Hello everyone. New member here. I'm getting ready to replace my leaf spring rear hangers/shackles/bushings on my 2002 Ford Ranger 4x2 2.3 liter and have a question. I have purchased new Dorman hangers part #722-010 and Dorman shackles 722-001. When I mount the shackle to the hanger there is significant play side to side. When I torqued the shackle to 80ftlb it closed the gap on the hanger a bit but there us still about 1mm of play in which the shackle can slide back and forth on the bolt between the hanger. Is this normal or should that shackle to hanger mount be tight with zero side to side play so that the bushing is bottomed out on each side? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Same thing with my 97 when i replaced the shackles. Doesnt move around much since other end is bolted also with minimal play. Should be fine. You dont want them tight or binding can occur.

 

Yeah it's strange. I did the job today and everything went smoothly. When I torqued the shackle to the hanger/mount to 80ftlb off the truck to pre assemble them there was play in the shackle. I then decided to not preassemble them and when I assembled and began tightening them on the truck they started to get tight with no play. I then stopped until truck was on ground to put full weight on it before fully torquing the bolts.