My baby was making a metallic clicking sound from the left front wheel when turning. When ever I would hit a bump coming out of a driveway it felt like some kicked the under side. I was sweating the u-joint, but when I had my mech look at it, turns out it was the bushing. So he estimated a 2 hour job plus the part. Does this sound reasonable? He said it was common on Explorers but hadn't seen it go bad on a Bronco.

Bobby

 

What year truck and what side bushing? Newer Broncos have the pass side bracket bolted on so you can just unbolt, replace bushing and re-bolt. Otherwise you'll have to remove the rivets, I think 2 hours is a bit high for only one side for a professional shop.

U can also loosen everything and pull the whole TTB arm forward w/a come-a-long, but WHY????? More work and if you ever lift the truck those rivets have to go ANYWAY.

 

She is a sweet 96. The bushing is on the left side. How can I tell if the pass side bracket is bolted on? I'm not at all familiar with this. I found this site http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbroncos/tech/rad_arm/ talking about doing it yourself. I'm definitely going to call around then. Thanks for the input.

Bobby

 

>How can I tell if the pass side bracket is bolted on?

Dunno how to say this w/out sounding like a smartass: climb under there and look

On a '96 I can just about bet you the pass side will be bolted on. The driver's should still be riveted. Got drill and grinder?

 

"got drill and grinder"?
I don't know about a '96 but on an '86 those rivets are a pain in the *** to get out. Tried the drill/grinder/punch route when doing my lift. After one or two and several hours of cussing, I went to my neighbor and borrowed an air chisel and 4 more hands. Things went smoothly after that.
You can try drilling them out and see how it goes. But I recomend that you have a backup plan.
Good luck.

 

I did both sides of my 95 by pulling the axle forward a pain in the ### but I don't think it took me two hour to do it this way. Much quieter ride in the bumps. A set for bot sides from Rancho only goes for about $20.
good luck

 

I changed out both sides in about 2 hours on my '94. The passenger side took about 30 mins, and the driver's side about 90 minutes (due to grinding off the old rivets). I ground the heads of the rivets off, then used an air chisel to punch them out. I also drilled out the holes to use the heavier hardware the passenger side uses.

 

>"got drill and grinder"?
>I don't know about a '96 but on an '86 those rivets are a
>pain in the *** to get out. Tried the drill/grinder/punch
>route when doing my lift. After one or two and several hours
>of cussing, I went to my neighbor and borrowed an air chisel
>and 4 more hands. Things went smoothly after that.
>You can try drilling them out and see how it goes. But I
>recomend that you have a backup plan.
>Good luck.

If it took you several hours for two rivets you're slower than most. The key is to realize you don't have to grind DOWN the head starting from the top, but grind into the head as if you're cutting it off. You'll take a little off the bracket, yes, but it won't hurt anything guaranteed


Don't scare him away from an easy job, assuming he doesn't have access to air tools. It's still do-able w/a drill and grinder, and theres NO, NONE, NADA, ZERO reason you can't do one rivet per day. You can even drive around w/a couple rivets missing (or at least I've done it but don't sue me), but once you have one rivet removed you can replace w/a bolt in about 30 seconds. Then so on and so on each day. If this sounds painfully drawn out then set your own schedule, just remember there's no law that says you must complete the project in one day.

 

>If it took you several hours for two rivets you're slower
>than most. The key is to realize you don't have to grind
>DOWN the head starting from the top, but grind into the head
>as if you're cutting it off. You'll take a little off the
>bracket, yes, but it won't hurt anything guaranteed
>
>

The memory is a bit faded, but as I recall there was one rivet which I had managed to completely remove the head but could not punch it through.

>Don't scare him away from an easy job, assuming he doesn't
>have access to air tools. It's still do-able w/a drill and
>grinder, and theres NO, NONE, NADA, ZERO reason you can't do
>one rivet per day. You can even drive around w/a couple
>rivets missing (or at least I've done it but don't sue me),
>but once you have one rivet removed you can replace w/a bolt
>in about 30 seconds. Then so on and so on each day.

Good point.

I didn't mean to "scare him away", just wanted to point out that if he ran into difficulties there was an option he may not have considered. (I have a few air tools but had never heard of an air chisel prior to installing my lift).

Having thought about it a bit longer, I don't think it was radius arm rivets that I had the problem with. The rivets that wouldn't budge were in a location where it was difficult to get a drill or punch to. Some bracket for the axle I think. The radius arms should be easier (that was the last thing I did and was already using the air tools by then).

 

rgabriel:

Good info in the above posts. From my own experience, I had the best luck with grinding off the rivet heads as described, and then using a 3/8" drill to drill out the core of the rivet left in the bracket. More than likely, you won't be able to simply use a hammer and punch to knock it out - the rivet metal is actually compressed in the hole when it's installed at the factory. Drill out a core; it doesn't even need to be drilled all the way through the rivet, and the hammer and punch method should then work just fine. Replace the rivet with a grade 8 bolt, washers, and locknut. Also, polyurethane bushings (aftermarket) are recommended. They're less expensive and more durable than stock. It ain't really that bad a job, go for it!

 

My radius arm bushings *look* good yet I get clunking when weight shifts from back to front or vice versa. Is there anything else it could be?

 

>My radius arm bushings *look* good yet I get clunking when
>weight shifts from back to front or vice versa. Is there
>anything else it could be?

How does the weight shift? Like when accelerating? If so that could certainly be rear d/s. Either u-joints or the slip joint. Check for any play while the vehicle is on level ground, wheels chocked, tranny and t-case in nuetral. You'll get some play from the natural backlash of the gears, this is fine. What you don't want is any play anywhere IN the driveshaft itself.

 

When you think it's the radius arm bushing and it's not-
check the transmission crossmember bolts, especially those at the frame and gusset connection. It's very common that these bolts are loose allowing the crossmember to creak loudly as the frame flexes. This is especially true if the tranny has ever been out of the truck.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 02-May-02 AT 09:31 PM (EST)]I stand corrected . I was only looking at the passenger side since I was told they tend to go first because of the proximity to the cat. The driver side is toast. Its just hanging there by a single strand of rubber. I could blow on it and it would fall off. NOT GOOD!

Glad I saw this thread!

 

Wow, thanks for all this input. Yesterday I called the dealer - $350 quote on the phone. Right, I'll bend over too! Then took it by the Texaco down the street. They hooked me up! Guy knew exactly what he was talking about and I quizzed him pretty hard. Said they had to drill out the rivets and would take him about an hour and a half for both sides. Quoted under a $100 for both plus parts, and said he would slap on the new shocks I bought from Autozone and couldn't get on myself. Plus he fit me in today instead of waiting till next week.

Thanks again for all the help.

Bobby