would not budge. Last night I put some heat to it. I got the bolt to turn and banged on it with a hammer only to bend the shackle bracket which is now binding the bolt. The rubber is loose, the bolt will turn, but the metal bushing is fused to the bolt. I'm going to find a shop that will burn that off and I think I can put it all back together.

Here is the latest. The shackel has widened. See how the bushing is moving with the bolt?

 

dont you just love H U G E pics?

what year is the truck..

it seems most unusual to have that much rot only in that place..
the rest of the frame from what we can see looks just fine...

...zap!

 

Hi zapster,

Sorry about the huge pictures but it is done - one side.

It's a 95 XLT.

The design of that bracket lends itself to rot.
Salt just lays in it.
I need to run it thru the car wash more often in those winter months when the roads are full of sand and salt.
I doused everything with rust inhibitor after I took the pictures.

 

Bob, I'm guessing your truck is a 2 wheel drive. I'm guessing that because the part numbers don't match the ones I have for my 4X4.

I just came in for some recovery After mashing the heck out of my thumb with an engineers hammer doing the same job. Jeez, I hope I didn't break it (my thumb, that is)

I'm currently working on the *other* side. The one that didn't break, but will, soon.

Like you, I quickly dropped the idea of saving the shackle, and just went and bought new ones.

Be more careful than I when driving out the old rivets. I'm pretty sure I didn't just break my thumb, but not entirely.

 

hey guys ....sorry to revive an old thread but my first time posting and kinda stuck... when doing these brackets ,what size bolts are you useing to attach the bracket to the frame ? any help will be appreciated.

 

I do about 2 of these hanger replacements a week. We cut the rivets off with a torch and then use an air hammer to pop the remaining section through the frame. Use a 7/16 x 1-1/2" grade 8 bolts for replacement. It's a little tight getting the nuts on the top bolts unless you have really skinny fingers because of the fuel tank so I usually put some electric tape on 11/16 wrench and have that hold the nut and twist the head side. Usually a good idea to replace the shackles while you're at it. 9/16 x 4-1/2 eye bolts for 2wd F150 and 9/16 x 5 eye bolts for F150 4x4 or any F250/F350. This is for the 80-96(97 also for F250/F350) years by the way.

 

I actually have my car into the mechanic for this service. I'm having a hard time finding the prices for the leaf spring brackets (all four).

How much do you charge for changing all the brackets, total?

 

thanks for the info !

cheers

 

hey guys thanks for all the info ,did the job saturday afternoon and took aprox 4 hours ,and the trucks good as new will do the otherside prob in the spring. so thanks again for the info great help

 

I am now reviving this thread.
I do not see the pictures everyone is talking about. People are saying things like 'as you can see' but I dont see the pics.

I have a broken bracket that is riveted on. But my shop says you cannot buy the bracket? where can I get one?

got some great info from this site Thank you.

 

Just buy them from your local ford dealership...just be sure to mention if it's 4x4 or 4x2 because of the different width springs on the 80-96 F150. Also a good idea to replace the shackle when replacing the hanger.