09-26-2001, 03:23 PM | #1 |
in WAY over my head
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Douglasville GA
Posts: 923
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bushings, pressed?
hey, as I now have the bed off my truck, the suspension is readily avalible to change out the bushings.. I'm being told by a few people that removing all of my rear suspensions would be a nightmare and should be avoided (this is on a '71 C10 with the rear coils) but, as said in the topic, I beleive the bushings on the control arms need to be pressed in place.. is this true? what about the tracking arm bushings?
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09-26-2001, 04:49 PM | #2 |
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Location: Warren, OR , USA
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the suspension can be disassembled rather easily, however expect to replace a few items due to rust and/or corrosion, like the u-bolts/nuts and the spring retainers. I have replaced the old rubber bushings on 4 trucks with polyurethane and have never had to use a press, just the supplied grease and pushed them in. Getting the old rubber ones out is a different story.
------------------ 72 swb cheyenne super 350/350 69 cst20 BB longhorn
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72 swb cheyenne super 350/350 69 cst20 BB longhorn Warren, OR |
09-26-2001, 05:06 PM | #3 |
in WAY over my head
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Douglasville GA
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well the U brackets look pretty good to me..I'm not sure about the bottom of them.. but I'm going to rent a pressure washer to get the rust off my frame.. would it be a good idea to remove the suspension elements and clean them individually or leave them on during the wash?
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09-26-2001, 07:50 PM | #4 |
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Location: Centerville Ga. USA
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I am presently in the middle of the rear suspension redo. Its all torn apart finally! I ended up breaking the heads off of four bolts (upper coil mount, lower coil mount bolts). One of the bolts in the left trailing arm (lower coil mount bolt) is so corroded that it will not come out! Been trying all day to knock it out. The head broke off to about 1/2" inch into the trailing arm. Tried a B.F.H (4lb sledge) and now have a B.F. Thumb! Ouch! Guess I am headed to a machine shop tommorow...
------------------ 68 SWB The Surgeon General doesn't say anything about smoking a Ford!!! Would rather be ran over repeatedly by a Chevy than drive a Ford!!!
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68 SWB The Surgeon General doesn't say anything about smoking a Ford!!! Would rather be ran over repeatedly by a Chevy than drive a Ford!!! Paralyzed from the neck up and confined to a hat! Kathleen, Georgia USA |
09-27-2001, 06:15 AM | #5 |
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Yeah, those old rubber bushings are horrible to remove. Like the man said sometimes the bolt is rusted in place.If the bolt comes out ,I have used a ball joint press to remove bushings. If that fails, a slow running hole saw without a pilot bit may be used from each side to cut through the rubber ,Then the remaining metal sleeve can be cut or pressed out.I have also burned out the rubber using a torch. If the bolt is rusted in place or just spins and won't come out because the metal sleeve is siezed on it, then you use a Sawzall ,with a fine tooth Lenox blade to cut through the bolt and sleeve between the arm and the bracket on each side,then drop the arm out where you can work on easier.Be safe, dont let the arm spring into your face when you cut it and wear eye protection.Of course there ain't much room under the truck to do that.
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09-27-2001, 09:12 AM | #6 |
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Location: Long Beach, Ca
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I got the trick for the rubber bushing. I used a flame to heat them up and they push right out. Get them to start to bubble and knock em out. I'm using the poly bushing, they will press in with a bench vise.
------------------ 71 basic C-10 350. The only option is the rust.No nothing on it, but thats all about to change.
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71 LWB 350/350still working on it but it's going tp be sweet. www.geocities.com/stevemau/slam33page.html " TARGET=_blank>http://www.geocities.com/stevemau/slam33page.html?1004806705410 </A> |
09-27-2001, 10:12 AM | #7 |
in WAY over my head
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Douglasville GA
Posts: 923
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heh, yer scaring me here :P I'm going to be removing these from the top since the bed is already off (thank god) Do yall think pressure washing and using some engine degreaser before removing the bolts would make things a bit easier? from the looks of it, the bolts are all good, but thats also the way the bolts on the truck bed looked.. and they had to be grinded out.
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09-27-2001, 10:32 AM | #8 |
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Location: Warren, OR , USA
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anytime you can work with clean parts will be to your benefit. The best advise I can give anyone attempting to break loose rusty fasteners is to soak them with something like Liquid Wrench. Try to move them back and forth and keep soaking. A little patience spent at this time will pay off in fewer broken bolts, etc. By the way, I had to use a 6' breaker bar to get the u-bolt nuts to come loose. An impact wrench is something good to have. The u-bolts will probably be totally rusted where they have lived in the trailing arms. The LMC catalog has the best pictures and prices on suspension parts. IMO
------------------ 72 swb cheyenne super 350/350 69 cst20 BB longhorn
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72 swb cheyenne super 350/350 69 cst20 BB longhorn Warren, OR |
10-06-2001, 10:17 PM | #9 |
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LMC is a bit high on the parts, but they do have some real hard to get stuff like front control arms, rear trailing arms, rivits, stuff like that. Yes clean it good. Give those bolts a shot of liquid wrench and clean the up. As for the bushings, I used a propane bottle that you get at the hardware store to heat the bushing.
------------------ 71 basic C-10 350. The only option is the rust.No nothing on it, but thats all about to change.
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71 LWB 350/350still working on it but it's going tp be sweet. www.geocities.com/stevemau/slam33page.html " TARGET=_blank>http://www.geocities.com/stevemau/slam33page.html?1004806705410 </A> |
10-06-2001, 11:58 PM | #10 |
in WAY over my head
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Douglasville GA
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well, my bushings arrived friday.. I'm going to get to work sunday.. I tried to contact a place about a lift, they told me a "totally new custom fabricated suspension system" was in order for a lift.. so.. forget that for now. I pressure washed my frame and painted it with rust-oleum flat black so as not to show impurities.. I did not think a sandblast would be in order since I am going to be driving it.. not competing for a stock restoration. Tomorrow I beleive I'm going to sandblast the tracking arm, paint the rearend, and get my tracking/control arm bushings in.. for now, that will be it for the rearend.. I will come back and do the brakes once I get the front end broken down (do it all at once) has anyone looked at the chevyduty catalog? I was looking through it and it has many rare parts that I haven't seen elsewhere, worth a look too.
btw, I have been thining.. since I don't plan to lift it.. whats the max tire size? 30s? 31s? (on stock suspension front and rear) sorry for the long post, I had a book mark on the forum and it didn't work properly, I thought the forum had went down lol, so I've had a few things come up heh, I've got new pics up of the frame painted.. I'm going to go over it again tomorrow. ------------------ Projects Belair C10 Chevelle coming soon |
10-07-2001, 01:33 AM | #11 |
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Dark,
I ran 31x10.50x15 on 15x8 rallys w/o any problems on my stock height, 2wd '70 Sub. My buddy ran 33's on a 2wd '68, but it was TIGHT to say the least. Doc ------------------ '70 Sub C-10 350/TH-350/3.73 12-bolt Black-on-black 15x8 Rallys w/ 275/60/15 Soon to be lowered....
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1970 Sub C-10 - 350/TH-350/3.73 12-bolt Came home from the hospital in it & mine ever since. 1966 Catalina Ventura 2-door fastback 389/TH400 |
10-07-2001, 11:52 AM | #12 |
in WAY over my head
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Douglasville GA
Posts: 923
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hrmm, well thats good, you suppose 32s would do? I saw a pic. in a magazine today of a truck that seemed to be on 33s or something.. I haven't seen many exmaples of lifted or slammed LWBs.. but this truck looked really bad.. I really wish I had a SWB, it seems to be the model everyone has.
I thought at one point about taking a suburban and shortening the hatch area and making it like.. a tahoe or something.. but then I started thinking rationally and realized that was the most farfetched idea I've had yet. I think I'm gonna try 30-32 or something with the stock height.. I really don wanna play with dropping/lifting at the moment.. too much speculation of how its gonna look. wish me luck guys, I'm goin out to start todays work any minute now ------------------ Projects Belair C10 Chevelle coming soon |
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