Oops
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Freshman User
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 27
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Oops
I was trying to change the radius arm bushing and bracket.
Passenger side, no problem, couple of tight bolts but everything
came out fine. The problem is that the nut that holds the RA to
the bracket was stuck. So I put a little heat on it, put a wrench
on it and the damn thing broke. Now I am pretty sure you can't
weld it. I pretty much broke the last inch or so that had the threads
on it clean off. So what I wanted to know, is there an easy way
to change the RA or do I need to pull the whole front part of the
truck apart? Also are there any other parts I should replace while
I am in there anyway?
Thanks for any help
Passenger side, no problem, couple of tight bolts but everything
came out fine. The problem is that the nut that holds the RA to
the bracket was stuck. So I put a little heat on it, put a wrench
on it and the damn thing broke. Now I am pretty sure you can't
weld it. I pretty much broke the last inch or so that had the threads
on it clean off. So what I wanted to know, is there an easy way
to change the RA or do I need to pull the whole front part of the
truck apart? Also are there any other parts I should replace while
I am in there anyway?
Thanks for any help
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
Likes: 12
From: Gateway to the West
Unfortunately, you are going to have to pull that side of the TTB (Twin Traction Beam) front axle apart to get the old radius arm off the truck. The good thing (if you can look at it that way) is that you should only have to take apart that one side of the front end to do it. Since everything under the front end is paired left and right, there isn't much else under there to replace without going to the trouble to do the other side as well.
I bit of advice, the bolt on the bottom side of the radius arm holding it to the axle housing started out torqued to about 250 ft.-lbs. and the stud on the top side was at nearly 330 ft.-lbs. That was BEFORE 10+ years of road grime and the elements pouded them. These things will require some effort to remove and maybe even some careful heat application.
I bit of advice, the bolt on the bottom side of the radius arm holding it to the axle housing started out torqued to about 250 ft.-lbs. and the stud on the top side was at nearly 330 ft.-lbs. That was BEFORE 10+ years of road grime and the elements pouded them. These things will require some effort to remove and maybe even some careful heat application.
Posting Legend
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
Likes: 37
Try the "candle trick" listed in the Garage & Workshop forum FAQ thread. This worked on my radius arm bolts. They came off with a simple turn of the wrench, no cheaters, no hammering, no impact wrench, nothing hard about it. -Good luck! 
