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Broken Leafspring Shackle On My 2000 Silverado


steveo00

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This all started out as a brake repair job that now has turned into a spring shackle replacement job. In the process of rebuilding the brakes on this 2000 Chevy Silverado I turned my head and looked up towards the bottom of the bed. There before my eyes I was looking at the leaf spring that has left its intended mount and was seated in the bottom of the truck bed. I took the liner out and there was the end of the spring visible through a fair sized hole through the bed., Now I realized what that "bang" was back in October of last year! It did not show much on the appearance of the truck one way or the other. The only thing I noticed was the squeaking noises coming out of the rear end. I incorrectly contributed that to the brakes, more specifically the e-brake which had a problem fora s long as I can remember (got the truck in -04). I looked at all kinds of info from anywhere to figure out how I could get away with the least amount of work, but no one seemed to have experienced exactly this kind of problem. That seemed kind of unreasonable to me considering that this type truck was riddled with rust problems, judging from the comments on the internet. Anyway, so now after I battle my way through unscrewing all the bolts and nuts after having removed about 200 pounds of rust (an exaggeration), after I finally got the old rusted out rear spring shackle out, I still have to remove the bolt in the "eye" of the old spring in order to install the existing spring into the new shackle. That is my problem right now and I really could need some help on this issue. I tried to hit it with a hammer - did not work. I though (since the bolt has a square end) perhaps it screws out, but no that is not the case. I watch someone online take great pleasure in burning it out (the rubber around it that is) but I would like to refrain from such radical measures if I can avoid it. In the meantime I will install a short piece of 2X10 between the underside of the bed and the spring and hope for a viable solution from you guys. I'm not sure what else to do, kinda ran out of options...I appreciate any help you can give!

By the way, I noticed some comments re the possibility to remove this bolt at all, since it is so long and hits up against the frame in the rear and against the muffler and the gas tank in the front. I would be interested in any feedback on this issue as well - any ideas?

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