Looking for Running Boards & Rear Shackles

[MMcKinney]

Hello Pilot-House Forum,

I'm in the market for a pair of running boards for 1953 B4B 108 inch truck. The ones I have are bad and not usable. I have looked at Smoothie Fabrication but what they have does't seem to look like the factory running boards. They seem to lack the groves or contours that run lenghtwise to the board, hence the name "Smoothie". Who is the best supplier of new running boards that are similar to the factory ones? I've looked in the "links" section but I didn't see anything that would help me.

Also, I'm considering rebuilding the rear suspension and I have noticed that the rear shackels seem a bit rusty and worn after 50 years of use. Is there company who can supply the bushings and shackles to repair these items?

I'm also having trouble finding documentation on how to disassemble the rear shackles and the rear spring eye-blot. The Pilot-house has some information, but the rear suspension part is not there yet.

MMckinney

Caldwell, ID

[Merle Coggins]

Check with BeBops Glassworks http://www.bebops-glassworks.com/plymouthbodyparts.html I just picked up a set of rear fenders from them. They also list "Running Boards (original pattern)". I haven't seen them to know for sure, but it might be worth a call.

Merle

[MMcKinney]

I did look at there web site, but it looked like everything was fiberglass and not steel.

MMcKinney

[Guest Dave Claussen]

MMcKinney, I can't help with the running board part of your inquiry, but I have gotten up close and personal with the rear shackles on my '52 B3C. If you want to rebuild your shackles you'll have to remove the old ones first. Here's what I have learned so far. The front,stationary connection is where the spring "pivots" and the rear arm is where the spring actually moves when the truck has a load on it or hits a bump in the road. Removing the front "pivot pin" is fairly simple. The pin itself is held in the bushing by a bolt/nut assembly that passes through a shallow groove in the pivot pin. Just remove the bolt/nut and then you drive the pin out from the inside of the frame with a long bar that is small enough to fit through the hole in the frame. The bar will need to be about a foot long or so. The pin should come out easily if it has been greased occasionally. You can tell by a buildup of grease around the pin and bushing.

Now the rear arm will most likely be more difficult. The "U" shaped arm that attaches the spring to the frame has a long threaded bolt (or bushing if you prefer) that threads onto the arm. This bushing has a grease zerk in the end of it. Now this is where it gets tricky. The INSIDE of the bushing is threaded to attach to the arm. The OUTSIDE of the bushing is also threaded and that thread mates up with threads in the spring mount on the frame on one end and the bushing in the spring itself on the other end.

Confused yet? It gets better! I learned after a week of struggling with mine that one side has a LEFT HAND THREAD! The left hand thread on my truck was on the driver's side or the left side as you are looking from the back of the truck forward. Once I figured that out it was still a struggle to get the bushing out. The bushing on the frame is in a housing that is riveted to the frame and the only access to it is from inside the frame through a hole that is under the frame crossmember. I used heat from a propane torch and about an entire can of Liquid Wrench just to get mine to move. Once you get the bushings to move, keep spraying them with some type of penatrating oil and work them back and forth. Once you get them to rotate a couple of turns they should get gradually easier to turn.

I had to use an 18" breaker bar and a six point socket to get a good grip on the bushings so as not to round the heads off. That would be a disaster as then you would not have any way to get them out. Something else that helps is try and clean all the old grease and dirt etc. out of the pocket that is formed inside the housing so you can get a good grip on the head of the bushing. That pocket fills up with years of old grease forced out by repeated lube jobs and it combines with road dirt and rust to make an almost impenatrable barrier to the head of the bushing. Also, I removed the grease zerk from the side of the housing and sprayed penatrating oil in that hole as well. And it should go without saying that once you remove the springs from the frame your rear end will no longer be attached to the frame. I removed the rear end first by taking the U bolts off and sliding the rear end out from under the truck and suspended the frame on heavy duty saw horses.

Looking back I think I would start on the rear connectors first so the front ones helps stabilize the considerable torque needed to remove the rear bushings.

I think Roberts carries replacement arms and bushings but I can't vouch for the quality as I have only seen a picture of them and I haven't used them personally.

Sorry if this was a little long winded but I wanted to share my experience with you and any others that might be facing this in the future. Hope it helps and good luck. If you (or anyone else) have any questions, just ask, I'd be glad to try and help. Dave

[MMcKinney]

Whew Dave what a story, but I understood it completly. I have been trying to figure how they were assembled and looking in all or any books I can find. I did find one diagram that really helps with what you were discribing, but does not go into detail how to rebuild them. Check out the diagram on page 5 of the "Atralian Truck Manual" in the Pilot-House knowledge section. That really helps, but where did you get your parts to rebulid your truck? I need to check Roberts sometime this week and see if parts are avaliable before I start. Thank you for the detail.

MMcKinney

[bkahler]

Unless the quality of the shackles sold by Roberts (and Bernbaum's) has improved in the last 8 years I wouldn't buy from them. The ones I ordered were very poor quality and did not fit right.

For replacement shackles go to your local suspension shop (truck suspension shop where they work on leaf springs) and ask if they sell Flagg brand shackles. I ended up buying mine from the local shop and the quality is excellent and they were an exact match for the originals.

Good luck!

Brad

[MBF]

Ditto on the quality of the shackles from Roberts-I trashed mine and puchased another set from NAPA. Sorry-but i don't have the p/n's but a good counterperson will be able to find them for you. MBF

[Bill pilot99]

Try Rare Parts Inc.

Stockton Ca.

209 948 6005

I had good luck with them.

[Guest Dave Claussen]

Whew Dave what a story, but I understood it completly. I have been trying to figure how they were assembled and looking in all or any books I can find. I did find one diagram that really helps with what you were discribing, but does not go into detail how to rebuild them. Check out the diagram on page 5 of the "Atralian Truck Manual" in the Pilot-House knowledge section. That really helps, but where did you get your parts to rebulid your truck? I need to check Roberts sometime this week and see if parts are avaliable before I start. Thank you for the detail.

MMcKinney

I got a real break and was able to reuse the original parts. Luckily, none of the bushings or arms were worn enough to require that I replace them. The front springs are similar except that they don't have the "pivoting pin" but instead have another set of the threaded bushings. I'm pretty sure they're the same size and threads as the rear ones, so if you find one of the sources mentioned above has good quality parts then you should be able to replace any of those that needed it from them as well.

[dsquared]

I just ordered shackles from Rare Parts yesterday which list for 76.40 per side, if you give the person helping you the code 31450 and tell them you are in a club it you could save about 10% Tell the Doug in Poughquag sent you. Eaton spring only had the front pin and bushing no deals,I called here first so try Rare pares first to get the deals. Eaton 8.00 pin 15.00 bushing each shiping 15 Good Luck Doug

[MMcKinney]

Thanks Doug,

I just got back fro NAPA Auto and they could not help me. I took some diagrams of what I needed just so they would really know what I was after, but no luck. The counter person said try Kanter.com. I have their cataloge, but I didn't see anything for older trucks. I'll try Rare Parts and use your suggestions.

MMcKinney

[Zeke1953]

According to NAPAonline.com, the part numbers for the rear leaf spring shackle assembly for 3/4 ton trucks are: RPC 35519 (left) and RPC 35420 (right). They also list the leaf spring bushing as part no. RPC 35819. I think they are the same for the 1/2 ton trucks. I ran the same part numbers (withouth the "RPC" letters) on advanceautoparts.com and found them there, too for a little less money. Zeke

[MMcKinney]

Thanks Zeke,

The counter person said that it was unlikely that he could any NAPA #'s that had a "RPC" indication with the number. So I took that as the part was not avaliable. I did run the NAPA numbers on the Advanced Auto parts house that talked about and if you look closely they are buying the parts from RareParts.com and selling at slightly higher price. Rare Parts seems to be the best place so far and ask for the 10% club discount when you call as stated in an early post.

MMcKinney