Radius Arm Bushing replacement
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, Texas
If you don't know the last time it was aligned like me and i didn't know if the previous owner had it aligned with screwed up bushings it wouldn't hurt. I know Firestone also does the life time alignment things to but its up to you. After you get done with the bushings see if any place does a free check to see how outta wack it is. If not well all i can say is i always get it aligned after i do work with the steering and advise it
Thats my .02 cents though, lets see what others say.
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,965
Likes: 2,725
From: Virginia
You don't have to do an alignment. That being said, all of Ford's twin-I-beam designs tend to be more picky about alignment than other designs. So always keep an eye on tire wear on these frontends. If it is really strange, then it needs an alignment, regardless if the bushings were replaced or not. I never did get an alignment when changing the bushings, and mine drove fine and tire wear was ok.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, Texas
What if the bushing was out and it had been aligned in the past and they didn't notice the bushing was out, this is what happened to me and it ended up making it worst. After i got the bushing replaced, then i had it aligned though the caster i can't fix atm.
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,965
Likes: 2,725
From: Virginia
Shame on the alignment guy for doing that. I have had that happen to me before also, and that's why I try to check everything before I take it in.
Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
You don't have to do an alignment. That being said, all of Ford's twin-I-beam designs tend to be more picky about alignment than other designs. So always keep an eye on tire wear on these frontends. If it is really strange, then it needs an alignment, regardless if the bushings were replaced or not. I never did get an alignment when changing the bushings, and mine drove fine and tire wear was ok.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,936
Likes: 9
From: Acworth, GA
So, let me see if I’ve got this straight. If I replace the radius arm bushings in either fashion, I should not need to immediately take it to the alignment shop, unless there is an obvious problem. And if I understand this correctly, I will definitely have to do an alignment when replacing the axle pivot bushings? I do plan on doing an alignment sometime in the near future. I will have it done when I replace the axle pivot bushings, whether or not I do that myself.
And another question, when replacing the axle pivot bushings, I do not need to remove the whole axle to replace the bushings, do I?
And another question, when replacing the axle pivot bushings, I do not need to remove the whole axle to replace the bushings, do I?
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,936
Likes: 9
From: Acworth, GA
Meanwhile, I think I will attempt to install the Radius Arm bushings in a couple of weekends from now. Or maybe even this weekend, if I'm not doing anything else. I can't have my truck down for any lenght of time as we are doing some home remodeling at the same time.
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Freshman User
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 49
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Hopefully your radius arm bushings are easier than mine. My driver's side was a pain. The passenger side was done in less than 45 min. I don't know how it was "suppose" to be done, but I pulled the radius arm bracket off...which in the case of the drivers side, meant cutting a bolt out. I also had to cut out the bushing washer on the driver side as everything seemed to be "stuck". Might as well get all new grade 8 bolts for the radius arm brackets, and a new nut for the radius arm itself.
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Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,936
Likes: 9
From: Acworth, GA
Finished replacing my radius arm bushings yesterday. It wasn't too difficult of a job. It just took me most of the day and one trip to the neighborhood AZ for the correct size socket (1-1/8" deep-well). Rogue-Wulff, I pretty much used your method except I removed the lower shock retaining bolt instead of the upper. I still had to wrestle everything around pretty good, and I had to use a come-along a couple of times. But, all in all, it left me feeling pretty confident about doing the Axle Pivot bushings myself. Oh well, maybe I'll tackle that job sometime after the 4th of July holiday. Thanks for all of the input. I will post some pictures here as soon as I get them up at this link;
My 1985 Ford F150 4x2 pictures by Grubbworm_photos - Photobucket
My 1985 Ford F150 4x2 pictures by Grubbworm_photos - Photobucket
