Weekend project

[mhsprecher]

Now that the electrical gremlins in my 45 truck have mostly been vanquished after installing a new wiring harness, on to some mechanical problems. Last weekend I replaced the drag link, which was quite bad. I also noticed that the spring shackles were in pretty bad shape. There was lots of clunking on bumps. You could see the play in the shackles when you turned the steering wheel.

I bought all new parts from C&G: bolts, bushings and rear hangers and started to work. I had everything disassembled and the springs removed in about three hours. You can see from the photos that the bolts were pretty worn. It took me a while longer to remove the bushings from the shackle bracket that was riveted to the frame. I cut the bushing with a hack saw and drove the old one out using a chisel. I installed the new one using a threaded bolt and nut with washers on each end.

While under the truck, i noticed a loose shock absorber. I tightened that up. I have ordered NOS shock links that i hope will arrive this week. I am having a little trouble getting one of the shock links off. The tie rod puller I bought worked great for one side, but the other side is a little stubborn.

Today I will replace the bushings in the springs and reassemble it. A friend has a press and we will press out the old bushings out and put the new ones in. I assume that you could use the hacksaw and bolt trick for those, but the press should make the job a lot easier.

The truck looks great and was pretty nicely restored a P.O. or two ago. I am often surprised by what does not get done, though. Clearly the front end needed some work. The wiring left a lot to be desired, too. Hopefully everything gets done in time to take the truck to the V8 meeting in Chantilly early next month!

Thanks to all who have provided advice and commentary along the way!

[mhsprecher]

A couple of photos I missed. The first is during the removal of the front shackle bolt. The second is the rear shackle and hanger before I removed it.

There is skill and thought that goes into documenting these projects in photographs. Thinking to grab your phone and compose a good shot with greasy hands while you are working is tough!

[dwick01]

Nice work!

[PeteVS]

Lubing the springs?

[mhsprecher]

Pete,

I am pondering that now. I assume that would require disassembling the springs, which I have never done before. I had thought about oiling the springs, but the better approach is probably greasing disassembled springs. I researched the topic here and the consensus seems to be either Slip Plate or fifth wheel grease. I'd appreciate suggestions on the best approach.

[JM 35 Sedan]

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Cool! Hoping to see your truck at Chantilly.

[mhsprecher]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

Cool! Hoping to see your truck at Chantilly.

JM, I am trying.

I am hoping to take both of my V8s to the meet. I live close enough that I can take two trips to get them both there. I haven't driven the 39 as I have been working on getting the truck ready. The 39 has a rebuilt carb and a rebuilt fuel pump and new pump shaft, but I haven't driven it far enough to see if it strands me like it has been doing. It purrs like a kitten, though.

[Norm in Bow, WA]

I love the color/shade of your truck. Is it a stock flavor or custom mix?

Norm

[mhsprecher]

Thanks, Norm. It is a later Ford green, the name of which escapes me. It may have originally been a similar shade, from what I can see under the dash. I will research the color and post it. The PO added some brown trim and wheel highlights, which you can't see here.

[PeteVS]

Originally Posted by mhsprecher

Pete,

I am pondering that now. I assume that would require disassembling the springs, which I have never done before. I had thought about oiling the springs, but the better approach is probably greasing disassembled springs. I will research it. I'd appreciate suggestions on the best approach.

I remember going to a gas station with my uncle and his '51 Chevy. They had it up on a lift and the mechanic drove a small cold chisel between the leaves. He then shot some grease into the gap and repeated this for both ends of all the leaves.

If you can get them apart, I'd clean the leaves and lube them with Slip Plate. it's an aerosol graphite product that dries to leave a nice clean graphite coating.

[mercman from oz]

Nice pair of V8's. Not much room to work on the cars in your garage, but more room than I have in my garage.
Your pick-up should be a dream to drive after replacing these suspension parts.

[mhsprecher]

Mercman,

It wasn't bad to drive beforehand, other than the suspension rattling, but maybe I don't know any better. Clearly someone wasn't doing much with the grease gun before I got it. The crazy thing is that even with the garage, I am still changing the oil on my modern cars in my gravel driveway!

My garage is very close to my house due to a huge tree in the backyard. You should see the machinations I have to go through to get the vehicle on the left into the garage. I have to move the other car out first. I have a very narrow driveway, too. Sometimes I feel like I am just a parking valet.

[mhsprecher]

Today we replaced the bushings in the springs. Not too difficult with the press we used. We lost one in a crowded garage, but I took photos of the three that I kept. Two were very worn and it turns out those two had Ford script on them, so I assume that they were the the originals. One bushing fell out and we had to use a shim to get the new one to stay in.

I have decided to disassemble the springs and apply Slip Plate to the leaves. It doesn't look like a difficult job. I probably should order new bolts to hold the springs together. The threads on the end of one of the U bolts that hold the axle to the springs was a bit stripped. We cleaned it up, but I ordered a new one from C&G with 2 day shipping. I really want to get the truck reassembled before next weekend, if possible. I am getting down to the wire and I want to drive my 39 around some to make sure it isn't going to leave me stranded on the way to Chantilly in about ten days.

[klicker]

Not sure about your pickup springs, but my 39 springs have a zerk on the center bolt. Each leaf is grooved. I just disassembled, cleaned and lube mine with graphite. The grease had dried towards the end of the leaves, and was hard to remove. The hardened crud blocked further efforts to lube the springs at the tips where the lube is needed the most.

Anyway, not hard work, but messy and takes longer than you might think. Good luck!

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by klicker

Not sure about your pickup springs, but my 39 springs have a zerk on the center bolt. Each leaf is grooved. I just disassembled, cleaned and lube mine with graphite. The grease had dried towards the end of the leaves, and was hard to remove. The hardened crud blocked further efforts to lube the springs at the tips where the lube is needed the most.

Anyway, not hard work, but messy and takes longer than you might think. Good luck!

Sounds like someone used the zerk to put grease in between the spring leaves instead of spring lubricant!

[mhsprecher]

Mine doesn't have the zerk. they are pretty clean and look to be in good shape. I hope to disassemble soon. I didn't think I had any graphite spray, but I think I do have some around somewhere. I am looking forward to getting this project done!

[mhsprecher]

The paint color for the truck is Holly Green.

I got the truck pretty much back together. I had trouble removing the shock link from where it attaches at the bracket on top of the axle. One of my shackle bolts did not fit into the bushing, so I need to hone it out a bit. Hopefully that will all be done this morning. Oh, and one shock is frozen, so it came off to get replaced or rebuilt.

The U bolt came from C&G. It is much longer than the original and the bolts are higher. I will take a photo. The axle might even interfere with it. I won't know until I try to install it. I will try and find a NOS or NORS u bolt, as I won't be happy if one is longer than the other.

[flatford8]

That pickup is pretty enough to drive to church........Mark

[D. Jones]

I see your truck has chrome grill bars, bumper and light trim so I assume someone changed/upgraded them as on 1945 models those parts, as I understand, were painted as there was no chrome available just after the war.

[mhsprecher]

D. Jones, I assume that is the case. The quality does not seem as good as the original might be.