I need to tackle my radius arm bushings on the '66 and was wondering if anyone knew of a short cut or trick to installing them. Looks like a lot of work if you go by the book. Thanks!

 

Cliff the way I did it was to grind off the rivets on the frame. replace rubber bushings and bolt bracket back on. I also had a clunk- bad radius arm bushings

 

Henry, thats a good idea. Hadnt thought of that!

 

It is a bit of work...Id do it inside if at all possible for starters...If you are ONLY replacing the radius arm bushings and nothing more its pretty easy...be ready for some serious grunt work as its not a light pup to manhandle..
With the truck up on stands away from front suspension area pop the wheel off and then undo the shock mount...choose your end..when you are undoing the shock I would jack the axle up a wee bit to take the load off of the bolt or nut. With the arm still up, pop off the radius arm castellated nut(1 and 1/4" as I recall) along with the cotter pin...
Then undo the I Beam pivot bolt and nut... 1 1/16" and take it out.
With the bolts out of everything you will need a helper to hold the I Beam down after you pry it down out of the frame slot..it should pop out relatively easy. With it out of the frame and the axle assy on the jack or some other platform with wheels on it, have your helper hold down on the I Beam clear of the frame and pull the entire assy forward just enough to clear the frame at the rear that the radius arm goes in...BTW...once the shock is undone, the spring should just be sitting there...note the location of the lower end, mark and set aside.
I am pretty sure, but not positive the brake hose is long enough so that when you pull it forward there wont be excessive tightness on the hose...
If there is, the alternative...and lighter way is to pull the drum, and backing plate assy off and tieing the brake assy up in the wheel well.

If you need torque specs, holler...I have them all except the IBeam pivot...if anyone has that, holler..




- cs65

 

Ya you'll cuss me when you try to grind those rivets off. Take about ford tough.

 

I may just take it to a shop. I dont know if I want to tackle this in the driveway. Im sure it will not be cheap ; (

 

If I were closer, Id happily do it for ya...shops will hit ya hard...esp. since its an older rig...


- cs65

 

I bet you are right CS. I appreciate the offer to help though !

 

If I remember right. I jacked up the front end. Removed shocks and springs. removed castle nut on radius arm. I Let the tires stay on as I used them to roll the I-beam far enough forward with radius arm still attached until arm cleared hanger.
I never did remove the I-beam pivot bolts.
I also remember having to saw off the original rubber bushings because they were so crusted on.
This was done before brake lines were attached.

 

Like CS65 said it really is not a bad job and if you were closer I too would give you a hand.

His description is spot on and I would only add a few more items. When I did my disk brake swap I pulled my front end apart as described, removing the front wheels, jacking up the I-beam, removing the shock, lowering the I-beam to relieve the spring pressure and removing the big bolt that holds the I-beam to radius arm. I then popped the I-beam out and could remove the radius arm.

Now for the extra info, it took a long ratchet in my case a 3/4 drive as I did not have an air compressor at the time, to break the nut loose that holds the I-beam to the radius arm. The radius arm retaining nut was even tighter and also required the 3/4 inch drive ratchet to break it loose. That was the longest ratchet I had which is about 48 inches long. If you have access to air tools it should come off easy.

I would say if you were just going to do the radius arms bushings, I would think 2-3 hours should get them swapped out, no longer than the afternoon. It will go together a lot easier as you will be more failure with the assembly of the front end.

I bought my parts at the local Napa and since they are a hard material, every now and then I hear them squeak. You might try some original rubber style like they offer in the Dennis Carpenter catalog if that is going to bug you.

Let me know if I can provide you with any more info.

Jeff

 

Thanks jeff. I found these on Ebay. Do they look correct?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...204766253&rd=1

 

hey cliff if you really want a shop theres in ftworht called Buck;s wheel and alighnment
they did a buddys 72 and he was pleased with there work and price Paul

 

Yeah...those look correct... as best as you can see in the bag...ND would know for sure as to right thickness as Im sure he has sold hundreds if noth thousands of them over the years.


- cs65

 

C5TZ-3B203-C is inner and is 2 3/8 inch long.
C5TZ- 3B203-B is the outer and is 1 3/16 thick.

There is another call out for a different axle with the following part numbers.

C7TZ-3B203-A and both the inner and outer are 1 3/4 long.

The Napa parts I installed on my pickup were the same size both inner and outer, but I don’t have the part number handy on those.

Jeff

 

Where exactly are you located in tx? I would offer help also, if it werent too far.


ROb