96 Ford Ranger 2WD 2.3 5sp. Rear Leaf Spring Bushing( Forward) replacement.

[Leaky88]

 

Left Rear Support Bracket, beside fuel tank, rusted out and was replaced.

Removed the old front bushing, on Forward Eye, cleaned it up.

When I went to replace with new bushing, it fits, but it just slides in, there is no interference fit, and it requires no press.

Is this normal? I’ve checked the part number and it’s correct.  O.D. Is 1-5/8. 
When  I did the rear smaller bushing, I needed a bolt and stack of washers to draw it in.

Picture is an “example” of the type of one piece bushing replacement I’m using. It smaller size used on rear end of leaf spring. 
 

Any assistance would be appreciated.
 

Thanks

 

Leaky

 

 

[Dieselfuture]

Usually they are press in fit, I've done a few and they all required a press in, not sure on yours, could be wrong part?

[Mopar1973Man]

You might try buying hone brush and clean the hole out at bit removing the grit and rust and it might fit better. Like @Dieselfuture suggest double check the size and application.

[Leaky88]

It’s not the part. I’ve investigated this for a week now.  Used MOOG, NAPA, Centric, all purported to be a fit for my truck.
OD is 1-5/8; ID is 9/16”, Length 3” on all three.
Yet, each brand slides into the “clean” eye with zero effort.

 

I don’t know if it’s the age, rust or what has changed the original dimensions of the eye. 

As I understand, the rubber bushing needs to fit tight in the eye to perform correctly and

should not rotate.

 

I suppose I could insert a metal shim to reduce sloppiness, to lock it in place

 

 

 

 

[Dieselfuture]

Could be it got overloaded and eye hole got bigger. On my mud truck bushings were gone so I just had a shop mill a DOM tube to fit tight inside the eye and had a hole for a 5/8 bolt. Then I drilled through the leaf and dom with 1/8 drill bit to get to the bolt and put a grease zerk in, obviously hole for grease zerk was slightly bigger, just no reason to drill all the way through with a bigger bit. Then you can also use a grinder and put a grove in the bolt long way for grease to spread out. Worked for me for many years.  

[Leaky88]

Diesel future,

Thanks.

Could very well be the issue.

I bought it second hand, so I’m not sure of prior abuse.
I took some measurements and it’s not a true eye hole.  The Bushing has 1.625 OD and there’s  a .075 difference between it and bore.  It’s a great truck, but 25 winters of salt has done a number to the undercarriage.  But, it runs good and not owned by a lending institution, so I keep patching it up.

Time to improvise. Thanks again.

Leaky

[Mopar1973Man]

Check locally for a shop that rebuilds leaf springs. There is a solution either have shop rework the springs or just replace the springs. Like I know in Boise there is a shop that will do this.

[Leaky88]

Thanks