Well, big problems have landed in my lap. I bought a new power steering pump and some radius arm bushings for my truck last week. Installed the pump on Sunday, all went well. Decided I would do one radius arm last night and one tonight, not gonna happen.
I sprayed the radius arm nut with penetrating oil over the weekend and again last night. It was a bear to get it started (so I thought) but then the wrench movement began to improve. Turns out I was twisting the steel and ended up breaking the end off of my radius arm...
So the new dilemma is this: Either buy a used radius arm from a junk yard for $50 (they said they won't remove the nut either, they just burn the rivets out of the bracket), and then risk breaking another one, or buy a new one from Bronco Graveyard for $110. I was thinking that I could cut the nut off the new-used radius arm and clean it up with a wire wheel.
How big of a job is it to remove the coil spring? Looks like a decent sized project to remove the radius arm. Any advice would be appreciated. Anyone ever repair a radius arm?? I do have 10+ years of welding experience.
Thanks,
Travis

 

I'm sorry I can't help on your radius arm, just to change out the bushing is a major time consuming PITA. But if you do get a new one (how ever that happens), stop for a moment and knock the rivets off the bushing brackets that connect the bracket to the frame and replace them with grade 8 bolts backed with the best locking nuts and washers you can find. That way you can always replace the bushing by removing the bracket and not screwing around with the radius arm. I had a frame shop replace the rivets on my truck with bolts, supply new bushings, they did all the work for $140.00. The next time it will only cost me $20 for the bushings because I will just take the brackets off and replace them.
After 4K miles, everything is torked major tight, and personally I have not had any problems. And other folks on this site have done the same thing, too. It's not getto, it's just an easier way to solve a problem, that is still safe.
LNF150

 

Thanks for the advice, but I believe that you still need to take the large nut off of the rear end of the radius arm whenever you replace the bushings. This is where mine broke. I was planning on bolting the bracket back on.

 

You must be one strong dude to twist the end of a radius arm off.

An impact wrench might be the best way to do it, sometimes the impact action will help break rusty parts free. Maybe soak it with oil a few times over the course of a week or two. It would also help to get a radius arm with less rust on it than yours. I don't know where you live but sometimes that can be hard.

Getting the coil spring off is easy. It's the nut that holds the radius arm to the axle that requires an ENORMOUS amount of torque to break free. I had to use a 1/2" breaker bar and put my jack handle over the end of it - a 6 foot extension - and it was STILL a pita to break loose.

 

buy the used one and take e heat wrench to the nut. Impact it off and done

 

The salvage yard told me $25 bucks if I remove the radius arm or $50 if they do it. I would have to think that it would be a pain in the rear to try and remove that in the yard laying in some two foot tall wood tick infested grass.

 

My Super Bad!!! I thought you broke a big bolt up on the front end of the radius arm. I'm with you now.

Two things, where that big threaded rod fit in the old bushings, where there any bushings left? Reason I ask is that rod can get the living crud beat out of it in that bracket hole to where it is wittled down to thumb size, not to mention the bracket hole being expanded where no bushing will ever fit again.

The other thing is the end of that arm is hardened steel, and some have tried to weld up (not me) but that takes the temper out of that shaft. But to bust hardened steel takes tork.

I pity your situtation and I honestly hope for the best for you and your truck, but to rip the threaded shaft end off that radius arm, that takes an impact wrench from hell or a 10 foot cheater bar.

Something happened here probably through the years of miskeep from a PO (not your fault). But to twist that shaft off...

 

The shaft was probably about 5/8" in diameter where it broke. All I was using was about a 16" wrench and leverage from my foot. I thought I was in luck because every time I flipped the wrench I was making progress, then the whole damn end fell off in my hand. Found a salvage yard in AZ that will send me a nice clean one for $50 bucks and I have a laid off Ford mechanic coming over tonight to give me some ideas and a price to have him finsh my mess.