What in the hell?

[acschilling]

Passenger ride radius arm bushing..

can anyone else see in the second pic where that frail rail or whatevs is cutting?

Do you HAVE to get the rivets out to change this *****?

92 4.0 M5 2 inch springs/aaf

 

[Anime]

You don't have to do the rivet-cutting method to change radius arm bushings, but some people prefer it.

The straightforward method is to just remove the radius arm itself, which involves removing the wheel/tire, spring, shock, and then unbolting the radius arm from the TTB. You usually have to yank the TTB forward a little to get enough room to pull the radius arm out of the bracket.

You'd benefit from doing it the rivet way though, since the 2" springs are causing that severe angle and a set of 2" drop brackets would do wonders. You might also find the brackets have enlarged/damaged bushing holes from driving with damaged or missing bushings, and might have to replace them anyway.

Whichever way to decide to do it, take 'em off and get new bushings. Polyurethane ones from Energy Suspension are a lot more durable than rubber.

 

[acschilling]

Can I do anything to just get it back into place? Can I lower the truck slightly on the arm to get the bushing to pop back into place then try and tighten it? Doubt it. The driver side looks intact..not like the pass. side thats for sure.

What about radius arm drop brackets? Are there longer arms that will work, or do they just need to hang lower?

Suggestions for arms and brackets from other years/trucks?

I think I would find someone on CL to grind those rivets out for me..i guess

 

[Anime]

If you just want a quick temporary fix, take the big nut off the radius arm, remove the washer and heat shield. Then take off the right side spring and shock to remove the tension on the radius arm. Put on a new rear bushing. Put the heat shield and washer back on. Tighten to spec and replace the spring and shock.

Longer arms won't help much since it's the angle that's the issue. You can get 2" radius arm drop brackets from Rancho, Skyjacker, a few other companies that make the 2" lift springs. You may even find someone on the forum that has a set for cheap or get a set fabbed up custom from some steel plate.

I wouldn't use CL to find someone to do auto repair work.

 

[acschilling]

I'm sure it has to do with characteristics of the TTB, but why is the driver side not ailing from the same problem?

My truck chirps like a God damn Spring morning from this ****..

 

[Maniak]

My guess is you will end up doing cutting..

If you wait too long to replace a RA bushing the RA will end up hitting the RA bracket. Over time the round hole in the RA bracket becomes egg shaped or even more odd.

You need to take the nut, heat shield and rear bushing out so you can see the bracket. If your lucky the hole will still be round. If so, you can buy a set of RA bushings and install then (front and rear). You can replace the bushings by cutting the rivets out or by pulling the axle beam with RA forward so you can get the bushing out.

If the hole isn't round, you need to replace the bracket which means you cut the rivets.

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

Can I do anything to just get it back into place? Can I lower the truck slightly on the arm to get the bushing to pop back into place then try and tighten it? Doubt it. The driver side looks intact..not like the pass. side thats for sure.

What about radius arm drop brackets? Are there longer arms that will work, or do they just need to hang lower?

Suggestions for arms and brackets from other years/trucks?

I think I would find someone on CL to grind those rivets out for me..i guess

I just noticed these questions..

No, you can't just loosen the nut, raise it and re-tighten the nut. The issue is at least a bad bushing.. Possibly bad bushing and bracket.

If you have a lift kit with RA drop brackets it does help keep the heat away from the RA bushings so they will last longer.

You can get the brackets "new" for $50 or so from LMC or you can pull them from a junk yard. The cutting of the rivets seems to be the most popular way to change the RA bushings so you should be able to get a bracket off a yard vehicle easily.

I know 1991 to 1994 explorer brackets fit. I don't know if any of the Ranger ones will..

~Mark

 

[Anime]

The passenger side bushing wears out faster because it's so close to the exhaust. The catalytic converters heat up a lot, and even the thin 'heat shield' doesn't do much since it's just metal and is in direct contact with the bushing. The drivers side of course stays at regular temp.

Generally you can make the bushings last longer if you swap them left to right at least once. At this point when they fail you can just replace the passenger side but it's a good idea to do both so you get the same handling characteristics on both sides.

 

[acschilling]

Update.

I did the passenger side bushing and mounting bracket. Everything came off pretty much as planned. To do the two rivets I started drilling..then it was decided to grind down the rest of the rivet. I had trouble punching out the rest until I, again, drilled through to the other side with a 1/8in bit. I punched it out then.

Ratcheting combo wrenches would have been nice to have on the bracket install. I wish I would have taken pictures of the filth those bushing had become. I'm doing the driver side after the wedding..