[a7tl46]

I have a rear problem and got a replacement to swap it out. viewtopic.php?f=108&t=2665&p=17093#p17093
Got the replacement all prepped up and crawled under the van and found this. Could this be the cause of my rear slipppage?

 

[Matrixx]

It's definitely a problem and will allow movement back their for sure.

 

[a7tl46]

Is this common? My doner rear has those anchor plates. The driver side looks almost new. The passenger side is all intact but rusted up some. Think I might change them our and see what happens before I swap out the whole rear.

If I support the rear axle with a jack stands, I'm assuming I can remove/reinstall without worrying that the rear axle/spring will move?

 

[Matrixx]

Hi a7tl46

If your going to drop the rear end from those brackets, then the springs won't move,no. The new brackets you put on need to match the composite springs you have. Their are 2 different bracket types, one for the composite spring set-up (which you have) and one for the steel spring set-up. Hope this helps.

 

[a7tl46]

the doner rear had the same composite springs. Thanks for the advice. Seems I can support the rear axle on both sides without dropping at all, and change out the brackets. Hope this is the fix, but changing out the rear doesn't look like it takes much more to do.

 

[Matrixx]

It's a straight forward drop if you have the room and tools.

 

[generaljake01]

WOW that could have been catastophic...you can definately see where the axle was sliding back and forth on the leaf spring...ALOT...looks like you crawled under there just in time...I think theres nothing worse than going down the freeway and being passed by a rear axle...ESPECIALLY YOUR OWN!!! :bow:

 

[fast68]

yes very common problem on astro vans in the salt belt here

we have a 93 with the same issue right now in the shop the rear axle is way out of place one tire is on the fender bad

need to knwo whrre you get the composite spring type brackets from for these other than at the dealer

no yards have any good ones they all have astro vans but all are rotted and broken like this one

so most get junked because of this issue

help

need to fix this one asap and get it back to the owner

just cannot find new brackets

tearing it apart tomorrow

i may take pics

but will be same as above but only worse

thanks

 

[lockdoc]

My kids van had the same thing. Luckily I have a parts van here plus old stuff from projects. The symptoms it would cause (other than it falling out/scraping the fenders) would be bad vibrations when taking off as the pinion angle changes with the torque applied to the rear. In the end it cracked the leaf in half. That's when he told me something was wrong.

As for the two styles of mounts (steel/composite) you CAN swap them if you have to. It's just a matter of getting that rubber seal installed that the composites used. I converted my 93 to steel and used the composite clam shells. It's a 4X4 and I beat the crap out of it. It's still going.

 

[fast68]

wait what?

rubber?

where?

pic ?