I want to replace the bushings on the radius arms of my f20 diesel. I am unsure of sequence of steps. Help help

 

Might I suggest you invest in a Chiltons or Haynes service manual? You really need a service manual to properly service your vehicle. The people on these forums can be a great asset, but you also need to educate yourself and invest in the proper tools for the job.

 

For what it's worth.....I have a similar situation but add in 20 or 30 other things. I apologize for resurectiing a post from last year....especially a post where only one answer/???? something was given but I kind of take exception to the answer provided especially since I am going through all sorts of hell trying to find out info without dropping additonal coin on things. A good manual, if you can find it is gonna cost at least 200.00 and sometimes you don't have one available and/or you don't have the time/coin to run around looking for it.

The poor guy asking the question might have more than one post if someone would have taken a stab at providing an answer. I've been to hell and back looking for manuals that don't cost an arm, leg and "left one" and that's if you can find one...especially for a 1966 F100. So far....8 auto parts stores and not one that has info prior to 1986.

I came here to find answers to questions I haven't had to ask myself or others in 30 years. I'm in the middle of trying to locate info on changing the radius arm bushings, master cylinder replacement, trying to find fricken U bolts that are the proper size for the truck (not these crappy universal things you seem to find nowadays) transmissions, body parts and....basically what you would need to re-restore a 20 year old restoration.

If anyone would like to answer the question that was originally asked, it would help me out unfortunately it's probably way too late for the O.P. I came across this trying to search for info on changing the bushing myself and it was only one out there that appears as an acurate match on the first page when you search the web. I can't find a suitable manual and I don't have the time or coin to order one let alone wait for it to be delivered plus.......this is my second life around in performance so please cut some slack.......I think I've earned a break on things.

 

The manuals can be a pain to find, and Ive found 1000x the info on here that I would in a manual. That said Ill take a shot at answering your questions. I just finished up a few weeks ago replacing my radius arm bushings so Ill hit that first. I found that it was much easier to replace these if the I-beam bolt was removed and the I-beam was dropped. After that the radius arm can just swing forward and you can install the new bushings. Ive never seen anyone recomend this method but doing it myself with no help I found this to be the easiest method. This is a good time to replace the I-beam bushings as well, which can be done with a simple home made press.
The master cylinder is really simple, I seem to be taking the thing off daily trying to repair my brakes. First undo the lines going to it, mine has a 3/8 and a 7/16 fitting, yours "should" be the same. Second, undo the bolt holding it onto the booster adn pull it off, pretty simple. At this point I recomend checking the pushrod's depth coming out of the MC, a search can find better info on that than I can give, it tends to confuse me. Mines set o I don't worry about it. Now you need to bleed the new MC. Bench bleeding is recomended, and you can buy little plastic fittings for it, but those tend to leak. So I just bought two 12" brake lines and made my own kit. Just keep pressing the cylinder until all the air is out of the system. Then put it back on the booster, connect your brake lines back up, bleed the sytstem and your'e done.
For U-bolts there is a guy on here that I would recomend, goes by Parts guy Ed, I forget what exactly he does but he has access to all the OEM stuff, look him up. Ive had the most look with body panels at junk yards, but that me and I'll take the time to look around alot(which you will) before paying more for a new piece. Hope some of this helps you out

 

How is it that this post has 3 replies and no one has pointed out that F250s dont have radius arms, and therefore no radius arm bushings.....

 

Hmm, well I have radius arms on my '89 F350, my brother has them on his '92 F150, so I only assume the f250's had them as well, 4x2 of course. Could be wrong though...

 

My answer was based on the fact there are manuals out there for this vintage truck that can be found very little money. Said manual would answer his question about the procedure as well as answer many more in the future. To paraphrase, "Give a man a fish they eat for a day. Teach them to fish, they eat for life."

I was also going on the assumption the OP was asking about servicing a 1994 based on their screen name. Pardon me if I stepped on your toes, but a generic $20 Chilton or Haynes manual would have answered his question and more.

I'll stand by my answer, invest in some documentation and tools as you need them. They will save you money. This forum can help you out if you do not understand what is in the manual or, like I have also found, the manual does not cover what you are trying to do.

 

I am with you! All the 2wd F150/250/350 trucks of this vintage use radius arms.

 

Ya'll please excuse my frustration in the post I made. It wasn't directed solely at one individual. I appreciate the info provided on things and what I was suspecting needed to be done was what was suggested. I was trying to avoid having to do that considering I don't have a garage and.........

I also apologize for not looking at the years of the truck. I do have a '66 but I guess....after searching things for over 2 hours.......I was so elated to get a match for my search that I didn't pay attention. But radius arms are all the same concept. I'll have to ask about the I beam bushing when I'm at the store.

I am on my way to get the master cylinder I ordered and also to find the U bolts at an area truck shop. Even after searching the phone book and web.......I didn't even know the place existed until directed there by a Car quest employee. However, I did find the OEM bolts at Car Quest but they wanted 17.00 each and with their being 4......a bit of sticker shock set in. I will ook into the parts guy as soon as I get back.

This site and the web have been great at providing info but sometimes searching creates only more questions and when that happens, a repeat question must be asked. It will not be the last time anyone ever brings up something once covered here a dozen times so........all I'm asking for is some patience from the senior users. For me, asking something is to either start a conversation or came about because I have exhausted all other search options on my own and need the help. Probably not much different than some other posters on any site.

It seems many of you....the senior users......are the ones that built this site up and would hope that you would want to "hand it off"(so to speak) to others who are just getting into their projects.......like me. You may have seen the same questions but for those that haven't....it's important....especially when were talking about dropping the kind of coin it takes to bring one of these trucks back to life.

Thanks for the replies and help.

 

If you haven't yet, I would suggest joining your state's chapter. I know my chapter (Nebraska) is full of helpful individuals that are more than willing to help me with any questions I have. I usually have better luck asking my questions to those local guys instead of the entire site. (***-backwards, I know). You will find that this entire site is full of usefull information and great people. You will also find that there are some sources you do not want to be getting information from. Just keep in mind that we are all human here, we do make mistakes, and we all have bad days and it will show in how we post. Best of luck to ya pal!

 

Are we all going to hug and sing kumbaya now?

 

It's all good! When we get frustrated ones vision frequently becomes quite narrow. I am glad to hear you are making some progress on your project. Many times those counter-jockeys at the parts store have some good leads!

 

As I said.. you will find some here that you do not always want to talk to.. This ***** is one of them. He likes to flame people and be an *** just because he can.

 

If you got rid of your hateful attitude and considered maybe I was playing, then we could all hug and sing kumbaya.

This ***** has lots of thank you PM's for helping out others. Should I put that in my signature so I can show off like you do with your big bad duratracs

 

Go shoot somethin', that way you can feel big and bad and more significant than everyone, just the way you like it. (plus you'll make me feel better if there is one less carpet-flyer over there.., assuming you are still "over there")

p.s. I won't hug you, but we can sing kumbaya