Reply To: Ball bearing shackle history questions

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If you have a copy of PAS Bulletin 1968 #4, you will find information about lubricating the ball bearing shackles. It says that it should be done every 20K miles. They have to be taken apart and cleaned and then repacked with wheel bearing grease. When I took mine apart I found that the pins were badly worn and the ball cups were less worn but between the two there was significant play even when using new balls. The problem is that the balls do not circulate and just hammer in one spot. I think about a 250-pound hammer hitting a small surface area over and over. My car has about 36K miles on it and the shackle pins were bad when I got it with 30K miles. I reason that the shackles would have been in better shape if they had been serviced more often by the first owner, but as you say, it would have been handy to have a way to grease them without taking them apart. In an effort to solve a shimmy problem I am looking for any play that could result in harmonic vibration. I have devised a bushing set up that I think will work but I haven’t tested it on the road yet. I need to drive a few hundred miles and then take them apart to inspect before I can say I have a solution.