Radius arm isolators

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Nov 5, 2006 | 12:42 PM

griz4718

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Radius arm isolators

Could anyone enlighten me to the procedure for replacing the rubber isolators at the rear end of the radius arms? I have a 94 Ranger XLT extended cab 4X4. I have seen the "official" procedure but was curious if there was an easier way. Thanks to all who reply

Nov 5, 2006 | 02:27 PM

Tiggie

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From: Moneta, VA

What is your "offical procedure?" I think some of the shop manuals recommend you remove much of the front suspension, which is unnessary.

Most shops drill out the rivets that hold the bracket for the rear of the radius arm to the frame. This allows you to replace the bushings without removing all that other stuff. The rivets are then replaced with nuts and bolts of a high grade. I'm glad I did it this way, I've already had to replace them twice and my truck has only 86K miles on it.

Nov 5, 2006 | 07:46 PM

MazdaRangerGuyInSTL

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Yes.. a pneumatic hammer works best to chisel those suckers off, but if it's not available use a high quality chisel and a BFH (Big ****** Hammer).

Much easier this way.

Also before tightening the radius arm nuts back on, make sure the vehicle is sitting on the wheels, and get it aligned afterwords..

And YES the metal shield on the passenger side IS necessary.

Good luck

Nov 6, 2006 | 08:26 AM

griz4718

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Thanks for the replies. I had planned on removing the rivits and then bolting it back on with grade 8 hardware. the "official" procedure I have is "take off the whole front end" out of a Ford manual. I just wanted to see if there were any easier ways I didn't know about.

Nov 6, 2006 | 09:42 AM

john112deere

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From: Maine

I'm going to be doing this sometime soon, too. I found this thread. Anybody know anything more about more chance of new noises from drilling the rivets out? I hate suspension noise...

Also, can anybody give me an idea of how much handling improvement versus how much ride degradation I'm likely to see with poly bushings?

Nov 6, 2006 | 10:09 AM

twoj05

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I did this on my '87 ranger STX, due to rusted out radius arm brackets. I did not notice any additional noises. Did not use poly bushings, but seem to recall the are supposed to stiffen things up a bit. Also found that when I replaced my brackets, they came from Ford with a 1" spacer block, effectively lifting the front end. These were the correct STX brackets. Good luck.