General What are Rear shackle bushes??

[wilkes]

I’ve just been told that the knocking noise from the rear of my 2007 X 250 is due to this!
Is the guy at the garage referring to the leaf spring bushes or is it something else!?
As he wants £300 to replace them.

 

[RS3100]

Yes, it's the bushes in the spring eyes and hangers. It's a known problem with earlier versions. Later bushes are a modified design.

 

[Anthony489]

Hi Here's a re-posting of a write up I did in July 2017 about rear shackle bushes. It might help you if you decide to do it yourself, or know more about it if you get the job done by someone else:

I have had a motorhome based on a 2008 Ducato panel van for 3 years. The rear suspension has always creaked loudly over large bumps at low speed, sounding like a braying donkey or the front door of Dracula's castle ! Various attempts to cure it by spraying rubber lubricant etc were unsuccessful.

Anyhow, last week I finally got round to doing something about it. At each side there is a single rear leaf spring with a shackle a few inches long at the back end. I jacked up each side in turn until the weight was just off the rear wheel, then removed the long bolts from the upper and lower bushes. These needed an E24 female Torx socket for the bolt head and a strong 24 mm hexagon socket to undo the nut, they were pretty tight so a long lever was called for.

I found that the design is a bit unusual in that there are rubber bushes pressed into the chassis and the spring eye, with metal inner liners. Into each of these are push fitted a couple of white plastic "top hat" lining bushes, then close fitting metal thick-walled tubes go through these to act as plain bearings. The upper tube is a bit fatter than the lower tube. The long bolts go through the middle of these tubes and hold the shackle plates tight to them. I guess the idea is that the white lining bushes stay put, and the tubes rotate inside them, with side thrust being taken between the inside face of the shackles and the "hat" of the bushes.

I found that the upper metal tubes were clean and still showed shiny plating. The lower tubes however were covered in orange rust, and there was a lot of rust powder in the spring eye bush between the top hats. The inside faces of the shackle plates were also rusty at the lower ends. I cleaned off all the rust with a succession of chipping hammer, wire brush and then emery cloth. The whole lot was then reassembled with graphite grease on the rubbing surfaces and a good layer of Waxoyl around the outer parts. The nuts were torqued back up to 145 Nm (107 lbs-ft).

The result was no more creaking at all - very pleasing.

It seems to me that there is a design fault, in that the spring eye has a narrow slot where the end is turned round. This is at the mercy of water spray from the rear wheels, and the slot allows water and grit to get inside the lower bush. As is so often the case with motorhomes, being left idle for long periods probably exacerbates the rusting. I made sure the slots were filled up with Waxoyl to discourage further water penetration. I am told that the design has now been changed.

 

[Jake Royd]

I had the bushes replaced on my 2008 Ducati.
It cost me circa £400 which included Labour for literally cutting the old bushes out when an extractor failed.
Cured the creaking but I still have a single bong from one leaf spring to try and cure.

 

[ian16527]

Hi Here's a re-posting of a write up I did in July 2017 about rear shackle bushes. It might help you if you decide to do it yourself, or know more about it if you get the job done by someone else:

I have had a motorhome based on a 2008 Ducato panel van for 3 years. The rear suspension has always creaked loudly over large bumps at low speed, sounding like a braying donkey or the front door of Dracula's castle ! Various attempts to cure it by spraying rubber lubricant etc were unsuccessful.

Anyhow, last week I finally got round to doing something about it. At each side there is a single rear leaf spring with a shackle a few inches long at the back end. I jacked up each side in turn until the weight was just off the rear wheel, then removed the long bolts from the upper and lower bushes. These needed an E24 female Torx socket for the bolt head and a strong 24 mm hexagon socket to undo the nut, they were pretty tight so a long lever was called for.

I found that the design is a bit unusual in that there are rubber bushes pressed into the chassis and the spring eye, with metal inner liners. Into each of these are push fitted a couple of white plastic "top hat" lining bushes, then close fitting metal thick-walled tubes go through these to act as plain bearings. The upper tube is a bit fatter than the lower tube. The long bolts go through the middle of these tubes and hold the shackle plates tight to them. I guess the idea is that the white lining bushes stay put, and the tubes rotate inside them, with side thrust being taken between the inside face of the shackles and the "hat" of the bushes.

I found that the upper metal tubes were clean and still showed shiny plating. The lower tubes however were covered in orange rust, and there was a lot of rust powder in the spring eye bush between the top hats. The inside faces of the shackle plates were also rusty at the lower ends. I cleaned off all the rust with a succession of chipping hammer, wire brush and then emery cloth. The whole lot was then reassembled with graphite grease on the rubbing surfaces and a good layer of Waxoyl around the outer parts. The nuts were torqued back up to 145 Nm (107 lbs-ft).

The result was no more creaking at all - very pleasing.

It seems to me that there is a design fault, in that the spring eye has a narrow slot where the end is turned round. This is at the mercy of water spray from the rear wheels, and the slot allows water and grit to get inside the lower bush. As is so often the case with motorhomes, being left idle for long periods probably exacerbates the rusting. I made sure the slots were filled up with Waxoyl to discourage further water penetration. I am told that the design has now been changed.

I know this is an old post but I am having trouble after the bushes in my 2104 Van were replaced.

The bushes have been superseded by a rubberised bush and removed the hollow pin from the assembly. There are also 2 oversize washers that need to be fitted to either side of the spring. They are £52 each and £3 each for the washer so £107 per side

I had the bushes replaced and also had the spring bushes in the rear eye replaced. The dealer will not supply the spring bushes so I got these from Coastal Motorhomes.

The squeak was cured, but now I am getting a heavy vibration after 30mph and getting worse to about 45mph. Unfortunately, I had 4 new tyres fitted at the same time as I needed 2 for the MOT. This has muddied the waters as I initially blamed a tyre. Had them rebalanced, which did not need doing then the garage agreed to fit another 4 tyres. Still the same vibration, so I am now looking at the bushes. This is the only thing that has been done.

I have bought some of the original style bushes with the pin from Coastal MH's and the garage are going to fit these in a couple of weeks.

A couple of questions:

When you redid the shackle bushes, how far do they press in to the chassis? Are they flush to the outside face? Just asking as the pin is 100mm long, and the bushes are 40mm each, therefore 20mm gap in the chassis.

Is there a pin that goes through the rear spring eye when mounting or is it just the bolt.

I am clutching at straws really, as the van went in with a squeal and drove really nice and came out without the squeal and this horrible vibration.

I wonder if the new style bushes are too tight causing the spring to vibrate ( think of twanging an elastic band or ruler) rather than allowing the shackle to flex enough. Other than this I have no idea. The garage is honest but doesn't know the answer.

I am planning to go to France at the end of August, so getting desperate for a solution. I may end up chucking money at the problem and replacing the springs and shocks as well. I cant afford another van so need to get it fixed. At the moment I dont want to drive it too far as it will start to shake things off.

Any help really appreciated

 

[Communicator]

I’ve just been told that the knocking noise from the rear of my 2007 X 250 is due to this!
Is the guy at the garage referring to the leaf spring bushes or is it something else!?
As he wants £300 to replace them.

The diagram below is in two sections, with the rear end of the leaf spring at the top, and the front end below.
The shackles are the near vertical links connecting the spring to the chassis mounting point at the rear.

I might add that on a motorhome or PVC suspension, which always carries a considerable load, the shackles will slope backwards towards the lower end.