Parts Sourcing for Front Suspension Rebuild
I am going to the garage to work on the Duster . When I have time I will explain to you with pictures to prove how wrong you are. How can you disagree with something that happened in front of many at a track, The struts do not even have a metal sleeve molded in them to stop the K-member from shearing the male part off the slips through the k-member as the OEM do.. They are a over hyped pieces of junk. You will never admit that because you already waisted your money on them. Parts and labor. What is holding the lower from moving front to back. I know you will say the strut rod fastened to the outside of the arm. You really need to think abouth the function of the lower bushing. It is not only to stop side to side movement. And the greasable pins are another joke. I have done several in the past 30 years . I have seen the carnage with my own eyes.
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.
First, I don't use poly strut rod bushings. I don't use any strut rod bushings AT ALL. I use adjustable strut rods on all of my cars, and between my Challenger and my Duster that's over 100k miles using adjustable strut rods. No issues. Not sure why you thought I was talking about strut rod bushings, because I never mentioned them at all. Another reason why I wouldn't buy a suspension rebuild kit, more bushings I don't need.
I know perfectly well the function of the LCA bushing. And if you think that a friction fit rubber bushing is keeping the control arm from moving back, I suggest that perhaps you should think about the how strong rubber is under shear. Because if you think the rubber bushing is what keeps the LCA from moving back off the pin
you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how that bushing works. On that note, you also clearly don't understand that the poly bushing works differently than a rubber bushing, even when used in the same location. Poly bushings MUST be lubricated. Yes, if you don't lubricate them they will fail. You wouldn't drain the oil out of your engine, seize it up, and then blame the engine would you? Same difference. Obviously you don't understand the difference in materials, you can't treat a poly bushing like a rubber bushing. Which probably explains why your bushings failed. Improper installation and maintenance.
As for the greaseable LCA pivot pins, again, I've got over 100k miles on them between my Challenger and my Duster. I'd take a brand new greaseable pin over some beat down 50 year old stock pin every day. Firm Feel has been making great parts for decades, and their greaseable pins are top notch.
Some pictures of "Ray Barton's" Hemi Dart on the lift. Don't condemn peoples advice just because you wasted your money. If that is all you have is your own personal experience. Try something different first
I didn't waste my money, I haven't had a single poly bushing that I've installed fail. Not one. I've used poly bushings on modern cars, trucks, and my Mopars. Notice that's plural, I have more than one Mopar. Heck, there's a set of poly C-bushings on the radius arms on my '71 F100, they've been there for over 10 years and I didn't even install them. They work great.
I do seem to recall one of us totaled a very nice Duster because of poor suspension maintenance. I also recall that someone wasn't me.
:wtf: do those pictures have to do with this thread?
Absolutely nothing. They show nothing of significance or relevance for this thread at all. He just thinks if he name drops enough and puts up some pictures of somebody else's fancy race car we'll believe everything he says, even when he's completely wrong. Age does not equal wisdom.
