Do these need replacing? Pics..

[bduke23]

Well i thought that the source of my loud clunking noise was my passenger radius arm bushing, but after buying the parts and jacking it up I'm not sure anymore. I didn't want to start grinding rivets only to find out its not, so I decided to post pictures of them both instead hoping someone can help me out. Sorry about the picture quality, my camera isn't very good.

These first few are of the passenger bushing. After looking at it closer it seems ok, and I wiggled and pushed on it and there was no play.

These are of the driver side. It looks different than the other one, I wonder if the passenger side has been replaced already and this one wasn't? Or do they always look different? To me this one looks like it is the one that needs replacing if any.

What do you guys think? I really need to figure this out, I need this vehicle soon and I do not have the money to take it to a garage. There is play in the ball joints, but the clunk is really loud when braking and also sometimes shudders so I don't think their the cause.

 

[bigblue88]

If you got the time and money why not, I'd start troubleshooting with the cheapest most likeliest problem. Good luck

 

[martin]

It's hard to say from the photos but it looks like they have been moving up and down, judging by the rubbed clean part on the crossmember.

 

[bduke23]

Yes there is a little clean part around the edges the whole way around. Should they not move at all?

 

[Boggin]

try to jack them up right by the mounts to see if they have play up and down. on my 79 i felt a clunking when going from forward to reverse or braking or accelerating like you did, when i looked there was literally no bushings, only the nut and washer

 

[martin]

If they move up and down much they will make a heavy thud when you hit the brakes. What often happens is that the hole in the crossmember gets attacked by rust, causing them to elongate.

 

[t0x1k]

Replace them, they're not expensive, They're rotted for sure, they're at the least 13 years old. You could do it yourself and a big ass breaker bar and a 6 point 1 1/8" socket, those nuts don't come off without a fight..
Only problem you might see is when you remove them, they might have got so bad they started to wear away the steel where the arm bolt passes through on the crossmember. This was the case with mine, but I was cutting it out for extended arms anyway.

 

[bduke23]

Ok sounds like they are bad, I'll start working away at it tomorrow after work. Hopefully this solves my problems