Just took my '69 F250 to the allignment shop today and was told that the Rt side drag link needed to be raplaced as well as the radius arm bushings. The $600 price, was a little too much for me to handle right now.
Is this something that a home (wanna be)mechanic can do on his own.
The drag link seems straight forward if nothing is pressed in. As far as the radius arms are concerned, im not sure if you can remove the bushing brackets and replace them that way. Does an allignment have to be done?
Any advice would be great. Al

 

With a ball joint separator you can do the draglink yourself, (it's just 3 ball joints) if you can do the drag link, you should be able to do the radius arm bushings too. you will need to have an allignment after your done.

here is a nice tool to buy if you don't have one

 

drag link is easy. takes a half hour of your time and runs about a hundred bucks at any store. alignment can be accomplished with just a tape measure and a 5/8 wrench. toe is all that is adjustable. worn out parts can throw you off while trying to align it, but they have to be pretty bad. and radius arm bushings are not one of these things that has anything to do with an alignment. the drag link yes, radius arms, no. they stop horizontal shock and provide stability for the ibeams. they always pull that crap because they want $.
you are really better off doing all of this yourself.

 

Radius arm bushings do have a lot to do with alignment- they keep the beams from twisting, and from moving fore and aft. If the beams can move around, then they cannot set the alignment properly.

 

$600.00 is outrageous. What's the name of that alignment shop...Ben Dover Motors?

The draglink (there's only one * on the right [passenger] side-marked: C5TA-3305-A) is the same: 1965/70 F100/250 2WD & 1971 F100/250 2WD before serial number M00,001.

The radius arm bushings (C5TZ3B203C & D) are the same: 1965/74 F100/250 2WD & 1969/74 Econoline.

All these parts can be bought from autoparts stores for less than 150 bucks.

* The left (drivers) side has a short tie rod end.

 

Besides the ball joint separator, are their any specials tools that i'll need?Thanks for the great info. Al

 

other than the 1.1/8 inch wrench for the radius arm bolt i can't think of any....

 

I need to replace the radius arm bushings on my '67 F100 too. I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Does anything else have to come apart to get them out? Do I just take off the nut and shift the I-beam forward to get the end of the radius arm out of the bushing? Or, do I have to unbolt the radius arm from the I-beam, or do anything with the spring?

I'm just trying to get a handle on how much of a job it is.

 

If your truck has spring retainers holding the spring in the bucket (the two bolts by where the top shock mount is) you might have to remove them to let your Ibeam swing down and forward enough to get the radius arm out..... but, i dont think anything else has to come apart.