Hey guys, I've got a 95 f-150 w/ a 4.9L/300 6cyl. (like that matters to this subject) w/ a 5 speed and 2wd. It has about 140k on it and looks like everything is orginal. I am about to retire from the US NAVY as diesel mech to give some ideal of experince level. I have overhauled or repaired just everything from pumps to main steam engines as well as diesel and a couple of gas ones as well, and everything in between. I have just done a tune up recently and it looked like it had the orginal plug wires, as well as replace the clutch. These task were obviously simple task for me and w/ little or no help. I now need to replace the radius arm bushings and left side bracket as I let it go to long due to lack of money. Now I have to really pay for it for letting it go so long. Here the question, 1) When I replac the bracket can I use like a grade 5 or 8 bolt in place of these stuip brad or rivets what ever you want to call them. 2) Is this as straight forward as it looks, and what do I need to look out for while I'm doing this beside being carefull not to damge any other parts such as the brake caliper or tie rods. 3) I am familar for the purpose of torqes but is possible to get by just impacting on. I dont have any torque wrenchs avaible to me that goes to 300 something ft lbs. Well thanks guys for any info you can pass on to me. I want to do this work this weekend if possible. I am awaiting parts right now. Oh on bushings standard or neoprene, I've heard pro and cons on both. thanks again. a man & his trk.

 

I did them on my 95 bronco, the rivets are wicked hard to remove. I used air chisel, grinder, chisel, and a BFH. Someone here posted that they went to the muffler shop and had the rivets blown out with a torch for FREE. Either way I'd pay to have it done, and use grade 8 bolts. Good luck.

 

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Hi,

I just replaced my right radius arm bracket. The bracket is $30 from the ford dealership. I used high temperature bushings from Napa part# NCP2749184 ($30 each).
Disconnect the shock from the radius arm, drop the axle low enough to disconnect the top of the coil spring, disconnect the radius arm from the bracket then pulled the axle forward enough to clear the radius arm from the bracket. I used a $20 cable winch and connected it to the bumper of my other car and winched the axle forward. With everything disconnected, the axle moves fairly easily. Just be sure to set the E-brake on both vehicles before you start.

Once the radius arm is clear from the bracket there is plenty of room to work on the bracket. I used a 4” grinder to remove the rivets. Be careful not to nick the nearby brake lines with the grinder.

Pay close attention to the holes in your new bracket. The old rivets are 7/16” but the new bracket holes on the bottom are 9/16”. I had to drill the holes in the frame to match the bracket holes. Torque the 7/16” bolts to 120ft/lbs and the 9/16” to 150ft/lbs. Everything goes back together in reverse order. I connected the winch to the rear axle and pulled the front axle back into its original position. Check your manual for correct torque specs on all connections.

The whole job for one bracket replacement took me about 3 hours from beginning to end. It’s not a hard job and can be done easily by one person. Good luck.

 

I have done this on a 4x4 but should be similar. I used a grinder for the rivet heads and then drilled the remainder. Don't bother diconnecting shocks and springs if the bracket is being removed. Using grade 8 bolts are fine for replacing the rivets. As far as bushings, I used the rubber TRW ones and the ride isn't any different than stock. The pass side bracket only had bolts, no rivets. Post back if you have more questions.