Front spring shackle sleeve

[texas69truck]

I hope the title makes sense. The PO somehow removed the two front sleeves on the frame rail. I cannot get the new sleeve back in. The d/s one went in great after sticking the sleeve in the freezer. The p/s isnt so lucky. I have tried freezing it, pressing it, hitting it, lubing it...nothing has worked! It will go in about 3 quarters of the way and then will not budge. I tried installing it the other way (inside to outside of frame rail) and it will not even get started. My line of thought is the PO heated the frame to get it out and it is now tweaked. Really dont want to heat everything up but it looks like this may be my only option. anyone else run into this problem or have any tricks/tips I havent tried?!

[texas69truck]

Here are some pics if that helps

[dubie]

i threaded one of the old shackle hangers back into the new bushing, heated it up a bit and tapped it in with a hammer. Just don't go nuts with the hammer. Did you properly clean the hole out before putting the new bushing in? If not, I'd use a deep socket and place it in the hole to knock your bushing back out and clean that up. Just scuff it with some sand paper and spray it with some degreaser. I found once the hole was clear of any debris, the new bushing needed minimal heat and light tapping to get it into position

[JumboAMONGus]

are the splines just not lined up and binding ,

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by texas69truck

Here are some pics if that helps

The originals didn't have splines so you'll have to press that in. Use a ball joint press on it.

[texas69truck]

The splines are lined up. I tried using the bolt/washer trick and couldnt get it to budge with a 1/2 drive with a breaker bar. Havent had a chance to get back in the gargae but I will give it a shot with the ball joint press and if that doesnt work I guess I will apply heat.