Adamthepizzaguy

Attempting to replace cracked leaf springs on my 99 xj. Both packs had fractured leaves from years of sitting in Ohio and rusting. Disassembling both sides I found that the upper shackle bolts come out to a certain point but then continue to turn but not back out any further. Any ideas on how to proceed? I'm considering just cutting off the bolts between the shackle and bracket but I'm worried that the nut on the inside of the rear mount is just spinning and broke off its welds. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

dilljeepo

Ya buddy, the bolts are just tacked on the other side, pretty much only option is to either cut a hole in the metal to get a wrench on it, or just cut the bolt to get it off. Ever use PB blaster? Buy some - it's the best.

Adamthepizzaguy

So you're fairly certain that the welds holding the nuts broke?

EZEARL

Good chance of it. You could try PB Blasting the bolts work them back in and then see if you can reengage the nuts.

AlexisUSA

What may be happening is that the sleeve inside the rubber bushing is rotating within the rubber.

Adamthepizzaguy

So they're stuck just inside the bushing and the nut is fine in that case?

dvonrick

When I did mine (88 XJ) it was like Alexis said, the bolt started to back out but was frozen to the sleeve and stopped when the sleeve hit the bracket. I stopped at that point as I didn't want to break the tacks on the nut so I cut the eye of the leaf and the bolt/sleeve leaving enough of the bolt/sleeve to get some vice grips on and back out. If the nut has broken free there are plenty of threads that discuss options.

AlexisUSA

I think so. I am trying to remember how I did mine: I believe I (1) used a torch to burn out the bushing (watch out for the gas tank), (2) grabbed the now-exposed sleeve with vice-grips, and (3) continued turning the bolt out of the sleeve.

Adamthepizzaguy

Ok that makes sense. My only concern is that when I turn the section of leaf that's still left (the pack basically fell apart after I took off the top plate) the bolt also turns 1:1 with the spring. Is there a clear answer to what this means?

AlexisUSA

I'm not sure that tells us anything more but it is consistent with the bolt being stuck inside the sleeve (which is inside the bushing, which is inside the spring).

BTW, another solution here might be to throw a pickle fork in between the bolthead and the shackle housing and maybe with enough pulling force concurrent with turning the bolt, you'll be able to unthread the bolt from the sleeve.

dvonrick

Alexis is right. I had to cut/grind the eye of the spring completely off to expose the bolt/sleeve then cut/shorten the bolt/sleeve so it has room to turn out without hitting the inside of the bracket. Hope that makes sense. If you keep trying to turn it without room for it to back out you will be pushing against the nut and break the tack welds.

00t444e

The bolts look like they are far enough out that they aren't in the inner nut anymore, they are probably just rusted to the sleeve. You can cut them on both sides and get new bolts.

Adamthepizzaguy

Update. The driver side bolt came out after the tension from the spring was released. I compared the threads from the now loose bolt to the one on the passenger side and it looks like it just needs more turning.

jpz

The rear can be a pain. I just did mine in the spring and I had some stick like you. It was to the inside of the sleeve. I ended up cutting the leaf spring to remove the weight/tension, and then cutting as must of the exposed bolt as possible. I could then tap the bot back into the sleeve with a hammer and punch and out came the remaining section of the leaf spring.

Adamthepizzaguy

So your new shackle bolted right up to the stock welded nut?