I was underneath my truck today and noticed something odd about my radius arm bushings. On one of them there is this metal cap thing and it is not on the other? What is this cap and do I need it? Are the bushings in need of a replacement( since the one is popping out?)

pics

 

your bushings are toast. would highly recommend replacing them with some poly's if you can get em. my truck didnt have the metal caps at all so i wouldnt worry too much about it.

 

yup time to replace those

 

I met that's noisy to drive!

Here's how I did mine: Bushings

Also, going forward, you might want to resize pics to something more reasonable, say 500x500 or thereabouts.

 

Bummer. I was hoping I didnt have to do that anytime soon. Is it still safe to drive, right? I mean, It wont damage the components? Thanks for the link though. So the metal cap things are not important? Do you have to change the I beam bushings as well?


And as to poly bushings, are they the only way to go? I heard that they crack and wear down quicker than rubber.


update:

 

it shouldnt damage anything..... shouldnt. if the beam bushings havent ever been changed it probably wouldnt be a bad idea. i had the poly's in the beam bushing mounts and they lasted a really long time actually sold the suspension with them still good a few days ago...

 

Thats good to know. Do you remember where you got them? Nevermind I found some at checker.


http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductD...e=2043&PTSet=A

 

The metal cap is a heat shield to protect the radius arm rubber bushing from the exhaust pipe heat. On some engines like the 4.9 the heat from the exhaust pipe would melt the rubber bushing.

 

GOTCHA! I have the ole 300. That makes sense.

 

Um, I would replace toasted bushings ASAP, and there are several reasons why. First, your alignment can change randomly while you drive as the suspension pieces wander about - certaintly not condusive to maintaining control.

If you were to get into an accident, any insurance inspector with 11 brain cells will notice the bushings and probably use them to avoid paying out due to "improper vehicle maintenance".

While there is rubber in the bushing now, at some point it will disintegrate and pieces will come out, eventually allowing the metal sleeve to bang on the metal opening the bushing is inserted in. Over time, the forces behind these shock loads will increase and eventually the bolt will be beheaded and that's the end of the mechanical connection between the arm and the frame. No connection, no steering and really lousy braking - a huge liability.

On the other hand, with a cheap home depot air chisel, you can get this job done in an hour or two per side, by yourself, using a pair of jackstands to support the vehicle's frame and a floor jack to raise and lower the arms as needbe to line things up for reassembly.

A ball joint clamp as in my pictures make inserting the new bushings easier, but you can smash them in by placing a chunk of 2x4 with a 3/4" hole on the bushing and beating the 2x4 with a hand-sized sledge hammer. Even a framing hammer if you enjoy swinging one.

 

Wow, you really know your stuff. Thanks. So this is an easy thing to do then? What is the chisel for exactly? Is it needed? How do you pull the radius arm out of the hole? Is there enough play in the TTB to allow the radius arm to come out? I was going to try to replace these this weekend, but I hope I can find the time. Thanks again.

 

does This kit has everything i need?