Radius arm rust holes

[Curious Hound]

We do realize the risks. We also realize that sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Several have recommended driving more carefully, slower. This particular damage is Not a balljoint failure. Most likely the first failure that would come from the damage shown is the lower end of the shock coming loose. That would make the suspension kind of funky. But should not make the driver lose control of the vehicle. The greatest thing is that he now knows about the problem and can take precautions when he must use the vehicle. That is 1,000% better than the situation a few days ago, before he discovered the damage. Nobody here is forcing him to drive the vehicle.

 

[svtcards]

Apparently, he resides at point A and occasionally needs to transport himself to point B. That's why.

Really! maybe find a safer way to get to point B. it won't take much for those radius arm to buckle no matter how easy he is on them.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

When you are under there replacing that arm, take a serious look at the rest of the truck. It's unusual to have something in one place rust out without having damage and serious rust in other places.

Behind the spring buckets, the rear shock mounts, rear spring brackets in addition to cab mounts are common rust points on a TIB/TTB Ranger frame.

If it is swiss cheese all over... it might not be worth the aggravation of fighting with rust to replace the radius arms... aka different truck time.

If by some chance the rest of the frame is good, figure on replacing the pivot bushings, radius arm bushings and shocks. The bushing on your shock looks past its sell by date...

 

[svtcards]

I guess until you personally got into an accident after knowing that a part is at the brink of failure actually fails while your driving people will have comments on both sides of the spectrum

 

[MikeG]

Radius arms are under a compressive load most of the time. They locate the axle front to back. If.... and IF .... you don't hit a bad pothole or other obstacle, the only compressive forces on them when driving, will be the friction of the tires on the road (basically), and whatever up/down load the shocks put on them. Of course if you hit a bad bump in reverse, then they will be under a tensile load (stretch). Same basic problem though.

They look to be in pretty bad shape - BUT - they also don't have much 'work' to do, on smooth pavement. The i-beams locate the axle side to side, and the springs up and down. So it's not like the wheel will fall off, if the radius arm snaps in two, although I'm sure it would be a pretty wild ride if that happened.

I'm not advocating ignoring the problem, but keep in mind it's often possible to balance yourself on an empty aluminum can - as long as nothing impacts it from the side. I've done it.

Creeping around in town, till parts can be replaced? Up to each person to decide.

 

[Shran]

They also take the full weight of the vehicle while braking... hence why we often see broken radius arm crossmembers.

I would second the advice regarding looking over everything else before doing anything with it... radius arms are built with quite a bit of meat on them, if they have rusted through, you can be sure that everything behind there is that bad or worse. Particularly, rear leaf spring hangers, shackles, gas tank straps, cab mounts...the back half of the frame itself... Although I have seen some that were really bad in some areas and fine in others. All of the rear spring hangers rotted off the frame but other common rust spots like the core support had no rust.

If you do decide to keep driving it, keep in mind that you are aware of the problem and that you're sharing the risk of failure with everyone else on the road.

 

[MikeG]

Yep thought of braking later also.

 

[racsan]

My dad had a 96 (full size) bronco he bought brand new, It wasnt even 10 years old when he noticed a bad problem when braking, turned out he had a problem with the radius arm bracket, it had rusted bad enough that when stopping the radius rod & bushing would push back through the bracket. The shifting of the axle beam would cause it to swerve towards the ditch. (was on the passenger side)

 

[pjtoledo]

where in Ohio?

and good luck getting that big arse bolt out of a rust belt truck.
if you have access to 3/4" or 1" drive sockets & breaker bar it will help.

 

[sgtsandman]

where in Ohio?

and good luck getting that big arse bolt out of a rust belt truck.
if you have access to 3/4" or 1" drive sockets & breaker bar it will help.

It can't be stuck if you melt it with a fire wrench.

 

[Curious Hound]

where in Ohio?

and good luck getting that big arse bolt out of a rust belt truck.
if you have access to 3/4" or 1" drive sockets & breaker bar it will help.

That bolt is a PITA even without rust.

 

[pjtoledo]

That bolt is a PITA even without rust.

that front frame I got last March, had a 4 foot pipe on my 3/4 breaker bar. the nut was easy, had to work the bolts for long time before they fully released.
and that was with the assembly off the truck, laying on the driveway!

the neighbors dogs are still mad at me for the squeaks it made.

 

[racsan]

I wondered how hard those came out, I was considering pulling the ones out of my 94 to put longer ones in with washers. Ended up just using the threads that were there with a 3/4” spacer.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

When i did the bushings on my 77 i used a stout 1/2 in ratchet and A 6ft bar.

Or are you guys talking about the bolt that runs through the beam?

 

[racsan]

the bolt through the beam that the coil seat is on.
I twisted off the radius rod stud with a 3/4 drive ratchet when I had to fix my 93. Its best to use a impact there, thats not a hardened stud on the end of the radius rod.