Hey y'all, my 94f150 4x4 needs the radius and pivot arm bushings replaced. I bought the parts thorough moog and went by a couple places for quotes. $360 was the best I got to have them installed.

I attempted to do this myself but seems I'll need a press to get those old pivot arm bushings out. So I gave up while I was ahead.

Is this a decent price? Any tips on how I could possible get it don't myself without any specialty tools? I'm very mechanically inclined and have a decent amount of automotive tools. Thanks for any help.

 

Prices vary by region, and shops have different labor rates. Also some shops (like ours) will increase the labor when a customer supplies their own parts.

 

I'm in the so-cal area. The shop says they will guaranty the parts, due to them being of "high quality", and labor for 1 year. This is the only place I would really trust. This is the first time I will ever take my truck in to have someone else work on it which really bugs me :/
I live in an area where it's common place to see $250,000 and up cars on the daily and i feel most auto shops try to take advantage of people for it.

 

I was quoted $405 to just do the radius arm bushings at the Ford dealer.

 

Doesn't sound like a bad price to me. Especially if the radius arm brackets have never been replaced with bolt-on brackets. Factory riveted brackets make the job time a little longer, but since they're doing pivot bushings, they should be able to drop the axle beams, disconnect the radius arm, and pull the whole assembly out to replace bushings.

As far as doing it yourself, the ball joint press you need to remove and install pivot arm bushings can be rented at most of the larger chain auto parts stores, like Autozone.

 

Sheesh... for that price you could do this job on 3 trucks and still have money left over.

It really ain't that hard to do. Once I got smart and quit trying to do it under the truck, the hardest part was getting the axle to move forward enough so as to line up the radius arm bracket with the bolt holes in the frame. Easily done in less than a day.

The only thing to be aware of is that the factory pivot bushings are flared on one end to keep them in place and it's easy to get them out... just cut or grind the flare off and smash them out with a punch and BFH. The problem is that you'll need a way to keep the new ones in place. I just tack welded mine to the axle, but if you don't have a welder then you'll have to either find a buddy that does or use a different method.

 

Yep, those prices reflect the overhead that shops carry to keep the lights on and all kinds of stuff. Expensive maybe, It's why people still want to work on their trucks, after all. Some stuff is not worth the time though if you pencil it out. Try to find somebody (kinda young side of go/no-go age) who you can cultivate a good relationship with maintenance repairs over time, maybe get a little better pricing.

 

Yeah I noticed the flared end on the old ones, I have all the tools needed except for a lift and a press. If I had those I could do it myself. Got a welder /lots of tools (can never have too many tools!) I've used this shop before to turn the rotors and flywheels on other trucks. He's a pretty reasonable guy.

 

Is there a thread with pics of the arm and bushing replacement?

Are the Ford brand bushings the best or is there a preferred brand to use or stay away from? Moog Bushings were crap for my TBird's strut arms. The Ford Brand are the only way to go on the T Bird. Are Moog OK for the F350's?