Installing Rear Leafs, Queston?
 

Hi guys, Ive been puting a 4.5'' RE lift on, I got the front done and pulled the rear leafs not i am in the process of putting the new ones back on. I have bolted them to the hangers, so they are hanging with no weight on them. For the last couple hours I have been trying to get the center pin from the leafs to settle in the whole in the spring perch. I have shims to put on, new u-bolts, and nuts. I looslely bolted the ubolts onto the axle and through the spring plates, the shims are sandwiched between the spring perch and the leafs, but I just cant get the center pins to settle, any ideas/hints? Would it be better to unbolt the ubolts then raise the axle with jacks, have the center pin settle (hopefully), THEN put on the ublots and spring plate? Thanks again

what ever works to get it done. i dont suppose the bolts are too big to fit the holes in the perches?

I found it easy to bolt the springs to the body and jack the rear up. disconnecting the driveshaft might help. But I didint do that

Are your shims bolted to you leafs bu the centering pin? I know i had to remove my centering pin and install the shim so the pim went thru the shim.

no, ive got shims that just sit between the leaf and perch, they get sandwiched when the ubolt are tightened

Hmmm, I guess our shim setup is just a little diffrent, Not sure then

I had a heck of a time with getting my pin to seat into the hole of the perch, here is what i had to do..

Firt get a pick and make sure you get all the paint off of the pin. THen, I used a drill bit about the same size as the hole and I went around it a few times to slightly enlarge the hole, after about 5 minutes on each side, and with the help of an impact wrench on the U-bolts, the pin finally slippen into the hole..

It's real important to also make sure you are putting it in square, if one side is lower than the other and vice/versa, it probably won't be going in. And don't use heat, it will only make it tighter.

figured it out this morning. I ended up drilling out the holes a small amount, jacked the axle up to the eaves, and after a few swift hits with a hammer the pins settled nicely. I think the stock holes were a small amounttoo small for the pins. Thanks for the help everyone

Glad you got er dun. Now time to test her out on some trails!

Hey.. that's what I said to do....:hammer: