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How to lubricate leaf springs? Alcan and OME shackles.

Discussion in 'Suspension' started by cobes, May 15, 2023.

  1. May 15, 2023 at 11:48 AM
    #1
    cobes

    cobes [OP] habitual line-stepper

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    So I've never installed or removed leafs before, so I'm a little ignorant to how the leafs and shackles work together. But essentially I have some alcan springs and some OME greasable shackles, and I've been getting a lot of noise from them. It sounds like the rear bushings, but when I tried to grease them using the ports they are really stiff. So I'm curious if I need to loosen the bolts at all? And if so how much can I do that safely with the truck on the ground.

    Any advice here would be greatly appreciated, again this is just something I'm not familiar with.

    Thanks
     
  2. May 15, 2023 at 12:06 PM
    #2
    Crikeymike

    Crikeymike ExitOffroad.com Vendor

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    It's possible they are all gunked up if they haven't been maintained. It's a good idea to loosen the shackles so that when you pump grease in, the grease can get into where it needs to without added pressure. You can loosen them on the ground, no problem there. Taking them off is a different bit of work (not hard, but different)

    There's gotta be a lot of videos on Youtube too about how to do it.
     
    cobes[OP] likes this.
  3. May 15, 2023 at 12:20 PM
    #3
    cobes

    cobes [OP] habitual line-stepper

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    Ahh user error, great! Haha

    Visually can confirm they are pretty gunked. So if I'm understanding correctly, I can loosen the upper and lower bolts on the shackle some small amount, which should allow it to equalize pressure and allow grease to flow out and some air to escape to make room? I tried searching for on YouTube but couldn't find anything specifically for this. I'll try again.

    Cheers Mike
     
  4. May 15, 2023 at 12:26 PM
    #4
    Crikeymike

    Crikeymike ExitOffroad.com Vendor

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    Yeah, that's right. Then when you grease it, it technically should push out the old junk and you keep wiping it off until it's just new grease coming out.

    You just back them off a smidge, not much. Clean the grease fittings well too before starting, as you may push dirt/junk into it.
     
    908tacoma and cobes[QUOTED][OP] like this.

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