When removing the rear leaf springs, what's the best way to keep the shackle from moving when youre cranking on the bolt to get it out?

 

Air tools!

 

I wish...

 

You can always rent some & a compressor for way cheaper then buying them.

It would be a huuuuuge help...

 

I used air tools and when that didnt work i stuck a giant crowbar between the frame and shackle had my buddy hang on it like an ape and used a breaker bar and some fence tubing to break mine loose I almost cut them off but this idea worked...also lots of PB Blaster and time to soak i let mine soak for about 30 hours with multiple recoats. It was on the 83 that i have all original stuff

 

Even if you get the nut off, you may not be able to get the bolt out. We ended up cutting my friend's bolt off (between the mount and the spring... on both sides of the spring). We then had to put the whole thing (the end of the leaf pack, I mean) in a press to push the remaining piece of the old bolt out. It was stuck in there good and scared the crap out of us when it finally let go.

 

If the bolt does get stuck like that for you, you can also try heating it up with a torch & beating it out of there with a BFH and a good punch. Wear goggles!

 

Thanks guys, got it. I used a pickle fork between the hanger and the shackle and got it out, so the shackle's still stuck in the spring, but I should be able to get that out pretty easy. Now I'm stuck on the front hanger bolt. The nuts are off, just can't figure out a good way to pull the bolt out. I just PB'd everything yet again, so Im gonna wait on the torch until tomorrow.

 

Less room to work on the front... a mini-grinder with a new cutting disk may become your new best friend.

 

when i did my shackles i left the bolts in and got them real lose then took them out by hand and i live in WI the salt belt!!! so i think if i could do it on a 87 you should have no problems oh and i used normal hand tools

plus a tork wrench in reverse to get the bolts lose but thats about it

 

please, please, please, buy a breaker bar or use an old ratchet with a pipe (and even that is ghetto). don't use torque wrenches as breaker bars.

 

Yep...breaks the breaker bar

 

How did you go about getting them real loose? Just working it back and forth?

 

is the spring still attached to the axle?

side note: they make electric impacts too.

 

The bolts aren't supposed to come off of the other side. Only one side is supposed to come off.

 

The axle's off of the spring. I'm gonna try using a ball joint lifter to press the bolt out...if that doesn't work then I'm really lost...

 

Also, when I dropped the axle, the little bottle jack that was under it fell over and the axle fell to the ground. No problems there, except that the flexible brake line got extended all the way. It wasn't holding the axle up or anything, it was just really taut when I noticed it. I put blocks under the drums now so theres some slack in the line, and I don't see any obvious stretching or leaking... How tough is that line, and should I replace it immediately?

 

So after all that, I couldn't get one shackle free, and had to order one from 1st toyota parts, 95 bucks shipped next day. Gah! Just lifting the rear end has already taken me three days, and I haven't even touched the front yet!!

 

Does 1st toyota parts.com stock a bunch of parts, or are they just a regular old dealership that sells parts online on the side? I'm asking because I really want the shackle to get here tomorrow, but it doesn't seem like they've shipped it out yet...

 

Damned impulse buying....now that I think about it, a set of wabfab greaseable shackles would've been stronger, nicer, and easier to maintain than the OEM ones, not to mention less expensive.... /me slaps myself

Oh well, there's always next time...