Squelchtone

Hello,

I recently got a 2001 XJ Limited, and had the trusted family mechanic look at it once I got it back to my state.

He said it's not bad, but there are a few things he recommends replacing at the 142,000 miles mine is at and from him poking around under the Jeep for an hour those include the following:

rear shackles
oil pan gasket
main seal (not yet sure if 1 piece or 2 piece)
front seal
starter
battery
muffler
front u joints / needle bearings
rear brake cylinders
thermostat and housing
rear left brake line all the way to the front

but this post is to ask about the shackles, he may or may not be doing the work, but told me it's a real pain in the butt to remove the top and bottom bolts and showed me the rusting shackles and cracking bushings. As Jeep guys, do you agree that it is a real chore to remove the shackles and replace them with OEM ones? Does this involve lots of hammering or torches? I'll add that I'm not getting a lift kit yet, but I don't want these original ones to rust and crack all the way or have the bushings wear out all the way. The leaf springs are still good from what he could tell.

Thanks,
Squelchtone

jbsjunk

Replacing the shackles can be a chore depending on how seized the bolts are. Some fall out while you fight with the rest. The rear main is 2 piece.

Squelchtone

thank you for the speedy reply!

Squelchtone

MonacaYankee

The bolt and the nut were tedious to get off the leaf spring. Not difficult but the use of two long breaker bars will be required. Once the nut is off a rubber mallet makes quick work of pushing the bolt through. I used a deep and short 21mm impact socket with two breaker bars for a bunch of turns until I could use a ratchet for the rest of the way. I loosened the shackle bolt but did not take it put. It had the same 21mm socket for me. It also required a breaker bar. Spray a bunch of pb blaster beforehand if you are going to do this. The mechanic will appreciate it too.

Check out bleepinjeep's bastard pack vid 2 for the install of a bastard pack. It shows you how to remove the rear leaf nut and bolt and loosen the shackle. The sizes for the nuts and bolts were wrong for my xj but the vid is excellent. I wouldn't worry about a little surface cracking of the bushings. I would leave them alone until they start splitting apart.

You can clean the shackles and paint what you can get to without removal if you're worried about appearance.

It seems like he is padding some of that list.
Starter no
Front seal is leaking? Not to common on xjs.
Rear brake cylinders? Are they leaking? If not, no
Ujoints? Do you hear them going clunk clunk clunk around turns?
Thermostat and housing? Is it leaking? If not then no. Does it run around 210? Is so then no
Rear main? Is your jeep leaking? You should do valve cover gasket, oil filter adapter o rings, then distributor gasket before the rear main. It's a two piece, no transmission drop required.
Oil pan gasket? Not until rear main

Kingfisher

A Northeast Jeep shackles may come off much much more difficult than a southern Jeep!

Breaker bar with cheater pipe.

I trimmed some sheet metal behind bumper so I would have more room to move wrench.

If you pay to have it done expect a large labor bill!

Rogue4x4

Wow. You can diagnose all that not even seeing it? The mechanic had it in front of him, you don't. None of this was a concern to the OP, just the shackles. OP, the job can be a pain, especially if you have rust issues. If the bushings aren't falling apart, just wait until you decide to lift/upgrade to do it, no sense in doing it twice. Definitely use the PB Blaster twice a day, a week or so in advance of trying to remove the bolts, it will help, and your mechanic will thank you if you do so. Any pics of the bushings?

Ianf406

If you plan on lifting in the near future (noticed you said not yet) I would not worry about them and just leave it alone until you do. Bushings crack when they get old/dry and Im sure everything is rusted under there. They wont just crack and brake unless it is a ridiculous amount of rust that is eating the shackle away.

As for the bolts, They can be a bit of a challenge. Use a bunch of Liquid Wrench/PB Blaster on them days before attempting. Then use a torch to heat them up, and run them out. A torch is a lot cheaper (if you don't have one) than your family mechanic with charge you :P

MonacaYankee

Not diagnosing. I know how shops work. Everything suddenly needs replaced because it's old. My jeep at 191k has most of the factory parts on that list. Just trying to give him some of the symptoms so he can determine himself instead of the mechanic. I know that info was extra but I still gave info about the shackles like he wanted and he did include it in his post.

Post some pictures so we can see how much rust is actually there.

CherokeeChic

You go girl!

MonacaYankee

But but I'm a guy...:/

Rogue4x4

His question wasn't what are your opinions on shops and the work they do, or why they do it. It was about the shackle job. Keep your posts relevant to the question please. This is how threads get blown up and go way off topic.

Rogue4x4

Ouch....LOL


J/K back on topic, LOL

Ianf406

LMAO.

survailencewagon

my jeep lived in new England most of her life
a mid sized rubber hammer, a wrench and a good rachet should be all you need
just take you time and nothing should break

I drove the ol jeep out in the ocean, and left it parked in more than a few snowbanks
she should've been rusted up and seized tight

she sort of was... but little tighter -little looser and a lot of beer and good tunes
I aint a big strong guy, or a mechanic
and it took a while longer than somepeople would expect
but I didn't break any thing

I did smell like fabulous blaster for a couple days though

Squelchtone

Hi guys,

I hate to cause a ruckus, so I'll let you in on something that I didnt include. the family mechanic is my dad, so I'm not worried about him padding anything. Is he over cautious on some things like replacing that brake line thats rusty, probably, but I'm sure he just wants me to drive safe. The rear left cylinder does seem to be leaking based on the stains on the back of the thing the drum goes onto. I'm taking the wheel off tonight to take a closer look.

I will post shackle photos tonight and he mentioned spraying PB Blaster on all these parts before I go to the place that does suspensions, he works on cars, but doesnt have his own shop for us to do any major work, and even I'd rather go to a suspension shop and drop a few hundred dollars than waste his weekend.

as to the other stuff on the list,
oil pan is leaking (not much, just a droplet hanging from bottom of oil pan by drain hole), screws torqued properly, but even i could tell the seal has had better days, and we figured might as well do rear main seal at same time and front seal while it's all open.

the u joints / needle bearing's he said he saw rust, I'm gonna trust him that it means they're probably original and could use replacement before I starting putting miles on this Jeep.

same with exhaust.. its 13 years old. muffler is ok now, but probably wont pass inspection by next spring, you can tell the bottom of it is going to rust through. We're on hold with that, he said i can buy it now and just have it on hand if i want, or it could be done this fall.

battery is an Interstate and the hole punches say it is August 2010, so I'd feel better with something newer

starter is original and for $150 for a decent one from NAPA I'd rather be in the woods somewhere and be able to start the car, so more preventative maintenance than emergency must do it now or else repairs.

He and I both agree the stock 195 thermostat has got to go especially since its a 2001 with the 0331 heads, so we're gonna try a 180. Also doing full coolant flush. He said radiator actually looks good.

and I think we're gonna change the oil and put Rotella in there, which I'm sure most of you will agree with

He did mention the exhaust manifolds on these crack, but they're $150 each so I'm gonna cross that bridge when and if they do crack.

edit: the valve cover has a new blue colored rubber seal I can see poking out in some places, so I think it was just done before I bought her.

Thanks for your help everyone, hope this explanation helps as well,
Squelchtone