Bought new leaf springs, realized after I tried to raise to diff after I removed the u bolts, the springs have the center bolt between the axle housing and the plate (part of the car) holding the springs on. I able to just remove the nut, but the bolt sits there with no way to remove, like its pressed in. Should I just cut this bolt and try to fish it out of there? Weird, wasn't expecting that. New springs just have a bolt already installed.

 

When i did mine there was no bolt in that spot, just a "nub" instead of a hex head on the center of the stack that aligned into that hole, unfortunately i don't have any pictures of it.

 

That HAS to be the bolt that held the spring pack together, Located the perch on the rear end. So, you can cut it off, but then you would have to remove the "head" from the perch. Probably easier to soak it, and pound it out, so the hole doesn't get "lost" or damaged.

 

Or bolt the old spring back together on the perch and use the spring as a lever to work the head of the bolt out of the perch.

 

Yes, I had to remove the nut to get the springs off. I can't really remove the center bolt from my new springs, thats not a good option, so time to cut I guess. The head is a nub that press fit from the factory on the perch before they welded the perch to the axle housing, so this bolt is completely non-serviceable. It will hit the axle tube if I pound it out from the bottom so I will need to cut the bolt, then chisel the head off, then remove it with a punch from the bottom. Still completely weird to me why Olds did this.

 

I've got several loose rear ends from 1954 and 1955 Oldsmobile's and none have that bolt attached to the housing. Have you tried tapping the side of the bolt, or trying to pry it loose from the housing? Here's photos of that plate on a couple of them.

 

the only picture i have of the rear end, there was no bolt welded where yours has a bolt.

 

The bolt has a a head on it, kind of like rivet head, it's definitely pressed in. Since it's directly under the axle housing, there is no clearance to remove it without cutting and knocking the head off of it. It's a little comforting to see other housings the same year without it, so when I cut, drill, or punch this out, I won't feel as bad. I will post more close up pictures tonight.

 

It is probably stuck in there due to rust. If you cut it off you loose all the leverage to work it out of there.

 

No, its not stuck, its a press fit. That's how you are able to loosen the nut without the stud turning. I will add a pic tonight that shows the top of the stud/bolt.

 

Ok first of all thank you everyone, I am relatively new to working on 1950s cars, things are different, but in most cases simple. I was able to knock the bolts out from the bottom. They do hit the housing but I kept pounding and they came out at a angle. The bolts are definately hardened, me wacking on the with a hammer didnt even damage the threads. The hole is .500, same as new springs center bolt cap, so the new springs will center right up.

 

I used 7" u bolts that were almost too short, but it worked out. So, all done!

Reused the spring insulators, they seems fine. Test drive checked out great today.

 

I would say those ubolts are just right. You have a couple threads sticking out beyond the nut and that is perfect. Congrats

 

BEFORE
‐---‐----------------------------------------------------

AFTER (Look at rear tire whitewall, you can see top of hubcap now too)

 

Very beautiful car. Nicely done. I had a very similar experience. Had to tap out that bolt form the hole, at an angle. This was after the old springs sagged enough the drive shaft was hitting the underbody when the back seat was occupied.

But I had a very interesting complication. Someone at the factory had managed to get the Rt spring in backwards! It was all deformed because the direction was wrong and had the majority of the heavier springs at the bumper end. It does much better now. No grinding noises.