At my wit's end with camber bushings please help me out..

[RangerRyan88]

Ok here's the deal.. I've had my B3000 for several months now, a couple months ago I did a leveling kit in the front (I have a thread and vid about it) and I put in the adjustable camber bushings from NAPA. Now my PROBLEM is that the little bastards will not stay in despite my best efforts. I've put red Loctite all around both of them, on the pinch bolt, torqued the bolt to the point that I'm afraid to shear the head off, and they still work themselves out. Oh, and I haven't even had the truck offroad since I've done this. The only other idea I have is fabbing some kind of "clamp" to hold them in place.. I'm so close to just putting it back to stock and saying f**k it until I can afford the L/T kit..

Any suggestions to keep them in!?

 

[TrexMex]

Could you take a pic of the setup? that would help "picturing" your problem

 

[RangerRyan88]

I'll take a pic first thing in the morning, but in the mean-time my video might help.

 

[Sprag-O]

I'd suggest bashing the area where they pinch together with a hammer so you can barely hammer the bushing in... get a new bolt, and crank the crap outta it... I wheel the crap outta mine, and Ive never had one go loose, heck, I even have never-seize on the bushing and pinch bolt so I can change them later if I have to.

 

[TrexMex]

I'd suggest bashing the area where they pinch together with a hammer so you can barely hammer the bushing in... get a new bolt, and crank the crap outta it... I wheel the crap outta mine, and Ive never had one go loose, heck, I even have never-seize on the bushing and pinch bolt so I can change them later if I have to.

+1 on that... have the napa bushings in and just cranked that bolt as tight as the air impact wrench could... never had one loose....

As for your video, I'll take a look tonight as I don't have youtube access at work.... Good thing they haven't figured out discussion forums... yet...

 

[mrcarcrazy]

Well I've installed hundreds of camber bushings on twin I beam trucks and never had one work loose....what are you using to tighten the bolt? I'm curious of the ft/lbs of force you are applying. Factory bushings have a tab on them that has a notch in it for the bolt (so they don't come out, or move in any way. but no aftermarket ones do to my knowledge as it would prevent adjustment.

Are they inserted all the way into the hole? They shouldn't have fell easily into the hole...there should have been some resistance. if there wasn't any (or much) then you may just buy a new bushing. (or have it aligned, and they can install new ones.) your bushing may be too small of diameter....Can you turn the bushing once you've tightened the bolt down? if so replace the bushing and try again.

At this point I'm betting your bushing is of insufficient girth

 

[RangerRyan88]

Well I've installed hundreds of camber bushings on twin I beam trucks and never had one work loose....what are you using to tighten the bolt? I'm curious of the ft/lbs of force you are applying. Factory bushings have a tab on them that has a notch in it for the bolt (so they don't come out, or move in any way. but no aftermarket ones do to my knowledge as it would prevent adjustment.

Are they inserted all the way into the hole? They shouldn't have fell easily into the hole...there should have been some resistance. if there wasn't any (or much) then you may just buy a new bushing. (or have it aligned, and they can install new ones.) your bushing may be too small of diameter....Can you turn the bushing once you've tightened the bolt down? if so replace the bushing and try again.

At this point I'm betting your bushing is of insufficient girth

Well the bushings go in very snug, required a pry bar to open the pinch area a little (not sure if that even helped lol) and a mini-sledge hammer to beat them in. And once everything's tight they don't budge by any force I can put on them. Oh and yes I made sure to put them in all the way
As far as tightening the pinch bolt I use a 2ft breaker bar with all my weight/strength until I can't move it at all.. Maybe I should borrow my friend's 350ft/lb impact?

I feel like I should mention the tire's I'm running I purchased used, and didn't realize until after I bought them that they have flat spots.. The OO never had them balanced and bounced them around, so even balanced now they shake like a mother on the highway. But if people run these bushings on trail rigs and prerunners then a bouncy tire shouldn't pop them out..

 

[4x4junkie]

My only guesses is the bushings are too small (or worn from being loose), the balljoint stud is worn (or you have the wrong upper balljoints), the beam is worn, or you're just not tightening it enough (by the sounds of it, that latter one doesn't sound like the case).

Some pictures would help (the gap on the beam where the pinch bolt is isn't closed all the way together around the bushing, is it?)

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

If the pinch area is touching when tightened, you could open it up a bit more with a cut off wheel on a grinder so it will clamp tighter.

 

[RangerRyan88]

No the pinch points don't touch when tightened, I highly doubt the beams are worn since the truck was 100% stock and girl owned since new until I bought it less than a year ago, it was always serviced professionally and on time.. Worn balljoint studs could cause them to work loose?? I'll have to check if they've ever been replaced.. I guess that's next on my list

Thanks so much everyone for the replies!!

 

[4x4junkie]

Worn balljoint studs is just one of a few guesses. I've never dealt with any issues of bushings coming loose myself.

Good luck on it.

 

[RangerRyan88]

Thanks man, I just looked and in 140k miles balljoints were never done so I guess it couldn't hurt

 

[Sprag-O]

Ya man... change out those balljoints and what not...

I think the pinch bolt only requires about 68-75 ft/lbs or something like that.
Something can't be right if its spinning that easy.

 

[RangerRyan88]

Ya man... change out those balljoints and what not...

I think the pinch bolt only requires about 68-75 ft/lbs or something like that.
Something can't be right if its spinning that easy.

Wow.. Yeah I'm definitely getting more than that on the pinch bolts Maybe if I take like a wire wheel or something and rough up the mating surfaces a little?

 

[TrexMex]

dude, just took a look at your video, those ball joint studs look waay down there, meaning you must be getting around half of the area to securely tighten those bushings in there, as far as I know the stud tip should be protruding from the bushing to get a tight grip on the thing.... If you're considering a ball joint change make sure you get ones that go all the way through the bushings, I'm almost positive that'll fix your problem