Rear Leaf Spring Bushings

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cwatts

cwatts

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I have a strange Clunk in the back of my dart when going slow over bumps, I think it might be the bushings in my leaf springs. How difficult are these to change ???
 
check your shocks,and the front spring hanger bolts first,I had a clunk this year for me it turned out my front spring hanger bolt was loose.as for the rear shack ell bushing very easy to do,but the front you will have to pull the spring out and have them pressed out.
 
If you need the forward eye bushings and buy the OEM pressed in type they can be difficult without a press. Everything else including aftermarket polys , you can stand 3 feet away and throw them in LOL
I sort of doubt the clunk is comming from the spring bushings anyway. Most likely shocks or their mounts.
 
I also have this clunk every once in awhile. Thought it was springs.Will check front spring mount. Shocks are new. Sorry for the hijack. Thanks for the info..
 
About 30 years ago, I began to hear a metallic thump from the rear of my '68 GTX. It happened when I drove over bumps in the road. I bounced the rear bumper a few times, but heard nothing. I began to check for stability in the rear suspension. All good until I pushed the shocks around a little. There was movement in the left shock at the upper connection. It turns out that the shock bolt mount failed and it hogged out bolt hole in the mounting rail of the car. I had to weld in a plate to repair it.
 
It is not the pinion snubber or the shock mounts. When I jack the rear end up on the subframe and start taking the load off the suspension I hear it ???
 
With the load on do the leaf springs look closed? When you take the load off do they separate? Could it be the leaf springs smacking together?

On mine there are four studs at the front and two bolts at the back have you check to make sure none are broken or loose?
 
cwatts said:
It is not the pinion snubber or the shock mounts. When I jack the rear end up on the subframe and start taking the load off the suspension I hear it ???
Click to expand...

Jack it up enough to get a long bar under each tire. Secure the car well so you can get under it from behind and have someone put the bar under a tire and lift and release, listen / watch for unusual movement.
 
jhdeval said:
With the load on do the leaf springs look closed? When you take the load off do they separate? Could it be the leaf springs smacking together?

On mine there are four studs at the front and two bolts at the back have you check to make sure none are broken or loose?
Click to expand...

Could you by any chance take a picture ?? I'm not sure what you mean by the studs ?? Spring Clamps ??
 
The front mounting bracket for the leaf springs are bolted to a frame rail. On my car they are actually studs that feed through the front mount bracket and out of the frame rail.

As for the spring clamps the leaf springs are held together by clamps that wrap around the entire spring package.

I can not get pictures because of their location. VERY hard to get a good picture.
 
This is the clamps he is talking about,also check that big bolt that goes through the front spring bushing as i said early,mine got loose and would make a banging noise.
 

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Snake said:
This is the clamps he is talking about,also check that big bolt that goes through the front spring bushing as i said early,mine got loose and would make a banging noise.
Click to expand...
Thanks Snake, all that looks good on my springs
 
cwatts said:
It is not the pinion snubber or the shock mounts. When I jack the rear end up on the subframe and start taking the load off the suspension I hear it ???
Click to expand...
Front spring eye bushings might be worn?There,s a medal sleeve that the leaf eye bolt runs through.If the bushing is worn,you,ll hear it move"clunk"medal on medal.When I added the CE slide-A-link to my 73 Dart Sport,they came with a solid bushing to be pressed in the front spring eye.Too many burnouts Clint?LOL Check your front spring eye bushings.JMO
 
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