Dana 35 Axle beam Pivot Bushings

[legoms013]

I need to replace the rubber bushings on my passenger side beam, winching sideways the other day caused the pivot bolt to shear through the side of it.


Question being, what is better?

I could get replacement ones with the steel sleeve (rubber, like OEM) for the same price as James Duff's polyurethane ones that do not utilize a sleeve.

Opinions? Both styles are the same price.

 

[railman]

personally, i would use the stock rubber with the sleeve....as long as ya coat the heck out of it with anti-seize...should articulate better....

l8r, John

 

[ronclark]

I need to replace the rubber bushings on my passenger side beam, winching sideways the other day caused the pivot bolt to shear through the side of it.


Question being, what is better?

I could get replacement ones with the steel sleeve (rubber, like OEM) for the same price as James Duff's polyurethane ones that do not utilize a sleeve.

Opinions? Both styles are the same price.

With the James Duff bushings you have to reuse the old sleeves.

 

[legoms013]

personally, i would use the stock rubber with the sleeve....as long as ya coat the heck out of it with anti-seize...should articulate better....

l8r, John

I figured it would articulate better than polyurethane ones. I assume the sleeve is a pain to remove from the beam?

With the James Duff bushings you have to reuse the old sleeves.

Correct.

 

[ChrisR1S]

I personally went with a set of oem replacements. Figured if the originals lasted me well over 100,000miles.. i mean ill probably have an sas before i ever get that many miles on these bushings

EDIT: oh and the sleeve isnt that bad to remove. just be sure to have a chisel, a buddy, and a BFH

 

[The_Dealer]

I figured it would articulate better than polyurethane ones. I assume the sleeve is a pain to remove from the beam?



Correct.

there is no articulation from the pivot bushings, so it would be a preference of how durable u want them and how firm u want your ride to be...all of the flex comes from the ra's. pivot bushings control side to side like a trac bar in a sfa rig

 

[ronclark]

I figured it would articulate better than polyurethane ones. I assume the sleeve is a pain to remove from the beam?



Correct.

Yes, i ended up burn/cut them to get them out.
Having a press makes it way easier.
With the duff ones i just pushed out the inner sleeve and burned out the rubber. after it cooled i slide the duff ones in.
i done it both ways.

 

[legoms013]

Good point. Mine have lasted 210,xxx miles so, OEM replacements should suffice for the next 200k

Has anybody seen any different kind of joint used for the pivot on ford's TTB? Like instead of using a rubber stock type, using some kind of spherical ball joint instead? Just curious....

So if this an item where less articulation/deformation of the bushing is preferred, maybe James Duff's polyurethane ones would be *better*.

 

[railman]

there is no articulation from the pivot bushings, so it would be a preference of how durable u want them and how firm u want your ride to be...all of the flex comes from the ra's. pivot bushings control side to side like a trac bar in a sfa rig

ummm...they are "pivot" bushings....they allow the ends of the beam to go up and down....

l8r, John

 

[railman]

Good point. Mine have lasted 210,xxx miles so, OEM replacements should suffice for the next 200k

Has anybody seen any different kind of joint used for the pivot on ford's TTB? Like instead of using a rubber stock type, using some kind of spherical ball joint instead? Just curious....

So if this an item where less articulation/deformation of the bushing is preferred, maybe James Duff's polyurethane ones would be *better*?

on Pirate i have seen several custom TTB's use spherical ends on long travel set-ups....

but, on race vehicles....who cares about comfort????

l8r, John

 

[legoms013]

Very true....race vehicles are a whole 'nother story.

I leaning towards OEM replacements.

 

[emptyTTB]

high end ttb kits like to use 1" uniballs/monoballs, i've also seen a few garage built kits with 1.25" heims.. not sure how wide your beam brackets are, but you might be able to squeeze in a johnny joint (or similiar). rubber and poly bushings will require no fab work, other upgrade options fab work will be necessary..

 

[The_Dealer]

ummm...they are "pivot" bushings....they allow the ends of the beam to go up and down....

l8r, John

allowing the tire to go up and down on a pivot, the radius arm keeps the beams from going front to back. the bolt going through the pivot bushing is what lets it move...dont believe me tighten the piss out of it and see how it flexes. the bushing has nothing to do with it. poly is firmer and keeps deflection to a minimum(up and down &side to side movement when hitting bumps, that which cant be controled by the ra's), the springs and ra's will always hold up flex on a ttb truck.

spherical joints are used in race trucks, mostly desert trucks because of the durability of them, not for the flex(unless its for the ra's), but because they are stronger then bushings, and with long travel ra's they allow the beam to twist slightly on full droop(drastically changing caster), but once again its up to the ra and coil to allow it to droop that much

not trying to be a dick but just want clarity on the issue, search dezertrangers and pirate and u can find alot of info about ttb's(been doing alot of studying trying to get the most out of mine till i do my sfa)

 

[feellnfroggy]

Call Duff and talk to them about your bushings. If they dont have them in a kit, they prolly have a part or two that will work. Its worth asking.

 

[4x4junkie]

allowing the tire to go up and down on a pivot, the radius arm keeps the beams from going front to back. the bolt going through the pivot bushing is what lets it move...dont believe me tighten the piss out of it and see how it flexes. the bushing has nothing to do with it. poly is firmer and keeps deflection to a minimum(up and down &side to side movement when hitting bumps, that which cant be controled by the ra's), the springs and ra's will always hold up flex on a ttb truck.

spherical joints are used in race trucks, mostly desert trucks because of the durability of them, not for the flex(unless its for the ra's), but because they are stronger then bushings, and with long travel ra's they allow the beam to twist slightly on full droop(drastically changing caster), but once again its up to the ra and coil to allow it to droop that much

not trying to be a dick but just want clarity on the issue, search dezertrangers and pirate and u can find alot of info about ttb's(been doing alot of studying trying to get the most out of mine till i do my sfa)

The beam does twist on the bushing to some extent from the radius arm twisting it (this is in addition to pivoting up/down), so in theory a softer bushing should allow it to twist more freely.
However I have urethane ones on mine, and I have not found them to restrict the flex to any extent that I can tell.


I would say if your sleeves are hosed from the bolt going through them, get the ones with sleeves. If your sleeves are still good, then run a 1.5" hole saw through them to get rid of the rubber, followed by a minute or two with a propane torch, then use the JD sleeveless bushings.