Parts Sourcing for Front Suspension Rebuild
I just got back to the house I didn't have time to dig all of the failed parts out . But here is One thing that the poly strut is missing. The rubber struts are a lot stronger when it comes to wear. Here is a picture of a replacement rubber strut half showing how the rubber wore over the years. A poly style just crumbles compared the the rubber but the rubber still does show wear. A poly style will split to pieces when under pressure from the strut rod. Put one in a vise and squash it then put a rubber one in the same vice.. That poly bushing will split apart like stepping on a tomato.
The second picture is of the correct heavy duty bushing. Notice it has a steel ring molded in it so the K member doesn't shear the part off from the sharp edge of the K-member.
Does your poly style have this steel sleeve in the strut bushing. I don't think so. The k-member shears the poly bushing off in no time at all. Then it moves up and down and side to side and you do not see that the part sticking through the K member is gone so you thing they are just fine.
Tomorrow I will show you that the lower arm bushings are even worse. You can not imagine how many cars that came here to have them removed and the pin with the grease fitting is a temporary fix to keep them lubed so they don't powder up as fast .And they are weaker with the hole drilled in them. They have you lube them so they don't wear. put them in without the lube and see how long they last.
If your car has them in put the car in gear with the brake on and look at the arm where it is on the pin with pressure from trying to go forward They are nice and tight to the pin in the k-member. Then put the car in reverse with your foot on the brake apply throttle. Watch it move away from the pin. Some move at least an inch.
When the factory bushings rip off the sleeves from improper install or age this is what happens. That is when they need replacing. This movement makes these cars wonder on uneven roads.
My son and I were working on a bearing for the arm for the Duster to get rid of the torsion bar. Without the bar in place with a ripped factory bushing or a lubed slip in poly bushing the arm would come right off of the pin We wer e working on this when the duster was wrecked we already put ends on the factory struts as per Ray Bartons advice . I guess he doesn't know either.
Strut rod bushings were the worse design by mopar. Replacing them with poly is adding fuel to the fire. You all do what you want. But the advice I am giving you is from so many cars we do. Not just one Car owned by one person.
I just got back to the house I didn't have time to dig all of the failed parts out . But here is One thing that the poly strut is missing. The rubber struts are a lot stronger when it comes to wear. Here is a picture of a replacement rubber strut half showing how the rubber wore over the years. A poly style just crumbles compared the the rubber but the rubber still does show wear. A poly style will split to pieces when under pressure from the strut rod. Put one in a vise and squash it then put a rubber one in the same vice.. That poly bushing will split apart like stepping on a tomato.
The second picture is of the correct heavy duty bushing. Notice it has a steel ring molded in it so the K member doesn't shear the part off from the sharp edge of the K-member.
Does your poly style have this steel sleeve in the strut bushing. I don't think so. The k-member shears the poly bushing off in no time at all. Then it moves up and down and side to side and you do not see that the part sticking through the K member is gone so you thing they are just fine.
Tomorrow I will show you that the lower arm bushings are even worse. You can not imagine how many cars that came here to have them removed and the pin with the grease fitting is a temporary fix to keep them lubed so they don't powder up as fast .And they are weaker with the hole drilled in them. They have you lube them so they don't wear. put them in without the lube and see how long they last.
If your car has them in put the car in gear with the brake on and look at the arm where it is on the pin with pressure from trying to go forward They are nice and tight to the pin in the k-member. Then put the car in reverse with your foot on the brake apply throttle. Watch it move away from the pin. Some move at least an inch.
When the factory bushings rip off the sleeves from improper install or age this is what happens. That is when they need replacing. This movement makes these cars wonder on uneven roads.
My son and I were working on a bearing for the arm for the Duster to get rid of the torsion bar. Without the bar in place with a ripped factory bushing or a lubed slip in poly bushing the arm would come right off of the pin We wer e working on this when the duster was wrecked we already put ends on the factory struts as per Ray Bartons advice . I guess he doesn't know either.
Strut rod bushings were the worse design by mopar. Replacing them with poly is adding fuel to the fire. You all do what you want. But the advice I am giving you is from so many cars we do. Not just one Car owned by one person.
