Changed my bushings today. All I can say is.....WOW!

[Hardwareman]

I changed out my axle pivot bushings and radius arm bushings today. I also changed out my front brake rotors and wheel bearings, installed new pads and spindle lock nut set.

What a difference it made!

I had a little play in my steering wheel......GONE!

I felt every bump in the road........GONE!

I actually did'nt drive it that long because it was getting late but I could immediately tell it's going to be a fun day tomorrow driving to work. I thought my shocks were shot or I had bad ball joints. I kept putting off changing the bushings because of the work involved but I'm so glad I did it.

Anyone who's having problems I highly recommend taking a good look at your bushings if you have'nt changed them in a while, or like me.......not at all. These were the original ones and they were pretty hashed. Made a world of difference for me.





Allen

 

[Rico]

I have an F150 4x4 from 1979. I think i will take your advise and change 'em out for new ones. What kind of bushings did you replace yours with? Rubber or polyurethane? Working on my ranger has been put on a hiatus since it is in Pennsylvania and I'm all the way in Texas.

 

[Hardwareman]

Honestly, I just changed them out with the rubber ones from AutoZone. They are Duralast brand so they have a lifetime warranty. They are really cheap as well.

As long as your old ones are hashed like mine were, then any new bushings (poly or rubber) will make a big improvement. You're going to need a good ball joint press to get the old axle bushings in and out too. Take care.






Allen

 

[300KplusRANGER]

Honestly, I just changed them out with the rubber ones from AutoZone. They are Duralast brand so they have a lifetime warranty. They are really cheap as well.

As long as your old ones are hashed like mine were, then any new bushings (poly or rubber) will make a big improvement. You're going to need a good ball joint press to get the old axle bushings in and out too. Take care.






Allen

was it easy to press out the old bushings? did u need penetrating oil? I'm debating over buying the special ford tools or the Astro pneumatic ball joint kit.

 

[jsoluna]

Just removed the axle pivot bushings and ball joints on my old '92 Ranger 2wd. Def. need a balljoint press for the upper and lower balljoints. I used a shop press to press out the axle pivot bushings, and they slid out REAL easy. Hardly any force required.

I have a question, though. The Haynes manual states that you need to flare the ends of the pivot bushings to prevent them from moving within the axle. IS this true, or are they fine just being pressed in? The originals are not at all flared.

 

[irishblessing]

do you guys have any pictures?