body mount hardware

[phybere]

I put a 3" body lift on my truck some time ago and the stock hardware got pretty beat up, but I reused most of it.

Anyhow, I crawled under my truck today and noticed that two of the lower bushings for the body mounts are missing, apparently the washers disintegrated and the bushings fell off.

I'm going to order a new set of bushings, anybody have suggestions for what to do about the hardware? I'm thinking of just using large washers on the bottom and top of the bushings, but the original hardware had a sleeve that went inside the bushing that the bolt passed through - should I attempt to replicate this with some pipe, or isn't that really important? (They're rather expensive to from ford)

 

[4x4junkie]

Yes, you'll need a sleeve to keep the bushings from being crushed.

A couple pieces of pipe or steel tubing that fits into each other should work fine if it's welded to the washers.

 

[jdunlop77]

i had the same problem when i did my 3in bl, i got the bushings from JD and then went to local hardware store and got some steel tubing and big washers. i searched how to do it and others have just cut the tube and stuck it in there so its snug against the washer when ill tightened up, i dont see a problem in doing this but i had a buddy weld mine just incase as 4x4junkie has suggested.