Replacing spring and shackle brackets. Any tips?

[Marla.the.V35]

I'll be replacing the shackle and spring eye brackets at each leaf spring (going one pack at a time).

The plan is to bolt them up at first. But everything will be welded before calling it "complete".  I do notice there's a tiny bit of play where the bolts go through the brackets into the frame. So that has me thinking that the brackets could potentially be mounted crooked.

Is there a trick to aligning these? Will putting them up there somewhat loose, then getting the spring in align them naturally? Am I worrying about nothing?

Help?

TIA!

[Marla.the.V35]

Ignore the above,  we're learning as we go!

That said,  the axle U-bolts that came in the suspension kit don't all fit into the lower shock plate. I can get either the front through the hole or the back,  but not both.  what's the best way to address this?

Pic for attention

[Rus Curtis]

I had to go look in the garage to refresh my memory (I have D25 front and D41 in back).  All the u bolts around the axle housings are the same size except one.  The front axle has one that actually sits on a lip of the pumpkin and is therefore a larger diameter loop.  This one u bolt should be "wider" than the other 7 in your kit.  Even for the back axle, both sit on the narrow housing and not on the pumpkin.  Maybe inspect the plates to see if they're all the same or just one has 2 of the holes spaced farther apart (would be inside opposite from shock mount).  If so, that one goes to the front right.

I'm making assumptions on your project and hope this is how yours is set up.

[Bruce_W]

Common for new U-bolts to not fit the plate, either too wide or too narrow. Usually close. You may need to adjust them to fit.
BW

[Marla.the.V35]

You are correct.

That one u-bolt is bagged individually, as is the plate for it. We tested a few of the new against the original ones. We measured a couple of them and all of them have a smaller diameter than the original bolt and 'flare out' when placed on the axle.  Dana 25 front Dana 41 rear.

[Marla.the.V35]

Common for new U-bolts to not fit the plate, either too wide or too narrow. Usually close. You may need to adjust them to fit.
BW

Best way to adjust?

[Chuck W.]

BFH comes to mind

[Rus Curtis]

That's what I was going to suggest! 

Persuade it, i.e. make contact, above where the nut would thread on (I would even be hesitant to thread the nut and then smack it as it might booger up the nut where it takes more work to get a socket/wrench on it).

[Bruce_W]

If they are too small for the axle housing and “flare out” when you push them over the housing, they are wrong. Don’t tell me, let me guess - Omix-ADA? Kaiser-Willys? Send them back.
Normal adjustment usually involves a bit of squeeze in a vice if too wide or clamping one end in a vice and pulling on the other with a piece of pipe if too narrow. This should only amount to less than half a bolt diameter of mis-match.
BW

[Marla.the.V35]

So,  turns out the Walcks4wd stuff is totally correct.  I ordered lower shock plates from KW and one of them is incorrect/has too narrow holes/is possibly for a different vehicle with a smaller diameter axle. Anyways,  the other shock plates are correct and were within tolerance.  Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

[Marla.the.V35]

Well....crud...

Looks like there's a slight twist somewhere and I can't get the spring eye bolt all the way through

[Rus Curtis]

Try lowering it and as the spring begins to compress (flatten) it may push that bolt back just enough to get it to feed through the hole.

With all the connecting parts, there may be an advantage to leave everything a bit loose until all the threads are in and then you can check alignment of the axle (shouldn't be much) before tightening everything down.

[Marla.the.V35]

I'll give this a shot (bottle jack under spring plate same thing?) 

It's up on jackstands currently and the rear axle has the u-bolts on finger tight (threaded so the bottom of the nut is flush with the bolt), The spring pin is centered in the axle's spring bracket. Should I detach the rear axle first?

Also,  the rear shackle is currently removed. I assume if compressing the spring,  that'll need to be reattached?

Almost forgot..i just attached the spring to frame brackets yesterday.  Is it possible this will be a problem even if that bolt goes through?

I appreciate the advice, I'm feeling a little dejected by this. I hope I'm just jumping to the worst case scenario, (installed bracket crooked, frame bent,  worried about binding) but maybe it's nothing...

[Rus Curtis]

My mistake. For some reason, I thought everything was bolted up except this.  Since its all loose and the C shackle isn't attached, maybe get a garage helper to wiggle the spring (shackle end) while you wiggle the bolt into its mount.  It might be easier to get the springs mounted (since there's a chance of tolerances being off a bit), then attach the axle.

I'm guessing once it's all together and greased, it should work okay.

For peace of mind, with the axle out of the way, it will be easier to measure the criss cross distances in Section, R, FRAME.  The back measurements are C-D (the spring mounts):  48.48"

[Marla.the.V35]

First one is on! Thanks, everyone!