TrampSteer Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 I did try and get greae into all the shackle pivot bushings, a few did not take any. Removed the zerks, but still did not take much grease. We had to use the air-grease gun to force anything in my king pins, and replace a forever closed zerk. Neglect. Since then, it is much more controllable. Most of my initial issue with jumping around was binding and not loose joints. It would stick and stick and stick and then, let go - causing a jump in direction. The shackle we just replaced. Tim has a good You-Tube video on how to man-handle them out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlbxUaTYEWE Quote
55 Fargo Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Posted April 10, 2015 the pivots are normally stiff and rigid after sitting neglected for years or poor maintenance. They are supposed to move freely. The oil wont hurt other than to become a sponge for dirt dust and grime thrown up from your travels. Yup there pretty stiff the pivots that is. I figure I may brush on some old oil and ATF, then wipe off the excess, it may be a "band aid" until later this spring I can get all my new parts and everything fixed up. I have 8 springs up front and 6 on each of the rears, the 8 up front seems very heavy duty......... Quote
Young Ed Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 You can try putting some heat into the stuck ones to get the old grease to loosen up. Quote
55 Fargo Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Posted April 10, 2015 You can try putting some heat into the stuck ones to get the old grease to loosen up. Thanx Ed, hoping to try that too. With the pivots tight and/or seized, it gonna ride rough... Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 PB Blaster has an aersol product called Corrosion Guard that really works well on these springs and pivots. It penetrates and leaves a heavy protective film. Made a huge difference on my truck. I would think it would help prevent damage from road salts too. Jeff Quote
55 Fargo Posted April 10, 2015 Author Report Posted April 10, 2015 PB Blaster has an aersol product called Corrosion Guard that really works well on these springs and pivots. It penetrates and leaves a heavy protective film. Made a huge difference on my truck. I would think it would help prevent damage from road salts too. Jeff Thanx Jeff, I also have a good product, Seafoams Deep Creep, not sure if that would work. I also have read motorcyle chain wax is a good product to use. I really believe getting these pivots moving and the springs oiled up might help a bunch until I can get it all aprt and fixed properly. Now won't be long and will need a heat deflection plate for my carb..... Quote
Desotodav Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Loosening up those shackles should make a difference to the ride. I've seen a few trucks here in Oz where a shackle has seized up over time and the shackle has snapped - possibly as a result of the extra strain put on the part from lack of movement? I was told years ago that the trick with the shackles is to keep them both adjusted and lubricated. Mark did a great template for that heat deflection plate for the carb/manifold and copied it to the resources section... http://p15-d24.com/files/file/42-fuel-pump-heat-shield-template/ Quote
ggdad1951 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Only thing I can think of alignment related that you can use a tape measure for is toe in. And if that is the only issue that your front end had then it could well be enough. But if you have issues with camber or caster I don't see how a tape measure would be a sufficient tool. As I said I put everything back as I found it including the wedges on the front axle. Quote
Jeff Balazs Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 As I said I put everything back as I found it including the wedges on the front axle. I think that is more or less what most of us do. It is a starting point but unless you go through all the procedures in the manual about all you can say is it feels close. And that is a seat of the pants estimation. It is would be a stretch to call it more than just in the ballpark. There really is no way of knowing without the correct equipment. So far it sounds like Ed the only one who has taken this a step farther on a truck. It might be interesting to hear from others who have been through the process as described in the manual. There is no doubt that having spring components that are frozen up and not moving as the should will have a huge impact on how the truck rides. Another area we can look at is the shocks. I just put a cheap set of gas shocks from Napa on mine. They work fairly well but if I could find a set of higher quality aftermarket shocks that were either valved for one of these trucks or were adjustable I probably wouldn't hesitate to make that swap. I have some experience with this sort of ride tuning and when you find the right combination the results can be fairly impressive. Jeff Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 we do out best putting things back but often one must stop and ask, why was this set up the way it was. could well be that it was a band-aide so not to have to visit an expensive or invasive corrective action. The shims could have been to adjust for wear where the actual inclination is pre-established and the continued wear will be in that same direction so shims could correct this...but..if you corrected said worn bushings in your front end rebuild and still retained the shims...you could be changing things like the preset/established caster....just a thought...it will take proper diagnostic tools to establish these baseline figures. 1 Quote
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