Are these the right Radius arm bushings?

[Blue91Ex]

Hey guys, so im halfway through tearing apart my radius arm bushings and bracket to replace them. I bought cheapish bushings from motorsupply and they dont look right to me.
The bushings themselves look much thicker/longer than the ones on the truck, and im not sure if the large nut on the ends of the radius arms will go bak on or if the thicker bushings will put the truck out of alignment, these new ones are red poly and while i havent gotten the bushing from the front side of the ra bracket out yet , i dont want to tear it the rest of the way apart just to find that it wont fit

any input on this would be extremely helpful, thanks!

 

[FR-425]

Those are just fine.

The smaller contact area allows more articulation.

All urethane bushings are like this.

Tip: Use non-petroleum silicone grease made for urethane inside and out ... generous coating.

If the kit did not come with grease you can get it at any AP store.

From personal experience: That black hard plastic ring will crack with heavy off road use: Solution:... Brace it with a 4" hose clamp.

Note: the plastic rings on mine are white as you can see. You can just make out that the top of the ring on mine is broke, the hose clamp was a trail repair that proved to be a permanent fix. Been driving on them for 2 years like this. Both sides are cracked and have the hose clamp fix on them.

Next time I replace, I will use the hose clamps to "prevent" them from breaking in the first place.

 

[Blue91Ex]

but i dont think i can even get these on and still put the nut on
both teh front red b usbhing and the rear are way too long, with the rear on i dont think ill be able to get the nut back on with any threads sticking out. the font one is liek half an inch longer than the one i have... wont it totally screw with my alignment?

 

[FR-425]

The urethane will compress.

The radius arm length is not adjustable.

You can use a ratchet strap around the RA bracket and axle housing to help compress the front bushing if necessary.

 

[FR-425]

The nut will only tighten until it hits the end of the threads.

Just tighten it down until it stops.

No brainer on this one.

 

[FR-425]

Do not reuse the old nuts!!!

Pinch nuts are single use....

Don't want these com'n off at highway speed!!!

 

[FR-425]

Did you do the chop-top yet?

 

[Blue91Ex]

pinch nuts? u mean the 28mm nut at the end? where am i supposed to get another one of those?

I ended up just putting the rear bushings in, the crossmember is all wallered out where the RA goes through it, egg shaped, not worth the hastle when ill have to get another crossmember (which apparently you can indeed buy) and do it later, maybe, if it takes too long to find another explorer...

I test drove it and while it still makes the banging noise, it is only when I'm on a dirt road doing 45 through pretty decent sized potholes, where before I could hear it going over cracks in pavement. So, it is improved a pretty decent amount, but not worth taking all apart until I get a new crossmember. The bushings I got also are really really hard and feel like plain old plastic so I don't know how well they would compress under tension, as I chipped a corner of one trying to take it back off the RA.

And no I haven't done the hop top on this explorer yet. I am in highschool and working a part time (hours are a few shy of fulltime) job and dont really have the time for it, also it won't happen until I have another DD and this one is no longer road legal, as fun as it would be haha.

 

[FR-425]

Yes the 28mm nuts.

Not hard to find. Their standard hardware.

Down here I go to Arizona Nut and Bolt. I'm sure there is something similar up there.

The radius arm brackets are easy to find also.

Here's an example but you can find them for less:

http://www.jegs.com/i/Moog/719/K994...WoZESgnYREQME7NXSTyAaRUJVyxirYPyToaAsLc8P8HAQ

 

[Blue91Ex]

So i guess i dont understand why they cant be reused? doesn't the pressure from the bushings act like a lock washer/double nut? what would make the nut unusable after being removed when compared to a new nut? also it is a bit rusty and that usually seems to help keep bolts and nuts together anyway.. just curious im sure i can find new ones I just don't see the problem...

 

[Maniak]

I don't know if it is right but I never changed the 28mm nut and I changed the bushing a bunch of times over the multiple 100k miles before I finally changed my RA to a different style mount.

 

[Anime]

Technically the all-metal locknuts (and locknuts with a nylon washer) are to be used once, and replaced if they are ever removed.

In practice, you can re-use them many times before their "locking" capability is reduced to where they would no longer "lock" on, at least any better than a non-locking nut that is properly torqued to spec.

Given how long radius arm bushings last, and how rarely they are replaced over the life of a vehicle, there are probably very few Explorers with the mileage on them to require replacing the metal locknuts. Maybe the off-road rigs that are running lift kits with drop brackets chew them up enough that they are replaced so often the locknuts spin off smooth like butter.

If they ever come off really easy, like a standard nut would, then yes, they should definitely be replaced for safety reasons, but in general, I've yet to work on an Explorer where the radius arm locknuts were not still locking so well that a socket or wrench was needed to turn the nut most of the way to remove it.


As for the bushings, the thicker urethane is better, since it pushes the washer/locknut back more than the thinner rubber bushings, and also gives more cushion, despite being a firmer material.

It'd be worth your while to replace the crossmember/radius arm brackets and put the front bushings in there, especially for safety in handling/braking, given how important those bushings are in keeping the front axles (and the attached wheels/tires/brakes) where they are supposed to be.

 

[FR-425]

Maniak's rig is the poster child for SAFETY! lol

 

[Blue91Ex]

I didnt end up replacing the whole bushing, as i still feel the front one will knock the truck out of alignment by pushing the axle forward since it is so much longer than the bushing that is currently on there, but teh rear bushing has been replaced with the new ones. also the nut on my RA doesnt look like any sort of lock nut, just a regular old nut.. usually the existing rust seems to act like sort of a locking agent...

the crossmember looks like it needs to be replaced but as I am planning to get another vehicle for a DD soon i dont think it is worth bothering with at this time...

thanks for the input and information guys, it rides and feels quite a bit better than before even with just the rear bushings in.

 

[Maniak]

Maniak's rig is the poster child for SAFETY! lol

Exactly.. It was a DD for 355k miles and the only things I'd say are not exactly on the safety side is it has had no sway bars since the mid 100k mile range and somewhere around 200k I changed the brake hoses and they have NPT fittings as part of the block on the driver side, but that is how the Earles line locks run too (with npt).

Otherwise, it's in great mechanical shape. My old alignment guy loved working on it as things were always in good working order with no rust and no bad parts.

~Mark

 

[Blue91Ex]

If I had the money, my truck would be the same way. The majority of the time I have had it, my job didn't make me much of any "disposable" income. It basically paid enough for the gas to work there and not much else. Now, I have a better job and I should be able to keep the next explorer in much better shape than I have managed with this one. I could probably put the money into it and not buy another truck, but the problems are extensive enough that right now it just isn't economically smart.. Right now I'm just trying to keep it safe to drive until I have the money and a truck lined up.

 

[smegun]

duralast urethane larger than standard ford equipped

barely fits with rest of kit ...nuts flush with threaded arms after reassembly

until I had drilled out the brackets I used half the kit on the nut side kept from scrapn but I wish id rather got the ford part


grease must be good to use ther hard and any bumps still might generate a squeak


didn't use a strap used ford bottle jacks to orientate the assembly



didn't have an alignment prob but im wondering if I got a radius arm tweaked directly up the passenger side seems high and the drivers side seems low he ha had to pull the arm down to fit it in the hole on passenger side

the front end is not symmetrical so I believe there may have been a little different from each other when linen up da holes

too thick the duralast bushings

 

[Blue91Ex]

That is basically what i did. though i realized after that these taller bushings can be used as front coil spacers... so either this truck or the next one might get them for that purpose down the road..