Question about throwing in greasable bolts on Dakar leaf pack.

Drill a hole in the middle of the bushing sleeve it will let grease get out to the actual bushing.

 

Lol! At that point just add a zerk in the shackle and/or spring eye so you don’t have to compromise on the strength of the hardware

 

This, though not sure how much adding a zerk will compromise the strength of the shackle or spring eye. It would put the grease where it is most needed. I've removed my Dakars, wire brushed & painted each spring and reassembled with teflon spacers between each spring. No squeaking yet...

 

these two are correct

 

FYI the Dobinsons leaf bushing sleeves are tapped. I didn't buy their greasable bolts.

Overall the Heavy 111r leaf pack is holding up great, quite, and maintaining ample 2.5+" lift with close to 525lbs (counting hardshell and edc)

 

More information for the Dobinsons bushing kit and greasable bolts:
"It is recommended to add Dobinsons greaseable pin (bolt) kit to the bushings so that you can add grease to the inside of the bushings without having to disassemble the suspension. Adding grease between the pivot points reduces noise, helps maintain free movement of the suspension and also maximizes bushing life so that dirt and grit doesn’t cause the poly bushings to wear out prematurely."

"Grease is supposed to go between the bolt and the bushing sleeve, as well as go thru the bushing sleeve to the inner diameter of the bushing so that it can all move freely during articulation. Grease is NOT supposed to be on the outer diameter of the bushing and the inner diameter of the leaf spring eye, as it is not supposed to rotate or move there. If it does, it will create noise, like a creaking and it will drive you crazy!!!"

Dobinsons Bushing Kit information:
"Grease injected into the pin will push grease between the outer edge of the bolt and the inside of the bushing, and also around the outside flange between the bushing and the spring hanger. This provides maximum lubrication and resistance to any friction, as well as eliminating any noise. This design of bushing will hold grease for longer than usual. Incorporating a recessed twin hole greasable design to ensure both halves of the polyurethane bush receive even grease distribution."

 

I’ve used the trail gear bolts and bushings. Works great as it comes with a greasable volt and eliminated the sleeves. You need to enlarge the front spring pack mounting holes to accept the larger greasable bolt.

 

Needle attachment for the grease gun

 

'scuze me while I dig up this ancient thread...

I'm sprucing up a 2009 Tacoma right now and am onto the springs. I bought a set of Dobinson's greasable bolts (/pins) for the rear spring pivot points, and realized before installing them that it might not make a single lick of sense.

If I understand correctly;

• the bolt goes through the metal bushing sleeve,
  
• then, the poly/delrin bushings go over the metal sleeve;
  
• The bolt then pinches the mount against the metal sleeve, preventing it from moving,
  
• and the working surface is where the poly/delrin contacts the bushing sleeve, NOT where the bolt goes through the sleeve.

If correct that the working surfaces are the bushing sleeve-to-poly bushing material, then greasable bolts make no sense at all without modifications to the bushing sleeve to allow grease through. Would love to hear if I'm right or wrong on this, because it seems to me that greasable bolts on the 2nd gen setup might be putting grease in the wrong place, rendering the mod / add-on useless (perhaps other than to prevent seizing).

 

Don't some of the grease-able bolt kits come with a sleeve that had a hole (or two) drilled in it for this very reason? Pretty sure I saw that somewhere

 

Mine didn't come with that, but I'm thinking about modifying the sleeve the bushings came with to make that a reality. It seems it's the only way to make a greasable pin work in this setup, to get grease moving between the poly and sleeve.

 

I know the idea behind getting grease behind those bushings. But for me, on my Dakars, the squeaking has always been the contact pads at each leaf. I hit them with tri-flow constantly. It's annoying

 

Have you tried a moly-based paint / film lubricant? Triflo is great, but might be a better topcoat to a dry, moly-based lubricant. Would need to degrease the triflo before applying, and here’s one I use regularly for situations like that:

$16 CRC 3084 Dry Moly Lube, (Net Weight: 11 oz.) Dark Gray, Original Version

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013J62P4

 

Just use the trail gear bolts, no sleeve to deal with so the grease goes directly to the bushing.

 

Yeah sell um and go Deaver.

 

paying thousands of dollars for spring steel seems absurd. A Chevy 63 leaf pack will get you by for 1% of that price.

 

I’m not seeing such a thing - would you happen to have a link? I see the Trail Gear greasable bolts, but nothing that would allow me to go without the sleeve. A pointer to that option would be swell.

 

https://trail-gear.com/catalog/product/view/_ignore_category/1/id/7178/s/greasable-bolt-m18x120mm/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...f-a-build-thread.337259/page-59#post-19763943

 

Aha, so this option would include drilling out the spring mount holes on the chassis to fit the new bolt to then bypass the need for the metal sleeve in the bushing.

The beefier bolt sized to the OD of the sleeve would definitely be a nice add. Since I'm adding BAMF hangers, I'm going to have to think on that option and whether I have the tools to drill these out. If the bolt becomes the pivot / working surface, would it have a tendency to walk the nut off without a bushing to take the rotational forces off the bolt? And, it seems like the bushing sleeve is what allows for the high torque these bolts need (~89 Lbf), without crushing the poly bushings, since the sleeve acts as a brace between the two sides of the mount? Will have to think on this... greatly appreciate the ideas / options.

 

the nut on the TG setup is a stover nut so there’s no concern about it backing off. I r had these bolts on the front and rear of my leaf springs for many years now with no issues.