Radius arm bushings?

[Workin' Rig]

I have a horrible noise coming from the driverside radius arm from the bushing being shot.

Question-

How hard is it to change them? Ive never done it....im pretty good with stuff but is it worth taking to a mechanic? Also, can they really cause any real harm if you dont change them?

 

[BuzzGun79]

Well workin its not a job that i looked forward to doing on rust belt vehicles,but i have done them using a good bit of heat,keeping the fire extinguisher close by also..I would recomend to have them done by a proffesional and save your self the grief.I would recommend to repair them,not let them go for the arms will continue to wear and in time could fail.They also drive like crap when worn.

 

[Workin' Rig]

Seeing as how i dont have a torch set i guess ill take it in...thanks man.

 

[LEB Ben]

Go get a couple of those little hand held torches...combined with an acetone/type f mix and you'll be able to heat/unseize anything you want in your drive way. I'd also recommend a ouple good come-a-longs to manipulate the arm to move where you want it to. It's not a job for the faint of heart, but it can be done with minimal tools in the driveway.

 

[Workin' Rig]

Hmm...maybe ill try it then....what do you do? Take the big arse nut off and then come along the beam forward?

 

[blacksnapon]

Hmm...maybe ill try it then....what do you do? Take the big arse nut off and then come along the beam forward?

I work on the other end. Use a grinder to take off the heads of the rivets, drive them through, remove the bracket, replace the bushings, install bolts.

 

[Workin' Rig]

That does sound pretty easy....maybe a good project this winter.

 

[Alvin in AZ]

They're easy as anything IMO and IME!
...just have your new wife remove the rivets for ya! xD

Here's a couple tricks and had guys ignore theses then bellyache about the
job... complaining it's "PITA" etc etc. :/ They're sissies at best.

Like UT sez cut the heads off, then punch 'em out.

To get the heads off, either cut relief slots into the heads (small handgrinder
with a cutoff disc and/or Dremel) and use a cold chisel or cut them directly
with the little handgrinder.

My wife's using my 8 pound single jack, anything less and the dangged rivet
will work-harden on you! :/ Then it'll go to messing up the cutting edge on
the cold chisel, and progress will stop.

The trick is to use at-least a 4 pound hammer and resharpen the cold chisel.

Lay the sharpening-angle-back on your cold chisel to the same as pocket
knife instructions tell you to use (which is a crappy angle for a pocket knife
blade! IMO) ...lay it back at about 20 degrees! No kidding, do it.

That's called a "40 degree included angle". That too will made the cold chisel
-cut- and not-work-harden the rivet. Hammer it like you mean business and
have a cold chisel sharpened-at-an-angle-that'll-actually-cut-not-just-mash
and they cut off easy especially if you've cut some relief cuts in the head.

They'll mess with you tho, some can only be punched out a certain direction.
Doing this as I type because I'm not done but found on my '75 2wd the lower
rivets are way easier driven -up-, the frame holes are bigger than the holes
in the casting and so have a shoulder on 'em. The side rivets can be driven
either way because you can really wail on it and the frame etc is more solid,
shoulder or not, they'll push out. xD

Check out that cold chisel she's using it's a 1" x 12" (made from 7/8" hex).
The punch she used is a 3/8" x 14" (made from 1" hex).

Dinky little tools can make it next to impossible to do any real work and I'm
fiNguring that's where most of the guys are going wrong. Besides the cold
chisel cutting edge angle.

Ever know anybody to keep the original factory sharpening edge angle on a
pocket knife? LOL Only the "uninformed " would be so silly to do that,
right?

Alvin in AZ
ps- Make your own Dremel cutoff wheels from broken little handgrinder
wheels. Punch a little hole though and work at it until the 1/16" outside
diameter Dremel screw will fit then nibble off around the edge with dikes
until it's kinda round then start it up and dress it round. If you started
with a Norton cutoff wheel then you've now got the best Dremel cutoff
wheel ever made. xD

 

[primetime]

Good tips there, Alvin. I`ve big a** cold chisel that`s about 18 inches. Handy fella. Up here in salt country I would not attempt this job without oxy/acetylene torches to heat the big nut. I also cut the rivets off with the torches.

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Take a wild guess which one will cut a rivet better. xD

Alvin in AZ