ratdude747 Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 While I was changing my oil last evening, I noticed one of the plastic rings in my radius arm bushing stack was cracked and split. Some thoughts and questions: -On my 1995 Ranger there is a heat shield (Moog K8729) on the RH bushing to protect such from the nearby Cat/Exhaust. On the F150 there is no heat shield... Moog's application list doesn't show F-series/bronco getting them until 1987. That year there was a change to the design, but from past experience, it's only a change to the front bushing length (same diameter; I've been sold such as the later Ranger/brick/Aero part by accident before). Would it be a good idea to install one while I'm at it? -On my Ranger, Moog has been consistently good for these (as they actually fit, unlike the red duralast ones that were the aformetioned bullnose part sold incorrectly). Are moog bushings any good on the bullnose application, or is there a better brand/better deal to be had? -Debating with myself on whether I should take the lazy way and pry the beams forward to replace these, or if I should do things the "proper' way and pull the axle beams and replace said beam bushings too (AFAIK such are still good). Would be an opportunity to replace the noisy brake pads I have too... I've done such on my Ranger (and on the Ranger before that, done such by de-riveting the frame brackets due to not being able to break loose the spring/beam through-bolts). At the same time, I won't have time for a weekend-long suspension rebuild for a while (yay work ... Thoughts/suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimJam300 Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 If you are willing to make the jump to polyurethane, the Energy Suspension radius arm bushings were a perfect fit on mine. I figure if you're going to tear into the front end you might as well do it all, because it sounds like you are going to create more work for yourself anyway. And if you don't, you'll later be like "I wish I woulda done this or that when I had it apart". I can't speak for a 2WD truck but I never want to touch that Dana 44 TTB again and I hope I won't have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gsmblue Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 If you are willing to make the jump to polyurethane, the Energy Suspension radius arm bushings were a perfect fit on mine. I figure if you're going to tear into the front end you might as well do it all, because it sounds like you are going to create more work for yourself anyway. And if you don't, you'll later be like "I wish I woulda done this or that when I had it apart". I can't speak for a 2WD truck but I never want to touch that Dana 44 TTB again and I hope I won't have to. In the same boat here. Accumulating all the parts I need so I can strip the front end down and replace everything that is worn. Including the radius arm bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 In the same boat here. Accumulating all the parts I need so I can strip the front end down and replace everything that is worn. Including the radius arm bushings. In my experience Moog is good. And I do like the poly bushings. But if the other bushings are good I'd seriously consider prying the beams forward and changing out what is bad. Someone on here recently said "I shouldn't have tried to fix what wasn't broken." Who was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 That year there was a change to the design, but from past experience, it's only a change to the front bushing length (same diameter; ...) Right. The radius arms changed in 1987 on the 2wd trucks, and the bushings got shorter. I assume they did this to improve braking and to just tighten the front end up in general. I swapped in a a new set of the later radius arms on my 1984 F150. They work perfectly fine, but you must also use the later design bushings with them. If you're anywhere near the rust belt, radius arms are bad for rusting at the ends, inside the bushings. I did a bunch of measuring on these parts a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 In my experience Moog is good. And I do like the poly bushings. But if the other bushings are good I'd seriously consider prying the beams forward and changing out what is bad. Someone on here recently said "I shouldn't have tried to fix what wasn't broken." Who was that? Why I was in question. Unlike with Ranger #2, the radius arms are still good (not rotted out) so it's not a case where I have to pull apart everything in one fell swoop no matter what (and in said case, replacing the axle bushings wasn't too hard since I have a ball joint press). That being said, I don't know if the beam prying trick works on the longer pre-1987 radius studs. Edit- Found Moog Radius arm bushings and TRW axle bushings as wholesaler closeouts on RA... ordered both. Worst case I wasted $10 on axle bushings I end up not using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 That being said, I don't know if the beam prying trick works on the longer pre-1987 radius studs. The radius arms should be the same length. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 That being said, I don't know if the beam prying trick works on the longer pre-1987 radius studs. The radius arms should be the same length. i use a chain pull to bring the axle forward and letting the axle swing downward" a little" helps too. this way the axle and radius arm are held firmly while you swap all parts and then it can "back down one click at a time in a safe, controlled manner. think it through and no one gets hurt. DONT TRY RATCHET STRAPS! the release is not what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdude747 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 That being said, I don't know if the beam prying trick works on the longer pre-1987 radius studs. The radius arms should be the same length. I was referring to the length of the entire arm... which includes the bushing stud. The pre-1987 arms have to be longer in order to accept a longer trailing side bushing while keeping the rest of the arm dimensions the same. Longer stud means the arm has to be tugged further to clear the bracket, hence my feasibility concern. ---- Noted on the chain fall... I'll see about getting one if I elect to not do beam bushings at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I was referring to the length of the entire arm... which includes the bushing stud. The pre-1987 arms have to be longer in order to accept a longer trailing side bushing while keeping the rest of the arm dimensions the same. Longer stud means the arm has to be tugged further to clear the bracket, hence my feasibility concern. The arms are the same overall length though. it's the shoulder that moved and changed the available length of the stud. The only part of the bushing that changed is that the front half of the bushing got shorter. The plastic ring and rubber bushing on the back of the frame bracket are the same from 1980-1996. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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