In case you decide to go ahead and change them, you may have little scraps of rubber left in the bushing shells after you extract the old rubber. You can use a small wire wheel on a die grinder or drill to clean the bushing shells. Don't forget to use silicone grease to lube the new poly bushings and keep them from squeaking.
Jason
"Where there's a wheel, there's a way!"
'69 F100 SWB in Lunar Green with built 351C & TKO-600 5-speed, 4.56 gears, and Eaton TrueTrac Posi.
Future plans: Maybe one day, fresh paint, though I've been told by some, "Don't touch it! It's done!"
'06 Mustang GT 5-speed
Sold: '77 F100, '72 Gran Torino, '76 El Camino with 454 & TH400
I'm in the middle of trying to replace these bushings, or at least one of them as my truck is inoperable with one out. As has been the case this year, I'm once again singlehandedly ending the central texas drought, because any time i start doing a repair that renders my truck inoperable, it proceeds to rain nonstop until said repair has been completed, at which point it doesn't rain again until i take my truck apart again.
Getting the old one out was insane, probably would have been easier if i started by slitting it with a hacksaw, instead i made a mess mangling it out and finally had to bust out the blue-nosed wrench to cut the damn thing out. I borrowed one of those ball joint separator tools from the auto parts store but it didn't do any good for pushing the old one out (because its an oval) and its not even close to being able to push the new one in.
It looks to me like there is a GOOD 20-thousandths interference fit on this thing. It has a little lead-in but its not even close to going in the hole. Best case i can get one side started and jammed in there, just barely.
So what's the deal, do you pretty much have to buy the poly ones? Are you supposed to be using an arbor press outside of the truck? is there a special tool that i'm not understanding?
Coming from the rust belt, the difficult extraction and resorting to a torch is nothing new to me. I pretty much expect all suspension parts to come off with a torch and if i can get them off with conventional means i'm happy. I did not expect it to be this hard to get the damn things back in.
Before I swapped in the Dream Beams I did the bushings in my stock beams with only removing the pivot bolt and dropping down the beam. I used my air-hammer to pop out the old bushing and then used a long bolt, thick flat washer and a large socket, with a 1/2 drive impact to press in the new bushing. It took about 1/2 hour to do both sides. I replaced the bushings in my dad's truck a long time ago using the same method.
From 'BobbyFord'
Go figure as soon as i post (i searched like 20 threads) the very next thread i click has the info.
Looks like i'm going to fastenal after work and getting creative.
I wanted to post back up with my experiences so anyone else searching this has another point of reference.
I bought the cheapest pivot bushings i could find @$7 from rock auto. Let me start by saying that IN HINDSIGHT i should have sprung for the $25 (set) of polyurethane bushings. It would have made my life a lot easier.
I've heard that the poly bushings can cause problems, they shrink over time and harden up and when they do fail they crumble apart. The stock rubber bushings lasted the last 50 years, so I wanted to go with the OEM type solution, but the metal shell removal and re-install was a B!TCH,
So, starting at the beginning, lifted the truck from the cross member, popped the bolt out, used the floor jack to take pressure off the I-beam and get the bolt down and lower it. Started tearing out the bushing... it was GONE! No rubber in the upper half whatsoever.
Tried knocking it out with a chisel from both sides, tried slitting it with a hacksaw and failed, eventually got mad and busted out the blue-nosed wrench. Blew through the shell and folded it in on itself to rip it out... done.
The replacement bushing was too big, like, way too big. At least .030-050 oversize all the way around. Don't let BobbyFord fool ya, he's got Ford in his name so fitting a too-big bushing in a too-small hole probably comes easy for him. For us mortals, not so much. It was so big it wouldn't even start on the lead-in.
My homeade installation tool consisted of a 6.5 inch long 9/16-20 (i think UNF whatever pitch that is) grade 8 bolt, two 9/16" washers, two 3/4" washers and two 1" washers, stacked up. Could have welded them all together but didn't have to. Then i used a 1.25-1.5" NPT pipe coupling to allow the bushing to press through on the back side.
Since the bushing wouldn't even get started, i had to pie-cut the leading edge all the way around with an angle grinder and bend them in. I got it started pretty easily with that modification, then i just sat on it with the impact wrench hammering away for a good half hour, making a tiny turn each time. A bigger impact or perhaps a sturdy breaker bar would have made it go quicker, but i used what i had and eventually smashed the bushing into place.
So, what is the hindsight 20/20 on the deal? I dunno, probably don't take the bushing shells out, use the polyurethane unless you have an arbor press. For the second bushing i'll probably end up using the one i bought but i'll slot the shell all the way or almost all the way to let it go in easier.
I decided to go poly on all my replacement bushings. After seeing that the Energy Suspension pivot bushings used the original shells, that nailed it for me. I fought the leaf spring bushings for hours without a bushing press and never could get the threaded rod/nuts/washers method to accomplish anything. Thanks for posting your experience!
Randy
1970 F100 Sport Custom Limited LWB, 302cid, 3 on the tree. NO A/C, NO P/S, NO P/B. Currently in 1000 pcs while rebuilding. Project thread: http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... 22&t=59995 Plan: 351w, C4, LSD, pwr front disc, p/s, a/c, bucket seats, new interior and paint.
1987 F-150 XLT Lariat, 5.0/C6 auto.
I guess everyone else just goes with the poly. I'll try to do a little tutorial when I do the second one, showing the removal and slitting, unless someone else has a better idea of how to get the damn thing in.
Truck doesn't really handle any better, changing lots of things at once here, so it is tough to say. New tires definitely made the steering slop more noticeable. Maybe once i do the other bushing, the shocks, and more adjustment to the steering it will get better.
