When to replace rear springs

[GoBlueHummer]

I just replaced the rear spring bushings and the upper shackle bushings along with Schwarttzy's extended shackles and here my 100,000 miles and the Michigan salt and rust made it look like yours before I started.

Prepare yourself mentally to buy new bolts and use a sawzall to (carefully) chop the old shackles out and (very carefully) chop the walls of the bushings enough to press those out too. Only one of four bolts came out of the bushing, the rest were rusted to the center sleeve and tore the rubber when I tried to unscrew them.
Also, prepare to buy new rear shocks, as the bushings on those tore as well.
Also, the front bolt on the driver side leaf spring can not be removed without dropping the fuel tank, so maybe be nearly out of gas before you start the project.
It's recommended to install it facing the other way when you put it back, so it isn't as annoying the next time, if ever.

Good news for me though, my rear suspension is practically new now!

If I could do it again I probably would have just bought new springs so I wouldn't have to worry about the bushings.
Oh, and you will need new U bolts too, I hear.

Here's a thread with a bunch of part numbers and info. You'll discover that the 2009 H3 has less expensive leaf springs. Nobody knows why, they should be exactly the same and work on all other years.
http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/forum/showthread.php?5608-Leaf-Spring-bushings

I had that issue when I replaced my UCA. I fought 1 side for what seemed like hours before I finally applied PB Blaster pretty liberally. Left for 30 minutes and came back to a bolt that was easily knocked out with short blows with a hammer. Doused the other one prior to starting to mess with it and it came out easily.

Just a thought and a little less work intensive if it works out.

 

[JPaul]

That reminds me, I was going to shoot all the bolts with some PB Blaster this morning, better go out and do that now so that it can soak while I eat lunch.

PB Blaster is awesome, I rarely use WD 40 anymore. If I need something lubed I usually use a lithium or silicone based lube instead.

 

[JPaul]

Well, I picked up the springs yesterday from Chocoflip and had a local spring shop bend me some U-bolts as well. Went to replace them today and it wasn't until after I got ones side completely undone that I found the shop didn't measure correctly and bent the bolts too narrow by about a quarter inch. Of course no one else is open today or has the right size so I have to wait until Monday and have my wife drive me to the shop, get the U-bolts replaced, then drive me to work and then come back at the end of the day to pick me up.

To say I'm slightly pissed off would be an understatement. How hard is it to measure U-bolts correctly? Too hard apparently. Seems like he measured the tube itself and didn't pay attention to the fact there are pads welded onto the tube that the U-bolts sit on. I should have just measured them myself, but I assumed he's been doing this a long time and knew what he was doing. This is one of the reasons I have trust issues.

 

[JPaul]

Here's a comparison for anyone that doesn't get what I am talking about:

I had someone try to tell me that he's dealt with worse fitment than that and that I just need to spread it out enough to get it to fit on then bend the legs back together. I think he's been hit in the head too many times with a crescent wrench and doesn't seem to grasp the concept that I shouldn't have to go to that amount of effort for something that was supposed to be a custom fit. Plus I'd really rather not run the risk of buggering up the threads and then still having to get new ones.

 

[Enter Hummer]

I had someone try to tell me that he's dealt with worse fitment than that and that I just need to spread it out enough to get it to fit on then bend the legs back together.

 

[JPaul]

Well, I had the U-bolts re-bent today with a larger anvil, now they slip on just fine. That was a lot easier than trying to spread them out and then re-bend them myself using pipes and clamps.

I borrowed a ball joint press from Autozone to try to press out the front leaf spring bolt, but unfortunately it seems to be just completely full of rust so it's just not going to come out. Unfortunately my cordless reciprocating saw was down to only one good working battery prior to today, and after cutting off one side of one bolt and getting halfway through the other, it completely died and won't take a charge anymore. So I've made very little progress so far. Tomorrow I'm going to have to go buy a corded reciprocating saw since it's cheaper and then I won't have to waste time waiting for batteries to recharge. Cordless stuff is great for intermittent use or if you don't want to drag a cord all over, but for heavy work like cutting through 14mm bolts you really need a cord.

I also picked up parts to re-pack the leafs myself, I'm going to try taking the top leaf out of the old packs and cutting the ends off and adding it to the new packs, though this will also require re-doing the leaf spring clamps and a new center bolt. I bought some 1/4" steel and grade 8 bolts to make new clamps, I'm simply going to slice off the top of the current clamps tabs to allow me to add the extra leaf and then put the new clamps over the existing ones so that I can crank them down tight to lock them in place while still allowing the free movement the old clamps provided.

I'm figuring the additional leaf will help with the additional weight I'll be running as well as prolonging the life of the main leaf in the new pack. I'll probably still add air bags though to handle increased loads when towing and hauling gear.

The sad part about all this though is that I haven't found what was causing the thumping noise when going over bumps, I figured I'd see one of the bushings be totally shot, but they actually look like they've got a fair bit of life left. Oh well. I undid the U-bolts already on one side, so there's not really any going back, especially now that one of the bolts is partially cut up. I did order some new shackles with bolts and upper bushings, but those won't get here till Friday or so. I need to get this buttoned up before then since my wife is leaving town Thursday for the weekend and I'll be without a car otherwise.

 

[Burtor]

Sounds like you're on track. Keep at it, it's annoying, but doable.

 

[JPaul]

I got some more done tonight. I stopped at Home Depot on the way home from work and picked up a new Rigid cordless hammer drill and impact driver set since the new Li-Ion batteries still use the same connector as their old NiCad's, so now I have shiny new Li-Ions that work with my old Rigid reciprocating saw and drill that I already had, plus a hammer drill and impact driver. Which speaking of the impact driver I don't know how I lived without one before, it makes zipping off bolts sooooooo nice! It's far better than my 3/8's air ratchet I used to use for that purpose, and it doesn't run out of steam after 1 minute of use (I only have a small 2 gallon pancake compressor and haven't been able to justify buying a larger compressor).

Of course though, while I was waiting for the new batteries to charge I decided to try charging my last NiCad again, and lo and behold it started t charge! Figures. Oh well, it's still on it's way out and I couldn't believe the difference in power my saw had with the new batteries, so it was worth it anyway.

I was able to finish sawing off the bolt and remove the old spring, but of course then I noticed that my attempt to press the bolt out had caused the hole on the one side of the perch to be deformed outward quite badly, so I had to use the ball press, a socket, and a piece of 1/2 steel that I happened to have to squash it back flat. So, note to self, don't bother trying to press out the bolt on the other side, just cut it if it won't hammer out.

I also took the opportunity with the spring out to flatten back out the front perch since it had been dented by hitting one or two boulders on my trips down to Moab. I did it using the ball joint press and the 1/2" plate I had, it worked pretty darn well. I really need to get some 1/4" plate and weld it on to reinforce it like the Hunner skids.

I found out the shackles I bought are going to be here tomorrow (thank goodness they're just coming from Arizona), so I went ahead and removed the old shackle and bushing. The bushing was a bit of a project, mostly because I noticed that the one end is actually splayed out after they press it in place to ensure it stays put (makes sense considering how little of it is actually contacting the frame mount). After some hammering at it with a cold chisel and sledge to push in as much of the lip as I could, I used the ball joint press to try and press it out. I got it mostly out that way, but since the muffler was in the way it was hard to keep it all straight and centered so the bushing started coming out crooked. Fortunately I was able to use a prybar and simply pry it the rest of the way out, I was kind of surprised actually when it popped out. I wasn't sure it was going to work.

That mount on the frame collects a ton of sand and dirt by the way, it really should have a drainage hold in it. Definitely a spot to blast out with the hose after mud/water runs and whenever cleaning the rig.

So now my passenger side is all set to be put back together tomorrow after I get the shackles in the mail (they dang well better be delivered tomorrow, it is the Post Office after all). Then the driver side should be a much faster endeavor and hopefully I can get it all finished up tomorrow night.

I was going to break apart the new spring packs and add the top leaf from the old springs to help with loading, but honestly at this point I think I'm just going to install them as is and focus on getting some air bags installed to help with the extra weight.

 

[JPaul]

I'm apparently a glutton for punishment right now. I got the shackles in the mail today but didn't get them from the mailbox until about 20 minutes ago. I don't know why but I was expecting them to come with the bolts and bushing, but of course they didn't, they were just the shackles themselves. And since no one stocks them I'm SOL tonight. My wife leaves for out of town tomorrow afternoon and won't be back until Sunday night.

Fortunately OReilly has a whopping 1 Dorman shackle kit in the DC nearby, so they should have it for me by 8:30 AM tomorrow morning (I was hoping for two, but the only other one "nearby" is in Aurora Colorado). I can have my wife take me over to get it and then hopefully I can get it all put back together within an hour or so and then be able to get to work. That or I'll just have to work from home (fortunately that is an option for me, perks of being a sysadmin). Sucks that I'm delayed yet again. I should have just left the old bushing in place and put the new spring in last night. Oh well, hindsight sucks.

Hopefully I can have it all taken care of by tomorrow night at the latest. I ordered another Dorman kit from Amazon to replace the other side's bushing and bolts at a later date.

 

[JPaul]

Finally got the passenger side all put back together this morning, and guess what?

That fang blasted thumping noise is still there......

Grrrrr...

Guess I have to start looking for other sources. Might be the door. Might be the shock (unlikely, it's new and when I checked it while everything was apart it seemed just fine). Might be some other thing that's come loose thanks to the terrible road I have to commute on every day.

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[JPaul]

Well, to end this saga, I figured out what the thumping noise was that I've been hearing. Turns out it was the jack in the rear door.

Seems it had worked itself loose thanks to the extremely bumpy road I commute on every day (I've been on a number of dirt roads that are smoother than this one). But since the bolt that holds it in place is on the end closest to the driver side, it would only thump around when it was the passenger side going over bumps (it acted like a hinge).

I only figured it out because I had already pulled everything out of the cubbies in the back and made sure there was nothing else that could be bumping around, and then I checked the door striker thingy and tightened it up and flipped the rubber bumper around since the one side was starting to shear off, but I was highly doubtful that was really the problem. While I had the door open I realized the jack was in there and opened up the panel, and sure enough it was more than loose enough to be the cause of the sound.

I had also driven with the passenger window down on the way home to see if I could tell if the noise really was coming from outside the car, but it still sounded like a muffled "thump" which lead me to believe it was still something inside the car, otherwise I would've been able to hear it more clearly with the window down.

So, the moral of the story is make sure the sound you're hearing is really something broken and not just loose or whatever, and make sure you have ALL of your parts you need/want to replace BEFORE you start tearing stuff apart. And if you have anything custom made for you make sure it's made right before your tear everything apart. And don't rely on a 12 year old NiCad battery if you only have one of them left.

I'm going to still replace the driver side spring since I noticed after tearing apart the old one from the passenger side that the plastic sliders had worn nearly completely away and the top leaf was starting to be rubbed through by the second leaf at the front of the spring, which would have eventually resulted in it breaking in two at an inopportune time and probably resulted in my vehicle getting wrecked or at least pretty badly damaged. At least everything I've been replacing has been wear parts and it's not unreasonable to replace them at 100K miles. So there's that.

 

[alrock]

Haha, good to know. The back door is also known to thump when the striker is misaligned.

 

[Kick'n Dust]

Do you have extended shackles? I tried that back in 06 and it bent the rear of the top spring and separated the pack. I took them off, went back to stock and it came back together. Now, the 08 Alpha I went with airbags to compensate when hauling heavy or towing.

If I were to need to make any further adjustment I will use an extra spring that only comes into use when loaded or towing so as not to mess up the all round driving and riding unlike uh, ride like a truck? lol
View attachment 22522

Those springs are shot. Mine aren't far behind yours. I'm planning to get the Old Man Emu leafs when I get some spare change.

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[Kick'n Dust]

Well, to end this saga, I figured out what the thumping noise was that I've been hearing. Turns out it was the jack in the rear door.

Seems it had worked itself loose thanks to the extremely bumpy road I commute on every day (I've been on a number of dirt roads that are smoother than this one). But since the bolt that holds it in place is on the end closest to the driver side, it would only thump around when it was the passenger side going over bumps (it acted like a hinge).

I only figured it out because I had already pulled everything out of the cubbies in the back and made sure there was nothing else that could be bumping around, and then I checked the door striker thingy and tightened it up and flipped the rubber bumper around since the one side was starting to shear off, but I was highly doubtful that was really the problem. While I had the door open I realized the jack was in there and opened up the panel, and sure enough it was more than loose enough to be the cause of the sound.

I had also driven with the passenger window down on the way home to see if I could tell if the noise really was coming from outside the car, but it still sounded like a muffled "thump" which lead me to believe it was still something inside the car, otherwise I would've been able to hear it more clearly with the window down.

So, the moral of the story is make sure the sound you're hearing is really something broken and not just loose or whatever, and make sure you have ALL of your parts you need/want to replace BEFORE you start tearing stuff apart. And if you have anything custom made for you make sure it's made right before your tear everything apart. And don't rely on a 12 year old NiCad battery if you only have one of them left.

I'm going to still replace the driver side spring since I noticed after tearing apart the old one from the passenger side that the plastic sliders had worn nearly completely away and the top leaf was starting to be rubbed through by the second leaf at the front of the spring, which would have eventually resulted in it breaking in two at an inopportune time and probably resulted in my vehicle getting wrecked or at least pretty badly damaged. At least everything I've been replacing has been wear parts and it's not unreasonable to replace them at 100K miles. So there's that.

For two years every time I turned fairly tight to the right and accelerated I got a sound that sounded a lot like a bad axle shaft. I put the truck on the host multiple times trying to figure it out, even replaced the front right shock and an axle shaft. It took my front drive shaft breaking to realize it was the noise all along. I just rebuilt my transfer case due to it not shifting into 4wd lock because of the plastic shift fork. I bought a nice corded reciprocating saw to install my new front diff bushings and I'm waiting for my new front drive shaft to be made, all from Outfitter Design.

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