"Lt. Dan" - 1989 C1500 Regular Cab SWB NASCAR tribute and Autocross Build

[BubbaGump]

This is the look I'm going for.

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I have to make the obvious concessions to keep the truck street legal, and I may or may not paint it up with graphics and logos, but this stance and overall vibe is what I want.

 

[Biggershaft96]

Thatd look pretty slick.

 

[BubbaGump]

Got the leaf springs off. I spent a few minutes Thursday wirebrushing all the bolt threads and hosing them down with PB Blaster. I hit em with the impact and the came apart like butter.

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I then went after the spring eye bushings. Made a couple of bonehead moves and broke two of my drill bits. Decided to call it a day before I got really mad and broke something expensive.

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I'll get some more drill bits and try again later. The next step is to use an air hammer with a cutting tip to connect the dots, then the metal core should just push out. At that point the rest of the rubber can be scraped out and then the outer metal sleeve can be chiseled out.

 

[deejaaa]

have you thought about burning them out?

 

[BubbaGump]

have you thought about burning them out?

I've seen people do that with success, but I personally don't like the idea of putting that much heat into the spring eye and possibly messing up the tempering of the steel.

 

[98BlackSierra]

I'm surprised an impact didn't work for you on the bed bolts. Mine made short work of it on my '98.

 

[7thdarkangel]

I've seen people do that with success, but I personally don't like the idea of putting that much heat into the spring eye and possibly messing up the tempering of the steel.

You have nothing to worry about. Unless you are using oxy acetylene, you will not get up to the tempering temp.

Spring steel is hardened around 1500 degrees and tempered around 700 degrees.
So if you are using a propane torch you will be fine.

 

[BubbaGump]

You have nothing to worry about. Unless you are using oxy acetylene, you will not get up to the tempering temp.

Spring steel is hardened around 1500 degrees and tempered around 700 degrees.
So if you are using a propane torch you will be fine.

I did a little looking on the internet (so it must be true, right?) and the burning temperature of tire rubber (which I assume is close to bushing rubber) is around 700-800 degrees Fahrenheit. Too close to the temper threshold for comfort.

 

[BubbaGump]

I'm surprised an impact didn't work for you on the bed bolts. Mine made short work of it on my '98.

The bumper bolts and back two bed bolts came off just fine with the impact. The others just sat there no matter how much I hammered on them with the impact. My impact is a Walmart special, though. The bolts had a thick coating of the factory locktite compound and were really stiff coming out.

 

[7thdarkangel]

When you burn a bushing out you are nor bringing the bushing up to 800 degrees. You light it on fire for a minute or two. Just enough to soften it. Then you just slam the inner race and rubber out. It really should not be getting anywhere near 700-800 degrees.