LCA pivot shaft

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Waco Demon

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Has any one installed PST's LCA greasable pivit shaft's . I installed a set about two years ago I was not happy with them Waco Demon
 
I've installed a couple from Firm Feel, but not PST. Never had any issues with the Firm feel ones.

Did you use the standard rubber or poly/delrin/nylon bushings? I know the FFI ones are made for aftermarket bushings, the shoulder on the pin is different.

What issue did you have with them?
 
Thay are poly the pins are to lose in the bushings the pins jest slide in and out with no residents
 
Waco Demon said:
Thay are poly the pins are to lose in the bushings the pins jest slide in and out with no residents
Click to expand...

That's how poly bushings work. The pins aren't retained by the bushings. There shouldn't be any slop between the pins and bushings, but the pins can slide back and forth. On the originals the pins are only retained by the bonding between the rubber and the inner sleeve, even though the pin itself is pressed into the inner sleeve. That's why the OE pins have to be tightened at ride height, otherwise the bushings tear free of the sleeves.

With poly bushings I recommend using adjustable strut rods. That way the LCA in held in place in the exact spot it needs to be, so there's no chance the LCA can slide around on the pin.
 
you are saying that there no friction between pin and the poly bushing Waco Demon
 
I vaguely recall reading that the poly LCA bushings are no longer sold. Many people here fear them, saying that the only thing securing the LCA axially would then be the little wire clip at the rear of the torsion bar. I wouldn't be overly concerned since the T-bar is always under much load and unlikely to slip axially. Still, most cars use twisting rubber bushings, so I see no need to slide. The poly bushings are supposed to add stiffness and perhaps last longer, though the sliding may make them wear. We will know as people like you report over the next 10 years.
 
I don't have any problems with the polys at all, as Bill said there is a lot of pressure on the torsion bars and even so a little bonded rubber isn't going to make much difference in retention.
The t bar retainer clips are hardened and you would have to do a lot of damage to the steel socket to get them to push out.
I don't use adjustable strut rods either. (but have poly bushings on them)
The poly bushings transfer a little more road noise, but I'll take that for the firmness of them.

One thing to note, is that you can shim the T bars in the front sockets with washers to keep and forward/aft movement down to a minimum without having to mess with the clip end and possibly alter the design allowing it to come out.
 
How do you tighten the nut on the shaft if it spins in the poly bushing Waco Demon
 
with the lock nut you can not install the nut unless you us vice grips to hold the shaft. I heard there was a tech article in Mopar Muscle or Mopar Action dose any one where I can find it Waco Demon
 
In the article they are using factory bushing I am installing Poly bushing and shafts
Waco Demon
 
I understand. But this is the only recent build that we were doing with any of the magazines. So I thought this may have been the one that you thought of.

Thanks
James
 
Waco Demon said:
In the article they are using factory bushing I am installing Poly bushing and shafts
Waco Demon
Click to expand...

Get ahold of the shaft at the shoulder where it butts up against the K frame with a pair of vise grips or channel locks to hold it.
Otherwise if the shaft where the bushing rides gets chewed up it will tear up your new bushings.
 
i am having same problem. i am using poly bushing too. everything is set up, but i can't get the nut on the shaft because the shaft turns inside the bushing, there's nothing to really grab onto to hold it and i'm afraid to mung up the threads anyway. how did u guys resolve this issue? and i too am concerned that the chincy little clip is the only thing holding the torsion bar in place.
 
All I did was get ahold of the LCA pivot shoulder with a set of vice grips. Make sure you're on the shoulder though, not where the bushing is going to ride. Then I used a cordless impact wrench to start the nut. The impact overcomes the thread resistance easier than just using a wrench or ratchet. Once things are tightened down a bit you can torque it to spec without it moving. The FFI pivots I installed are torqued to 100 ft-lbs, so it can be done.

As far as the torsion bar clip, it has worked just fine for the last 40+ years. Never heard of a torsion bar sliding out the back accidentally. And regardless, the torsion bar isn't retained by the LCA anyway, they can and do slide inside of the sockets even after installation. They don't always, but they can if the suspension is unloaded.

The only thing that holds the LCA pivot to the bushing in the original style bushings is the rubber being bonded to the inner sleeve, and that hasn't been intact on any of the LCA's I've dissassembled so far. I've had a few LCA's just fall off the pivot once the torsion bars were removed because the bushing was so worn out.

The reason I say to use adjustable strut rods has nothing to do with the torsion bars moving. The stock strut rods are a one size fits most deal, and they aren't always the ideal length for a given car. Because the LCA can slide a bit easier on the poly bushings, I like the added insurance of the strut rods being exactly the right length, because that guarantees the LCA is positively located. If the stockers locate the LCA well, they're not necessary. Although that said, the adjustables on my Challenger and my Duster are not set up exactly at the stock length, they're set at the ideal length to keep the LCA from binding as it moves through it's entire arc. Which the stock ones "should" do, but I haven't seen it yet in practice from the stockers. They're ok, but they usually still leave room for improvement.
 
I'll throw a related scrap out there. Some people assume the grease and cup at the T-bar rear is to allow sliding. It is simply to stop corrosion. The first cars didn't have that, so the recess quickly accumulated road salt and rusted so bad up north that the T-bars spun in the rear anchor, leaving northern drivers disabled and angry, and even worse within the warranty period, which surely got the CEO's attention. You should also grease the front hex.
 
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