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Replacing Radius Bushings ?

Oscarman

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September 29, 2007
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City, State
Pelham, Alabama
Year, Model & Trim Level
1994 Ford Explorer XLT
Guys, I have a 1994 Ford Explorer. I know the radius bushings need to be replaced. Is this something a novice can do and if so, will I need any special tools. If someone could please summarize how this procedure is done it would be much appreciated.
Oscar
 



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you don't have to cut off those rivets. that is just ridiculous to me. all you have to do is disconnect the lower shock mount and sway bar. you don't have to loosen the axle pivot brackets or any of that. maybe i'll go yank the ones off my old truck today so i can do a photo writeup.....
 






i just did mine.your gonna need another person,penetrating oil,11/8 sockets and wrench,jackstands,jack,a haynes manual and a lot of strength.all the bolts on mine were rusty as hell and it was a pain in the ass to break the torque on them.
1.remove the front spring.(loosen wheel lug nuts,raise vehicle,put on jackstands,take wheel off,raise axle with jack,remove bolt and nut securing the shock to the radius arm,remove brake caliper assembly dont disconnect hoses though,suspend it with wire to take stress off hoses,at the lower end of the spring remove the retaining nut and the the retainer securing the spring to the front axle.you might need a pry bar to take the spring out thats where the other person helps out.my friend pushed with his foot on the assembly and i got the spring out.
2.loosen the arm pivot bolt.
3.remove the shock absorber upper nut and compress the shock.
4.from the rear side of the radius arm bracket remove the nut,rear washer,insulator,shield and spacer.
5.raise the front axle arm with jack till radius arm is level.
6.push radius arm forward until it is free from the the bracket.
7.remove the front insulator from the radius arm threaded end.
8.installation is reverse of removal steps.
radius arm to frame nut:81-120 ft lbs
radius arm bracket to frame bolt 77-110ft lbs
radius arm front bracket to axle arm bolt 191-231ft lbs
shock absorber upper nut 25-35ft lbs
spring retainer bolt 191-231ft lbs
shock absorber to radius arm nut 39-53ft lbs
thats straight from the haynes manual.it takes 2 people though.thats for damned sure.good luck.hopefully this helped.
 






Good timing on this post as I just bought new radius bushing and new coil springs for my 94. So it looks like I will just do both at the same time. Both the springs and bushings are Duralast brand from autozone. Please tell me these aren't the crappy bushings mentioned above, I have only had good experiences with Duralast stuff, so I would think they should be good. I am replacing these parts because the alignment guy said that the front springs had sagged and I have read so much about the bad radius bushings.
 






EP, I'm with you, all you need to do is have a ratchet strap or comealong then give the suspension full droop by taking off the shock, spring clamp, and sway bar then use the strap/come along to pull the whole assembly forward out of the radius mount. There will be just enough play to get everything out. Then I usually use a jack to align the radius arm with the mount and slowly release the strap/come along to let it slip back in to the mount.

just make sure your truck is on good jack stands, be safe and smart :thumbsup:
 






I also used the come along method, did not get the RA back in far enough to get the nut started, so blocked the front wheel and pushed the car forward, since the wheel was blocked the RA stayed in place while the frame moved ever so little but enough to the the nut started. I was wondering about the sag in springs as well (92 xlt) after you put the new springs in how about a measurment from the bottom of the fender to the ground, centered over the front wheel axle. I think I was about 31.5" at that location. I replaced the bushings with cheapo pep boy brand, hope they last awhile but now that I have done it, the replacement is pretty easy.
 






Doing the job
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums...ius+arm+bushing

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146713&page=5&highlight=RAB

http://www.explorerforum.com/Singleton/exp.html


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What they look like

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?PartType=2043&PTSet=A



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http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49028&highlight=radius+arms+install

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Broken Parts:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171906




From the Singleton site, and where I got my first info a couple years ago...

"I would suggest purchasing the GRADE 8 bolts prior to taking the part off, since you might have a little trouble finding them. You will need 4 bolts, I bought 4 bolts, 8 washers, and 4 nuts (all grade 8) for about $3.55 at my local NAPA store. I bought them all the same size (about 7/16" diameter with size 14 threads work perfectly). Get 3 bolts about 1 1/4" long, and 1 about 3/4" long. This is VERY IMPORTANT and will save you much grief. I bought them all the same size (1 1/4") and it caused me an extra hour and a half work.

The procedure:

First, jack up the car and place it firmly on jack stands. You will NEED the jack stands, because the passenger side is difficult to remove with the jack holding the car by the suspension. The weight of the car puts enormous pressure on that radius arm. I put the jack stand in the center of the car, and jacked the car up at the big end of the radius arm.

First, remove the two bolts holding the radius arm bracket to the frame of the car. They are pointing toward the ground.

Next, remove the 4 bolts holding the center of the two brackets together.

On the driver's side, you will also need to remove the fuel filter, contained in the frame of the car. Do this by removing the two nuts holding the bracket in place.

To remove the two rivets, (they are horizontal) I used a Dremel motor-tool with a cutting "blade" on the end (like the one they use in the commercial to cut the nail). Make sure you have several, I chewed up about 4, and I only had rivets on one side (the driver's side). If you have rivets on both sides you will need at least double that many. Remember this is VERY HARD STEEL. I cut several slots in the head of the rivet, to remove most of the material. Then I used an air chisel to remove the rest of the head of the bolt, and a steel punch to knock the rest of rivet out. This will be by far the hardest part of replacing the radius arm bushings.

Next, remove the large nut at the end of the radius arm. I used a huge adjustable wrench to remove it. Remove the nut and NOTICE THE WAY THE PARTS FIT TOGETHER. This is important. The bracket should be removed.

Remove the old bushing, and put the new one on the same way. Don't forget the heat shield on the passenger side, it protects the rubber bushing from the heat of the cat. converter next to it.

Replace the bracket, and put your new grade 8 bolts in place of the rivets. On the driver's side, use the SHORT bolt in the front, or you will have difficulty replacing the fuel filter bracket. I didn't use a short bolt, and had to cut a slot in the bracket."

I found that Pep Boys had grade 8 bolts in the appropriate sizes. A note, the passenger side can all be longer bolts.
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You'll need a 28 mm 6 point deep socket (not commonly available) for the radius arm nut. I got mine from KD Tools. http://www.kd-tools.com/

And what Glacier991 posted above, from the Singleton site, is excellent information...
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Anyone know what to torque the large radius arm nut to when tightening?

The Moog set I bought the other day said to torque to 100 lbs, but the Chilton says to torque to 113, so somewhere in that area.

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Center punch the middle of round rivet head so your drill bit won't wander off on you, and then using like a 3/16's bit, drill down into the head of the rivet, deep enough to get the the shaft of the rivet. Change to a larger size bit and repeat. Go up in size until you have drilled thru the head down to the shaft. Next take a punch (an air chisel with a punch is ideal) and bash out the rivet from the side you just drilled. When you reassemble replace the rivets with GRADE 8 (!!) 1" bolts. GRADE 8 is IMPORTANT!

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Pictures of the process can be found at http://home.att.net/~metjt/wsb/index.html. I know they are a bit large but at least you can get good close ups.

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Don't grind them! Just get two drill bits, one 3/8" and one 7/16". Cobalt bits work really nice for this job, since they can drill through most hard metals. You'll have to loosen the plastic wheel wells to get good access to the front rivets on each side. The rivets towards the back are a little trickier to drill straight through because of the cabin mount bolts in the way, but you can still get to them.
Use a center punch to make a starter point for drilling, unless you've got a steady hand. Drill a starter hole with the 3/8" bit. Drill about 1/3 to halfway through. Then use the 7/16" bit to continue drilling, and drill to the same point that you drilled with the smaller bit. By this time, the head of the rivet should be just about gone, except for the outer edges.
Use a cold chisel to knock off the rest of the head. You may get lucky and the head might just pop off during drilling. That's what happened with one of my rivets. After you loosen the rest of the bolts holding the bracket on, you should be able to take a crow bar and break the bracket lose. Then you can use a cold punch or your chisel to pound the rest of the rivet out.
I replaced the passenger side first, because that one was obviously worn; I could wrap my thumb and forefinger around it and twist it a little back and forth. I'm no bushing expert, but I believe those things are supposed to be tight. When I removed the old bushing, I noticed that the about 1/3 of the stem was gone, right where the RA spindle had put pressure against the bracket and chewed it away. I replaced it with a polyurethane bushing, and I doubled up on the dish (or cup) washers near the shoulder of the spindle (thank you Conyl Horn and Brad Martin!) The driver's side was fine, but I replaced it anyway, to make things even. It only took me about three hours to do the driver's side, once I had my system down, and that included loosening the fuel filter bracket and the parking brake cable, and no air ratchet or impact wrench (although that wouldv'e been nice). So, the total time to complete the job should probably take five to six hours tops. And what a difference in the handling! My wife even noticed the difference just riding shotgun.

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I've DOne This On Both My Trucks, A 91' XLT and A 93' XLT.
Depending On The Condition Of Your Suspension (rusty bolts...etc), You Might Wanna Take It To a Mechanic. It's Only Like 100.00 For Them To Do It And Saves The Hassle And Headache. Alot Of The Nuts Are Hard As Hell To Get Off On The Axle Side. Which Is The Recommended Way To Do It By Ford.
WAY ONE
You Need To Disconnect The Springs And Stud Bolts From The Axle On A 4WD. Remove The Control Arm From The Axle. Remove The Shock, Which Is All A PITA. Then Remove The Two Large Nuts On The End And Pull It Through.
WAY TWO
If You Go For The Removal Of The Crossmember, There Should Be Two Rivets On Either Side Of The Crossmember, If You See Them, It's Never Been Removed. If There Are 4-5 Bolts With Nuts On Either Side, It's Been Changed. You Can Drill The Out Or Sawzall Them, But Mark The crossmember Placement Before You Start. Just Replace The Rivets With Strong Bolts Of M10 Or Higher To Be Safe.

The Two Big Bolts, At The End Or The Arms, Which Are Normally 1 1/8 socket Size, Need To Be Removed No Matter What. And There Is A Heat Cover Over The Passenger Side's Bushings Due To Heat From The Cat. Make Sure That Shield Goes Back On. In My Experience The Axle Studs And Spring Bracket Nut Are Same Size. You Can Get The Bushing Sets For Around 10.00 a piece At Most Autoparts Stores. If You Remove The Crossmember, It's Easiest.

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Aloha, Mark
 






No way i would put bolts in that radius arm bracket. too much loading on that part in too many directions. That's why ford put rivets there.
 






Are you sure ford didn't use rivets because they are cheaper to buy and install? I don't think I would trust re-riveting it unless you had the right tools to get it done the way the factory did.
 






There is nothing wrong with bolts as long as you use a good grade 8 or better bolt. Just re torque the bolts after you drive the truck for bit to make sure everything is tight. It would probably be a good idea to use a flat washer on both sides with a lock washer on the nut side.
 






Radius Arm Bushing

I just did mine this afternoon. What a ####in job. I had to take the tire off, lower shock mount, take top bolt out of sway bar, I didnt have to mess with the coil spring tho. i unhooked the front drive shaft. then had to push and pull like hell. Def a two man job and a couple miller lite's ha
 






Yeah, but it kinda makes you bond with your truck doesn't it?
 






No way i would put bolts in that radius arm bracket. too much loading on that part in too many directions. That's why ford put rivets there.

Although Rivets are generally stronger than bolts I've never heard of anyone having issues with using grade 8 bolts in the radius arm frame support bracket.
 






I just believe that ford would not install a component that required a technician at a garage to cut anything stock off the vehicle. if you take you truck to the dealership for this job, you don't get it back with bolts in those holes.....
 






I just believe that ford would not install a component that required a technician at a garage to cut anything stock off the vehicle. if you take you truck to the dealership for this job, you don't get it back with bolts in those holes.....

mostly because you just don't need to remove the brackets to get these on, and people who go to a a ford dealer to get work done like this will generally not be the sort to check/retorque the bolts later. But I do see your point :thumbsup:
 






Thanks. This is a point of competition amongst explorer owners. Fiercely debated......
 






Radius Arm Bushing

You dont have to take the bracket off at all. My bracket was all messed up, and i didnt do anything to it. And my car rides totally different. The ride is softer, and it handles way better.
 






I just believe that ford would not install a component that required a technician at a garage to cut anything stock off the vehicle. if you take you truck to the dealership for this job, you don't get it back with bolts in those holes.....

True the topic of how to change Radius arm bushings definitely has two camps (remove the brackets, or drop the TTB and pull if forward).

What would the dealership do if they needed to replace the radius arm frame brackets? Often when Radius arm bushings are extremely worn they ruin the brackets by ovating the bushing hole, or by causing stress cracks from being beaten without the protection of the bushing. I would assume a dealership would use bolts when installing a new bracket.

One interesting note is the brackets use a combination of rivets and bolts from the factory to secure it to the frame (why not all bolts, or all rivets? :scratch:). In the picture below the rivet locations have been outlined.
18205Radius_Arm_Frame_Brackets_rivots.jpg
 



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You definitely have me there......And if there's nothing else you will learn on this site, it's how to change radius arm bushings on a first gen!:D
 






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