Distrubing images from under the truck!!!!

[doonze]

So, a little back story. When I'm looking at buying the truck the seller is going through a list of all that the guy HE bought if from had done before HE bought it. Then he said "All I've done to the truck is replace the RA bushings".

Now, this was before I became a member here, and I had never owned a TTB truck before, or any truck for that matter. When he told me this I was like "woo hoo dude, you replaced a bushing, go you!" of course I just said it in my head. But now that I know WHAT a RA bushing is, how often they fail, and the pain in the ass is is to replace one I now understand WHY he bothered to mention it.

Ok, all well and good, So I've been having the sounds of a questionable RA bushing for quite a while, but it's not bad, just every once in a while. Like sometimes while breaking, sometimes under acceleration. Just something I've noticed over the months, and becuase of things like my overheating issue it's just been on the back burner... And the guy said he replaced it..... So no worries right?

Well, I've finally got my overheating issue knocked out, so it's time to turn my attention to other things. I've already looked at the RA bushings before, just didn't check out anything else. So I'm under there checking out if I have rivets or bolts (since he said he replace these things remember?) and this is what I find.... the good news is I have no rivets, just bolts..... kinda

Driver side....

Passenger Side....

Soooo......
Can anyone tell my why I'm so disturbed. And then tell me if I'm being paranoid or if I have reason???? Thanks!

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

oh man the drivers side is bad...looks like it bent the bracket with no bolt there. the passengers side is not as bad tho. still interesting, guess he lost some bolts?... looks like he pounded out the rivets at one point because of all the air hammer marks on the passengers side and prob even used a grinder at one point. the passengers side looks pretty bent forward. im no expert, but it may throw off your alignment...

 

[doonze]

Ok, so good, there are bolts missing, I'm NOT crazy. Yeah, on the drivers side I can't even see the HOLE it's supposed to go into. The passenger side, well, at least the hole is still lined up properly. It's funny that one is missing the Lower bolt, and the other is missing the upper bolt. I guess the two bolts on the bottom of the bracket do a good enough job up there on the passenger side.

Yeah, that drivers side has me worried, guess I'm just gonna need to pull it and find where that hole is. If I have to pull an new bracket from the junk yard I'm NOT looking forward to it. That just might be a part THEY pull for me....

Do you guys think if I find the lower hole, cold I just bend the bracket and that would be ok?? Or is it weak now?

Looks like maybe the hole is just a little higher? Maybe if I jacked on it I could find the hole....

Opinions?

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

well you could bend it back...it should be ok. the bolt hole is actually down about a half inch. those brackets are pretty tough to bend and reshape. (when installing my lift i had to drop those arm brackets down, fortunately for me when i had my transmission rebuilt the guy drilled out the rivets and bolted it back for me.) i doubt it will actually weaken the bracket much if any depending on how you bend it back, i wouldnt suggest a torch or anything...but itll take some muscle to bend it back. good luck with re-bolting it. the passengers side should be ok for now. just slip another bolt in.
i know for fact its lower. compare it to the other side. look at the distance between the passengers side body mount and the drivers.

 

[Anime]

Not a big deal since you found it before anything major happened. You can bend the drivers side bracket back slowly and if there's no cracks, it's fine.

Pull some of the bolts and go to the hardware store and get some others that match. If any of the bolts that replaced the rivets aren't at least Grade 5 (Grade 8 is better), get extra bolts for those too...or just get all Grade 8 hardware for all the rivet replacements if there's any question. You probably don't need to replace the two factory bolts on either side.

Drop the brackets, clean 'em up and spray paint 'em, put on new Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings, bolt on the brackets, add a HUGE thick fender washer between the factory washer and the nut on both sides, torque to spec and you're good!

Be sure the thin metal "heat shield" is there on the passenger side bushing to protect it from the heat of the exhaust. If it's not, try to grab a replacement from the parts store or salvage yard..or from someone on here parting out. The exhaust heat is what tends to make the passenger side bushing wear out so soon.

 

[doonze]

So where exactly is this heat shield??? I don't think I saw anything like that when I was under there. Anyone got a pic??

Also, my plan is to do exactly what you suggested Anime. To tell the truth I really like Energy Suspension. I bought one of their poly kits for my Trans Am, bout 6 years ago. Full front and rear kits. You know with everything, A-arms, tie rods, sway bars, the works.

Well one of the tie rod bushings was not correct, it looked right, but it was much more "flimsy" then the rest. You could tell just by feeling it, and when I put it on it didn't hold firm like the others. There was a part # on it, and it was different then the others also.

Now I had bought it from summit racing or something, but I called Energy Suspension instead. Got a very nice guy on the phone, he asked me some details, asked for my address, and by noon the next day I had the part in my hand. They overnighted it to me. Didn't ask for proof of purchase or anything. Just an apology and we'll have it too you asap.

Just to say, they are one hell of a company in my opinion. And not many people give positive feedback anymore so I thought I would share.

Guess I'll try to take it all apart one weekend soon and figure out where my "missing" hole is.

 

[doonze]

Anyone got a pic on file of the passenger RA with the heat shield? I'm pretty sure mines MIA along with my bolts. I might fab something up if I get an idea of what works....

Do you think if I do fab something that a thicker more robust shield might help keep the bushing from baking because of the cat?

Or would a bigger piece of metal just absorb more heat and bake it more? I notice most heat shields are thin and flimsy made out of something other then steel.....

Hell, maybe tin foil would work?? LOL

 

[red.EDDIE.4x4]

I have no clue what that looks like... You could make it out of some sort of thin metal such as 24 gauge sheet metal that you can find at lowes or home depot. I'm pretty sure mine doesn't have a heat shield either but I'm not worried about it because my lift puts the bracket and bushings 3 or so more inches away from all that stuff.

 

[Dannyboy]

I can tell you that I have lost bolts in the past as well. You need to use lock-tite and also use a nylock nut or they will just loosen up with all the vibration they take. Don't lay under the car but to the side, maybe have someone roll the truck forward and reverse and see if they pivot into the position that it lines up with the hole.

 

[Maniak]

The heat shield is just a piece of metal that goes over the bushing on the passenger side.. Sort of "cup" shaped piece of metal with a hole in the center..

Its nothing fancy..

~Mark

 

[Anime]

The factory radius arm bushing heat shield is just a thin piece of metal shaped to cover the rear bushing:

Moog makes a replacement, should be able to get it at any parts store that carries Moog.


You won't get any benefit making the heat shield thicker, part of the way heat shields work is to act as a heatsink, and the thinner metal lets them cool better, especially when the vehicle is moving.

They came from the factory with the heat shield pressed between the bushing and washer, so a small improvement you can make is to move the heat shield behind the washer, which keeps the heat shield from making direct contact with the bushing.

If you add an additional washer, which helps to tighten up the suspension when the factory bolts bottom out on the threads, you can press the heat shield between the two. Works much better than tearing it up between the nut and the factory washer.



Energy Suspension makes a full bushing kit for the 91-94's that replaces just about every rubber suspension bushing on the truck. For the $100-120 it costs, it's worth it if you want a 4x4 that really handles.

 

[doonze]

Ahhh... I was thinking a heat shield like what runs between the body and the exhaust, or a starter heat shield.

This is a thing that mounts right on the bushing.... I was looking for something that mounted to the bracket or something.

I'm wondering if maybe there WAS a bolt but that maybe it wasn't a grade 8 and got snapped. They put a bolt on the other side...

But regardless, there IS movement, and now that I've SEEN it I am noticing it more and more. At least for now, just getting a new bolt in has moved to the top of the TO DO list. I'll work on the bushings later. If he was correct they aren't even much over 9 months old.....

 

[doonze]

OK, new development, I decided to get under there tonight with a screw driver and a flashlight. I was going to try and find the hole.... there was none.

So, I get over and look on the far side of the frame rail.... THAT DAMN RIVET IS STILL IN THERE!!!!

They just ground it off on the outside... and left the blasted thing. I think it's pretty much lined up with the hole, what we see is the ground off part of the rivet....

So... they had grinders and at least an air hammer...and couldn't get it out. I have a hammer and some screwdrivers....

Any ideas?

Edit:

I just thought of something.... I have a drill.... But as hardened as these are would I even be able to drill it? I think I've heard of people drilling these out, but it'd have to be one heck of a bit I would think.....

 

[Burns]

I have drilled out my share and its hard but you can do it. We used cheap bits and kept sharpening them. Prob used three or so in a rotation

 

[doonze]

Ok, so been working myself up to this project for a couple of weeks now. Discovered Harbor Freight thanks to this board (we have one about 20 miles away, about 2 miles from my work ) So I got me some new tools. A set of punches, a 3 lbs sledge, and a 2 foot pry bar. I already had a drill and bits. Also picked up a hand pump for the tranny/t-case/diff filling goodness, and a Multi meter I'm not sure isn't crazy (another post on that, but was on sale for $3.99 so yeah.)

So, I've been working myself up to this for days, I mean the guys before me had air tools and couldn't get this rivet out, so I was dreading the all day project to get this thing drilled out. And it's not like it's in a convenient, easy to get too, location.

I decided I would try to punch it out with my punches and my 3 lbs sledge first, and just to see how the angles would work I decided to give it a go before I even took the bracket off. I felt pretty sure that rivet was showing somewhat through that hole. So I playing around and trying to find a good position to give it a good wack, hit it a couple of times testing my swing and notice that it looks like the rivet is pushed in by about 1/4 of an inch already... WTF.... give it one more good wack.... THE DAMN THING POPS RIGHT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!?!??!??!?!??! :frustrate:fire: THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK!!!!!

They didn't put 1 stinking bolt in, and didn't even TRY to get the rivet out after grinding it off!!!!!!!!!!!!! AARRRRRRHHHHHGGGGGG!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK!!!!?!???!?!

But I guess the good new is, it took all of 10 seconds to get the rivet out. Now to get the bolt it was a little harder, took a little work with the pry bar and the punches and 3 lbs sledge to finally get the hole lined up enough to pound the bolt in, but by far the hardest part was getting ratchets on those bolts. Had to take off the fuel filter too, just to get to it.

So now, popping sounds on slow speed breaking and speed bumps.... FIXED!!!!

Freaking out about missing a very important bolt that keeps the axles on the truck? Fixed!!!!

65-70 MPH Shimmies...... NOT FIXED!!! Shoot! I was really hoping...... Ah well. Guess that' another project! Shoot!