Replacing Worn-Out Leaf Springs & Installing new Polly Bushings

By Paul - 2/11/01

So it's time to replace those worn-out and sagging rear leaf springs on your Bronco. Not a big deal -- Just go out and buy a new pair of springs and bushings, take out your old ones, bolt the new ones in, and you're done!, right? -- WRONG! You would think replacing the rear springs would be just that simple, however, this project turned out to be an absolute nightmare.

This nightmare all started when I started looking for a set of new stock-height leaf springs with polly bushings in them for my '79 Bronco. The problem is that no one makes a set of stock-height springs with polly bushings. So I started to call around to find someone who would install polly bushings in a new set of springs. The first person I poised this question to asked me why on earth I was replacing my leaf springs. I told him that mine were sagging and needed to be replaced. He said, "just have them re-arched. They will be good-as-new and it will be cheaper!" Hmm.... not a bad idea I thought, so I called another shop to see if they could re-arch my old springs. These guys said, "Don't do it! Re-arching is only a temporary fix and the process makes the springs much weaker than they were before". So then I asked them if they could install polyurethane bushings in a NEW set of springs and they said, "Why install polyurethane bushings when the rubber bushings are better? Polyurethane is just a gimmick!"

Well by now I was totally confused. This debate continued on and on with each new shop I called having a different opinion and each claiming to be more experienced than the other. Finally I got sick and tired of being in the middle of this apparently long standing debate and decided to go with my gut feeling, and that was that new springs are probably better than RE-ARCHED springs and that polyurethane bushings are probably better than rubber bushings.