Alignment bushing help!!!!

[Ju99ernaut1987]

OK im sure i am beating a dead horse with this thread and if I am i apologize. with that being said I have 1987 BII and am trying to install alignment bushings. Everything I can find about this install mentions a pinch bolt to loosen and remove/install bushings. Here is the issue I DONT have this on my vehicle lol. Does this matter? Do i just take it apart and force the old bushing out and tap in the new one or do I have to have this pinch setup to use the alignment bushing? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

 

[chrwilkins30]

first, 4x4 or 4x2. All you have to do it loosen the upper balljoint and get the bushing out. Its its really rusted in there solid you might have to remove the knuckle and hit it out from the bottom.

 

[adsm08]

You have to have the pinch bolt. Nothing else holds the upper ball joint sleeve in place. It should be at the top, outboard side, bolt head faces forward. Clean the layers of caked dirt off and you should find it.

Once that is out soak the area around the top ball joint in PB blaster or something similar. WD-40 isn't good enough, but you need something that will sit there, pool up, and break up the dirt. Then take a chisel and drive it under the lip of the current bushing. That should help to take the bushing out.

 

[Ju99ernaut1987]

thanks for the responses. I got the old bushings out with alot of heat, a bfh, and a chissel. New ones went in nicely and the truck is back on the road. As for the pinch bolts, there was not one on either side. There was zero rust or gunk, there is zero rust on the vehicle in general. If i could post a picture showing this i would. I was boggled by this because like i said all the information i could find had shown a pinch bolt. Also it is 4x4

 

[adsm08]

There is supposed to be one. I would be very very wary about driving with new sleeves and no pinch bolts.

Are the holes at least there?

 

[Ju99ernaut1987]

It has no holes for the pinch bolt so it must be different from factory. It was a bone stock original 87 bronco II clean garage kept 58k mile truck that I bought from the original owner. The camber/caster sleeve is held in by a castle nut and cotter pin like every other upper ball joint I have seen before....until looking up this install.

 

[Ju99ernaut1987]

There is no split in it either like the pinch bolt ones have .....its all solid. No evidence on my that the pinch bolt setup ever existed lol

 

[4x4junkie]

There is supposed to be one. I would be very very wary about driving with new sleeves and no pinch bolts.

Are the holes at least there?

The D35 ('90-'97 trucks) uses a pinch bolt. His '87 has a D28.

 

[Ju99ernaut1987]

The D35 ('90-'97 trucks) uses a pinch bolt. His '87 has a D28.

Thanks for clearing that up for us