Strut rod bushings?

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1969GTS

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So when I looked over the front end of the dart I replaced what was worn and noted the strut rod bushings were missing. I posted on the site and had the moog heavy duty ones endorsed by a few members. When I pulled the front washer off there were bushings in there but the look too thin as the cotter pin hole is way too far away from the washer. I've taken some pic's with the last one showing the moog bushing for comparison. Thoughts? Do I have to pull the whole lower control arm to change out the bushings?


Thanks

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Thats what I thought. The washers are almost touching the K frame. I was shocked to find them in there.
 
so did you find out if you need to take the LCA off to do the bushing change...?
I need to do the same thing this weekend...im missing a bushing on one side
 
I believe you will have to remove the torsion bar and remove the lower control to k-frame bolt then slide everything back to change the bushings.
 
You will need to remove the torsion bars and the lower control arm to get the strut rods out. I just finished putting just suspension/s polyurethane bushings in all the front end parts. I also had a pair of new 3/4 dia 4140 steel strut rods made.
 
Spudmaster, how did you like the Just Suspensions kit, I am just about to order one for my Duster?
 
Be aware that some of the aftermarket polyurathane bushings for the lower
control arms and the strut rods are TOO THICK ! It makes it next to impossible to align the car properly.

The ones in the pic are probably the "bullet style" ones made by Dorman I believe .
 
LCA must come off. no way around it. and while you are at it, do the LCA bushings. unless of course they are new already, or you don't want to, or you think they are ok. i'd do it if it was me.
 
Super. That sounds like a real fun job. I've never had a set of torsion bars out before so any tips would be appreciated. I noticed in the book that there is a special tool that clamps on to them. I'm assuming your mark them first so as not to turn them.

Thanks for the help.
 
mbaird said:
Be aware that some of the aftermarket polyurathane bushings for the lower
control arms and the strut rods are TOO THICK ! It makes it next to impossible to align the car properly.

The ones in the pic are probably the "bullet style" ones made by Dorman I believe .
Click to expand...

The bullet style ones look new, should I bother replacing them?
 
don't worry about the marking. if you look at the rear of the T bar, you will see a line on the end. driver side is / 0 \ the o is the transmission. the slashes are the T bars, left and right.just don't swap left for right. you will be ok. and if you unload the T bar, you can usually, if the front end is not bent up, grab it with a pair of vice grips and hit it with a hammer towards the rear, and out it comes. good luck.
 
To help unload the T-bars, remove the bump stop for the UCA and one of the shock mounts. Both of these items limit the downward travel of the LCA. If you have already separated the LCA from the spindle, you can leave the UCA bump stop in place.
 
Thanks, hopefully someone chimes in and says don't change out the bushings that are in there. They do look new.

I can only hope.
 
Spend the money and buy the Moog "Improved Design" strut rod bushings. Remember, put the washers on so the cupped side is OUT. Very common to see them turned around w/the cupped surface inwards. Experience tells us this is how the washers go, but the instructions say otherwise-I'm guilty of having done it wrong and learned via the alignment guys! Don't grab the bars w/a pair of vise grips- it can create stress risers/cracks. Fab up a tool using 2 pieces of wood and some nuts and bolts. Tighten the hardware so it grabs the bar tightly, then tap the bottom section of the wood (hanging below the car) with the hammer
 
Thanks all, The lower arms don't look too bad to get off and I think my alignment will be fine after. I couldn't help but notice the lower arms are touching the rubber blocks. I'm thinking this is not good. I'm starting to wonder why none of this got noticed when I had the wheel alignment done!
 
in 30 years of messing with these cars and scowering the junk yards, i've NEVER seen a broken T bar. NEVER. and a scar is NOT going to affect the way it works. you can probably rent the TOOL from advance auto parts if you are worried about scarring it up. but you aint gonna hurt it. either way. if it is unloaded, and the rear of the torque box is cleaned out well enough and the retainer is removed it WILL come out fairly easily. i swear it will.
 
Soooooo No feed back on leaving the bushings in the picture in so I'm going to swap them out this weekend. Also I really don't want the lower control arms sitting on the bumpers so I'll crank up the front end an inch or so. My alignment will be hooped for sure but I will get that sorted out before going for my safety inspection. When cranking up the front end should I bottom the bolts out and turn them equal turns until I'm happy with the hight?

Again, thanks for any suggestions
 
if you are sitting on your snubbers then your cars alignment cant be right. set the bars so front end is at stock heighth for the best alignment or make sure your front end guy does before alignment. imho
 
1969GTS said:
Soooooo No feed back on leaving the bushings in the picture in so I'm going to swap them out this weekend. Also I really don't want the lower control arms sitting on the bumpers so I'll crank up the front end an inch or so. My alignment will be hooped for sure but I will get that sorted out before going for my safety inspection. When cranking up the front end should I bottom the bolts out and turn them equal turns until I'm happy with the hight?

Again, thanks for any suggestions
Click to expand...

The height is measured at the inner and outer part of the LCA. A factory service manual can explain it. To reiterate what another member said, some of the Polygrahite strut bushings are so thick that when the nut is installed it won`t screw on far enough to get the roll pin in.
 
I have been prepping (hot tanking and painting ) all my suspension parts this week . So I need to order bushings and ball joints. I can tell you that there is no way I'm going with the hightech stuff this time around . I realized on my last car (73 340 4sp dart) that all I do is drive it around. I'll take the nice ride
over the ultra handling on this car. Not that my Dart handled that well in comparison to new cars. I am using the Moog offset upper control arm bushings though .

Does anyone know if there is a full rebuild kit available using OEM style components ??
 
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