trailing arm bushings
 

Has anyone here replaced there trailing arm bushings? I am working on the frame of my 68 and would it all to be new when I put it back together.

...i replaced mine with energy suspension polyurathane..kinda of a b#$%^ to get in you'll need a B.F.H.....LOL...

Replaced mine on my 70 awhile back. Really not that hard to do, but then again I had the bed off.

Hey nooneye's where did you get your bushing's and what did they cost..

if you have a large c-clamp a pipe nipple and a piece of flat stock they'll press right out

If you got the arms out of the truck.
Just give them some fire with a torch and they will burn and drop out by them selves

Definitely get some Energy Suspension bushings. When you order these you won't get the outer shells, so when you remove the old ones just leave the shells in the arms. Clean em up real good and install new bushings with plenty of silicone grease (provided with ea. bushing). E.S. poly bushings are a two piece design, which makes them a breeze to install. Now's a good time to replace the arm pivot bolts, I used new grade 8 hardware and torqued to factory specs. Good luck!
-Sam

I put some energy suspension in my 72 when i tryed to put the first one it it woudnt budge so i put a little wire wheel on my die grinder cleaned the hole out real nice then lubed it back up with that grease they provide with the kit slide right in.

All this talk about these bushings makes me want to change mine.

So do they really make much difference???? I don't really notice them being .... bad(old).

...i dont even remember where i got mine..i think it was thru a local parts store..but i do remember mine were not 2 piece...but i did torch my old ones out and used the B.F.H. to put the new ones in

I got all my bushings from autozone it wasnt easy they said they coudlnt get them but they sold stuff made by the energy so i got all the part numbers and had them order them didnt show up in there computer but they were able to order them

So..... Do they really make a difference???????????

I dont think you would notice a diffrence between brand new ploys and brand new rubber ones. But if yours are worn out your truck could be dog walking. Or you might feel the rear end is loose.

Thanks for the help, I have the arms out so I am going to change them while there out:)

I'm by far no expert on the suspensions on these trucks. But I was under the impression that the rubber bushings alowed the trailing arms to "twist" a little in order for the rear suspension to go through it's entire travel. For example, when you hit a bump only with say the right rear - the motion of the axle housing will cause the trailing arms to move in the same direction (not just up and down, but an actual twisting motion). The rubber bushing gives enough to allow this to happen. When you replace the rubber with poly, wouldn't it reduce the available twisting action of the arms and cause binding when the suspension is trying to work.

I was just curious what your thougts were. I'm going to be replacing at least one trailing arm and will probably replace the bushings at the same time. I didn't even know poly was available...

Thanks

After I Installed Poly Bushings It would Hook Up Alot Better Just Cuts Down On Flex There Still Fairly Soft.

Tom, you have a valad theory there, however, I think these arms flex and twist quite a bit just from the length of the piece. I would like the poly items just for the added life span they offer.

Just want to confirm what others are recommending: re-use your bushing outer shells by just replacing the bushings - because a BFH won't cut it
for installing new bushings WITH the outer shells. I did mine with new
GM bushings complete with other shells and a very large vice. A hydraulic
press would have been ideal, but the ends of the arms bend easily. Even
with the way I did it they wanted to bend.

I've replaced bushings before. It's relatively easy with a length of threaded
rod and various diameters of pipes, nipples and larger sockets. I wouldn't
do it again with bushing with the outer shells though.

BTW - Make sure to do the final torque setting with the weight of the vehicle
on the suspension & and make sure your arms welds aren't split before you
put too much work into them.

I replaced mine in a relatively short amount of time. I did have the bed off, which I'm sure is a plus. I used a sawzall and cut through the old one, on the tapered side, then knocked both sides out with ease. The new ones went in with a few good raps from the BFH and a socket.

bushing replacement
 

I agree with using fire instead of the BFH. I cooked mine a bit and they get very loose. Seems rubber doesn't like fire. This way the sleeves and arms didn't get damaged. I used the Energy Suspension ones. You guys would be very surprised how strong these arms really are I have braced mine with plates across the 2 front ears and stitch welded them in the rear to stiffen the 2 halves in the area where the u-bolts pass through and they will handle a tremendous amount of HP. I have really abused the heck out of the arms and they hold up just fine. Don't waste your money on the brace kits that they sell from the truck parts places.

Tom

Sorry for digging up bones…but I have a question. I ordered the Energy Suspension 3.3123 bushing “kit” from O’Reilly’s. I have not seen the package nor have I taken out the old ones out of the arms. From the description the parts guy is giving me it’s only for one arm?? The guy said it was a kit when I ordered it. Can anyone who has purchased this tell me what’s up? I want to get all this stuff back together this weekend and don’t want to hold things up waiting on a stupid bushing. (I need to know if I need to try and find another kit)

I bought new GM rubber ones from ECE and pressed the old ones out lubed up the new ones an pressed them in the only hard part was keeping them straight as i pressed them in. If you replace the whole thing you will need to put somthing between the ears so they wont bend and distort.

We torch the old ones out while the new ones are in the freezer and run a wire wheel thru the shell and drop them in. No BFH no problem.

hmm. good ol' science at work. good job mothertrucker

' Thats the right ones the same ones i ordered. After thinking about it i tryed drillin the first bushing out with a small drill bit putting a series of holes around the perminter of it and it came out but the torch was alot quicker. Here is link to the application on the energy suspension site

http://www.energysuspension.com/c2wd2.html