Radius arm bracket trouble

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Aug 7, 2005 | 10:35 PM

ahkmn

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Radius arm bracket trouble

I have a '95 F-150 4x4, and I am having trouble with the radius arm brackets. A couple years ago, I broke the original brackets. There was a crack in each one going from the center out to the bottom edge. Long story short, new arms and brackets were installed along with new bushings on the arms, and now, my brackets are broke again! The right one has a crack in two places and is holding by a little piece. The left one has developed a crack also, but not as bad as the right one. This truck is stock, no lift kit, etc. Are there any better brackets out there besides the ones that Ford offers?? Also, would the brackets from a '95 F-250 be any heavier duty??

Aug 8, 2005 | 02:51 PM

andym

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From: Bonita Springs FL

There's obviously something going on with your particular truck. There's nothing you could be doing to that truck to crack radius arms like that. There HAS to be something else going on.

Has it ever been in an accident? Does it wear tires funny? Have you replaced the radius arm bushings with rubber (not poly) ones?

It's just a couple thoughts. This is not a common problem.

Aug 8, 2005 | 03:09 PM

quicklook2

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From: Lakewood, Ohio

like anym says, it is not normal.

is the frame cracked or rusted in that area?

do you do radical offroading?

Aug 8, 2005 | 11:19 PM

ahkmn

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Ok, the bushings that are on it now are the poly type. I don't do any radical offroading with it, but I have been mudding before with it, but the terrain wasn't that rough. No, the truck has never been in a wreck, the tires don't seem to wear funny, no more so than a normal TTB Ford, no the frame isn't cracked or rusted in that area. One thought that crossed my mind is this, maybe with the poly bushings installed, and with the axle flexing, the poly bushings won't give very much. Maybe they are stress cracking the brackets from not giving very much. I have heard that a lot of people that install lift kits on their trucks prefer the poly radius arm bushings.

Aug 9, 2005 | 04:58 AM

cpnhgnjnky

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I am running the Superlift brackets with the extended radius arm kit. I beat my truck sensless on rocks. Haven't broken or bent those yet. One thing to keep in mind is that as new bushings break in or old ones start to wear out you should recheck the torque on the rear nut. A slightly loose arm will "walk" up and down in the bracket causing excess stress to make many odd things happen. After putting my poly kit in I had to retighten once after about a month or so.

CJ

Aug 11, 2005 | 08:59 PM

ahkmn

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thanks

Thanks to all for the replies and help. I had my brackets welded up and reinforced. We welded a 5/8" rod around the inner edge of the stock bracket to reinforce it. This looks to be a lot stouter. We'll have to see what happens. Hopefully this won't break out, but time will tell. Thanks again.

Aug 17, 2005 | 05:27 PM

scouterspokane

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radius arm broken

here is what happened to my radius arm...
https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=15527

it took awhile for it to be fixed...however, I did not go back to the poly style, put on new rubber style, seems to work ok...check your alignment on the front.