Greaseable Shackle Bolts

Does anyone make a direct fit greaseable bolt for a 2nd/3rd gen stock shackle?

I'm lazy and don't feel like tearing my shackles apart every 5k to grease my poly bushings.

 

I bought a Dobinson bolts, but didn't have a chance to install it yet, so I can't confirm if they'll fit without any issues.

Edit
Dobinsons Greasable Pin Kit for Toyota Tacoma and Tundra 2005 to 2018

$75 Dobinsons Pair Greasable Pin Compatible with Toyota Tacoma and Tundra 2005-2018 - SP59-060

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDKFHPT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_2mJNCb6T0YDYF

It's been used by forum members, just not sure if on stock shackles

 

The do fit in all 3 locations although I only have them in the front spring hanger and the frame side shackle pivot.

 

Did you have to enlarge the holes to fit them?

 

I did by a 1/16th.

 

OK, thanks. Now it makes sense!

 

Pardon the revival of an old thread, but have a question about this very thing.

I'm putting BAMF shackle hangers in my '09, along with Alcan springs -- and I want to use the Dobinsons greasable pins, but I see that Redsyota had to increase the holes by 1/16" to get them to fit. Does anyone have any experience with adding greasable bolts to this combo of parts:

+Alcan springs
+BAMF shackle hangers
+BAMF HD shackles
+Dobinsons greasable shackle pins

Any knowledge of modifications or enlargement of holes needed to get this setup to bolt together? Parts are on their way, and looking to head off an in-garage headache. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

I forget but I think I bought my bushings from Dobinson and used stock shackels. Reguardless there is a no modification solution. Talk to Dobinson.



I had a problem with the upper Dobinson bolts rubbing. Used the stock bolt.

 

The images are greatly appreciated. Yeah, this is what I am also concerned about. It looks like this is a definite concern for the stock hangers. I'm now wondering if the BAMF, Archive, and Rago shackle hangers solve this problem and make it so we can run fully greasable pins. Will find out soon ...

Here's what I've learned, for good of the order:
A. The Alcan Spring bushings come with 9/16" sleeves
B. BAMF shackle hangers and HD shackles are also made with 9/16" sleeves
C. Dobinsons greasable pins are stock-sized at M14

Breaking that down, 9/16 inch = 14.2875 mm, and M14 is 14.00 mm -- the takeaway is that the sleeves are 0.2875 mm larger than an M14. I checked with BAMF and Alcan and they say that the stock sized bolts are just fine to use, and noted that the 'slop' is not noticeable (to be evaluated, of course). If it is, the solution will be to swap out the M14 pins for 9/16 inch pins in an equivalent length.

 

Mine are doing the same thing although not rubbing super bad or making any noise could I just leave the greasable bolts where they are or maybe cut them down to size?

 

I thought about playing with them. Sticking in a spacer etc. I got tired of the project and went with what I knew would work. It was my daily driver so down time was limited.

 

When you did your pins, do you take the metal sleve out?

 

You can re-use one of the stock washers to spacer it out for the single bolt on each side that rubs. Clears fine then.

 

You ever find a solution to this?

I have Archive shackles and HH, Alcan Springs, everything squeaks like hell a few weeks after re-greasing all the bushings. Anything you spray just attracts dirt and while it solves some squeaking initially, makes it worse down the road.

 

My solution was to modify the metal sleeves in all of the poly bushings in the leaf system to allow grease through from the Dobinsons / Trail Gear greasable bolts out to the poly bushings. The BAMF hangers come with one greasable point, and one not, so that solves one of the three points with poly bushes that need grease.

But there's a problem with the greasable bolts and poly bushings with the metal sleeves -- The metal sleeves in the poly bushings that the bolt goes through do not allow lubricant out to the surfaces that are moving. Without a hole in the metal sleeve, the grease goes into a cavity that doesn't see any motion, so it's a grease road to nowhere, thereby leaving your poly bushings dry to rub against the metal bushing. Here's pic of how I modified the sleeves to allow grease through:


If you're talking about the difference in diameter of the bolts v. sleeves; I used M14 bolts (stock size), despite the 9/16" bushing sleeves, because that 0.28mm (0.011 inches) doesn't seem to make any noticeable difference in performance. If I were to do it all again, I would bore the holes in the chassis out the tiny +0.28mm needed to 9/16" (14.2875 mm) to allow the 9/16" Trail Gear greasable bolts to fit perfectly. The only unknown with that is whether there's enough space to pass grease through between the bolt and the sleeve, and if the M14 bolt with the 9/16" bushing might provide just enough space to allow for some grease to move between the surfaces. Also, this is one of those modifications that if you do it, you can't easily undo it (fair warning).

Greasing is always easy with these bolts now, and grease presses out between the poly bush and metal sleeves, as intended.

Finally, if it helps, my BAMF hanger + Alcan setup with greasable pivot bolts with modified bushings (drilled hole) are quiet as can be. I grease them every 2k trail miles and at oil changes and they're super quiet and smooth, even at full articulation. But the key was drilling a small hole through the bushing sleeves to allow grease through to the bushing surfaces. I'm also greasing regularly with SuperLube synthetic grease, which seems to be the right fit for the poly bushings -- I just get the small grease gun tubes and have a dedicated small grease gun just for this job.

Hope that helps.

 

Appreciate the reply.

Do you have pics of the Dobinson's bolt in your BAMF shackle? I have Archive Hammer Hangers and their shackles, I want to see how much room I have to play with around the shackle hanger. I'm sure it will be close.

I'm losing sleep over these creaks and groans and need to find a long term solution. Just finished up my greaseable bushings in my front lower control arms, so I want to make the truck as quiet as can be.