Ok guys, It's a 94 Bronco, 5.8L, E40D. New wheel bearings in today, radius arm bushings, once I figure out how to get the radius arm to drop out of bracket. New springs and shocks, still I am getting this seriously troubling front end vibration starting around 50mph and continues from there, the shaking gets so bad that I am afraid to take it over 65mph. Wheels have been balanced. I am getting a little play in the sterring wheel and it has started to wander when driving. I noticed today that I had some side to side play when I was putting in the wheel bearings. It seemed to me that the side to side play was transfered all the way through the drag link and to the pitman arm. How do I know if it is time for a new sterring gear box and/or tie rods? By the way the truck has 190K on the ticker all original parts. Also put in new ujoints front axle, new rear driveshaft. Any help would be appreciated, dont want to go and start replacing parts if they dont need it.
Thanks, Tim

 

A couple of side notes, I am very familiar with working on this rig, not a newbie. Just finished swapping the engine back to factory form, ran a complete Lightning setup, intake, ECM, harness, etc. So I know my way around the truck , and am not afraid of a little work to save a few bucks.
Also, when changing out the radius arm bushings , is the easiest way to grind off the rivets on the brackets and replace them with grade 8 bolts? I tried to swap them once, but can't get enough clearance to slide the axle forward to drop the radius arm free of the bracket. Thanks again guys and gals.
Tim

 

The easiest way is to remove the shocks, disconnect the driveshaft (for the drivers side), the axle pivot bolt and the upper coil spring retainer, then the whole assembly just drops right out. Less then an hour to do both sides.

 

I used this method but used an air chisel to get the rivets off:


Ok, here is the write-up for replacing the radius arm bushings on a Big Bronco without extended radius arms. I know that most of you know all this or have lifts which make it irrelevant, but for the rest of you, here it goes.
I wanted to replace my radius arm bushings, but there is alot involved to do it the "right" way and I don't have the money for an alignment. I was able to do the entire job in about an hour and a half from start to finish and it cost me about $35.00.

I bought poly Moog radius arm bushings at Auto-Zone for $6.99/side.
Next, I went to Ace Hardware and picked up the following hardware:
BE SURE TO GET ALL GRADE 8!

6 x 1 1/2" long 7/16" bolts
6 x 7/16" lock washers
6 x 7/16" nuts
12 x 7/16" washers
After making sure I could get the nuts of the back of the arms, I took the Bronco to a local muffler shop and for $20, the owner torched off the rivets that hold the radius arm brackets onto the truck. There are 3/side and he was able to cut off the rivet head on the outside of the frame and knock them through. This allowed him to keep the torch away from the brake and fuel lines. He then put in the new hardware for me. This took all of 15 minutes.
Back at home I started with the driver's side. SET THE PARKING BRAKE! First I removed the big nut and rear bushings off the back of the arm. This task required a 1 1/4" socket which I got at NAPA.
Next, I removed the NEW hardware and LOOSENED the one bolt in the back of the mount that is stock.
This allows the bracket to pivot down enough that you can remove the front bushings. Check that the hole that the arm goes into is still round. If the arm has been banging into the bracket, it can bend the metal and cause new bushings to wear out very quickly.
Now put on the new front bushing, being sure to copy the way the old ones came off.
The tricky part: I put my floor jack under the bracket and raised it up while guiding the arm into the hole. As soon as I could, I put the washer and nut on the back of the arm. It takes some work, but eventually you should be able to get the holes in the bracket to line up with those in the frame.
Once I had the holes lined up, I put my new hardware back in and torqued it all to 75lbs. as this it the torque Ford says to put on that one stock bolt that is in the bracket.
Then, remove the nut you had temporarily put back on the arm, put the rear bushings on, replace the washer and nut, and torque that nut to 100 ftlbs.
Finally, do the same on the passenger side.

 

Thanks for the info, I used a sawzall to remove the rivets. I only had 3 on the drivers side, the passenger side was held on by 4 bolts. Got it done, never the less. Thanks again for the info.