Maybe because this stepside has the 56 inch springs as opposed to the 52 inch springs? If you have 52 inch springs my guess is the shackle would be placed 4 inches forward from where it is on my 74. This would allow plenty of clearance. This one is a Rubik's cube to take apart. Remove front bolt. Remove u bolts. pull spring forward to get clearance on the back for tools. Then remove spring to shackle bolt. Now in my case the shackle looks like it's original and was pretty dry. I decided to replace it as well. I think they must build the chassis and install the spring bolts before bolting on the box and fenders. Anyway, pulled the nut off of the shackle through bolt and drove it out enough to get my sawzall on it. I cut off the head of the shackle through bolt and pulled it out using vice grips. I ended up using an old long 3/16 bit as a punch to drive one of them out, then had to work the now jammed bit out because it got on the bottom edge of the body and wedged in. Luckily plenty of bit to work with and pull on. Got it out without damage to the bit or the truck. Now I am back to stock height. Thanks for your response.
ricky
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