IDI Body Mount Replacement

I recently replaced the body mounts on my '86 crew cab as part of a host of upgrades.......... See these posts for those details.....Part #1 Part #2

I had several questions come up about the process of replacing the body mounts and I thought I share my experience with the brotherhood.

I decided to use Energy Suspension's polyurethane body mounts, Part number 4.4107G (G=black, R=red).

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I also got a three pack of their special lube to keep the polyurethane from squeaking, Part number 9.11110

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These are the bushing for the front clip (left), front of the cab (middle), and rear of the cab (right). Of course you get one set for each side of the frame.

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Loosen the four cab mount bolts and the two front clip bolts next to the radiator support. My front clip is currently off the truck. The front cab bolts are under a plate in the floor board.


Front

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Rear

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Take the two cab bolts out on the side you want to replace 1st. Leave the opposite side loose, but don't take the bolts out. Then get a jack and lift the working side of the cab up.

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More to follow:

Heath

nice, thanks for writing this up Heath, my crew cab supports need some attention too.

Thanks for posting, I was wondering what that metal cover was for, now I know!

Are my eyes playing tricks with me, or were you able to loosen/remove these bolts with a 3/8 drive ratchet? I figured the bolts would be too frozen even on a California truck

I'm looking to do this in the near future...thank you for posting this! Are you replacing with stock-height or are you putting in a body lift? I'm curious to see how much (if any) noise you get...I don't want to lift my truck any, but I"m not sure whether to go with stock rubber, or poly, or what..

Each body mount bushing has a two part washer/sleeve. The two ends are held together with a flair fit in the center. To get them apart and the old bushings out, you have to make a puller to pull them apart. Too bad that is not part of the kit from Energy Suspension.


You need the following to make your puller:

A five inch long piece of three inch diameter exhaust pipe:

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Roughly a nine inch length of grade 8 7/16th all thread with course threads. Three grade 8 7/16th nuts. A thick (not thin) washer that is a bit larger than three inches in diameter. A few small 7/16th washers to act as a bearing between the nut and the large washer.

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It takes quite a bit of force to pull these apart. I learned the hard way, that less than grade 8 hardware will not survive the endeavor. For the same reason, I'd not recommend using the stock bolts as part of your puller set up.



The driver's side rear cab mount is blocked by the front fuel tank. Take off the skid plate if so equipped. Loosen the rear support band, remove the front support band and lower the tank onto a jack stand. Don't go too far, otherwise you could damage the lines going to and from the sending unit. Best to do this with an empty tank as well. Once you do this, the driver's side mount is visable.

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The passenger's side rear mount is much easier to work on as are the front cab mounts.

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Slip the piece of exhaust pipe over the lower body mount bushing.

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Assemble the puller as seen below. Lube the threads/washers with antiseize.

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Tighten the nut against the large washer/pipe and hold the 7/16th all thread at the bottom (with two nuts locked together) with a wrench. Continue until the two halves of the sleeves have been pulled apart. It will take a lot of work and thread to do this. The rubber will compress and stretch a lot more than you'd think.

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More to follow:

Heath

Here are the old rubber bushings with their sleeves from the rear of the cab.

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The sleeves have been removed to show you all the parts of the stock body mount bushings.

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Bottom half (on left). Top half (on right).

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New (left) and old (right) rear cab bushings side by side.

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Here is a shot of the puller being mounted on the passenger's side front cab mount.

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If you are having trouble separating the metal sleeve from the old rubber bushing....... give this a try. Compress the rubber bushing in a vice. It will squeeze the sleeve loose and you can pry it out of the old bushing.

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More to follow:

Heath

That part about the sleeve business is what I needed to see --- THANKS.


I was sort of thinking that whole business came out as a unit; I know it did when I replaced the cushions of several old Chevy trucks.


As I didn't replace the cushions, I didn't have to mess with any of that when I installed the body-lift.


One other thing I will point out; the front fuel-tank interference must be a crew-cab thing, and possibly an extended-cab.

I don't remember the fuel-tank even being anywhere close on my standard-cab.

This is the old passenger's side front cab mount and it's sleeve.

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The old (left) front cab mount and the new (right) front cab mount. Notice the difference in height. It was worse with the weight of the cab on the old bushing.

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I used an air dremel with a burr to remove the old flair on the sleeves. I did this for two reasons. One, to make reassembly easier on me, and two, to make this job easier to do in ten years.

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Lube all the contact points on the new polyurethane bushing with the special assembly lube. Insert the factory sleeves and you are ready to put them on the truck.

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Once you have all the mounts on one side done, start the bolts on the side you just finished, but don't tighten them down. Take the bolts out of the opposite side and move your jack to that side of the cab and lift it up. Repeat the process above. Now make sure your cab hasn't shifted position with all that raising and lowering. If so, get it as close to the factory position as possible. Once the cab is in the right spot. Tighen down the bolts and put your fuel tank back in its place. Then enjoy the truck. I didn't show any photos of the front two mounts. They fell off when I removed the bolts and require no pulling. But, keep the factory shims/spacers together and on the correct side. Place the factory shims over the new bushings when reinstalling everything.

Sorry I had to rush to get this done. I've been busy this week. I will go back and label the photos in my webshots album to reflect what was said here.

Heath

Thanks for sharing this Heath!!!!!


This is defenentlly gonna be a very usefull thread to all of us!

Jred said:

nice, thanks for writing this up Heath, my crew cab supports need some attention too.

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No problem.

mabc926 said:

Thanks for posting, I was wondering what that metal cover was for, now I know!

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Yup, it hides the front cab mount bolts. I found a bolt with a clip nut painted in the light brown factory paint. It looks like someone on the line dropped it when assembling the truck, lost it, and just keep going. I appears if fell in that hole, wasn't noticed and the cover put back on. You never know what you'll find when working on one of these old trucks.

The Warden said:

Are my eyes playing tricks with me, or were you able to loosen/remove these bolts with a 3/8 drive ratchet? I figured the bolts would be too frozen even on a California truck

I'm looking to do this in the near future...thank you for posting this! Are you replacing with stock-height or are you putting in a body lift? I'm curious to see how much (if any) noise you get...I don't want to lift my truck any, but I"m not sure whether to go with stock rubber, or poly, or what..

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Yup, 3/8 worked very easily. The bolts looked brand new when I had them out during the project. No body lift, just stock height. The black poly is supposed to be quiter than the red (at least according to Energy Suspension). It is impregnated with graphite, which acts as a lubricant between it and other surfaces. The red poly does not. I'm hoping with the black poly and their special prelube, they will stay quite.

MIDNIGHT RIDER said:

That part about the sleeve business is what I needed to see --- THANKS.

One other thing I will point out; the front fuel-tank interference must be a crew-cab thing, and possibly an extended-cab.

I don't remember the fuel-tank even being anywhere close on my standard-cab.

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Damon, I could swear it was covering the lower part of the body mount on all these trucks, but I honestly haven't looked at my single cab F250 to make sure that is the case.

Heath

Thanks for this. It's very thorough. Did you secure the cab after jacking it up or just leave it on the jack? I'm having a hard time picturing a cab jacked up on one side sitting on jackstands.

Jbevs said:

Thanks for this. It's very thorough. Did you secure the cab after jacking it up or just leave it on the jack? I'm having a hard time picturing a cab jacked up on one side sitting on jackstands.

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I left it on the jack. It was only a few inches off the top of the body mount bushings. Just enought to get the old ones out and the new ones in.

You gotta becareful not to put your fingers between the cab and those bushings or the frame. Don't want to have a crushed finger.

Heath

Alright call me slow to join the party but I think I now understand. The mounts have a sleeve and the sleeve has an internal thread at one end. As the mount is tightened the sleeve goes from || to <> (similare to a molly wall anchor) thus creating the PIA to remove. Top to bottom it goes body, top half mount, frame, bottom half mount?

Am I right? If I used hockey pucks instead would I still use the sleeves?

pafixitman said:

Alright call me slow to join the party but I think I now understand. The mounts have a sleeve and the sleeve has an internal thread at one end. As the mount is tightened the sleeve goes from || to <> (similare to a molly wall anchor) thus creating the PIA to remove. Top to bottom it goes body, top half mount, frame, bottom half mount?

Am I right? If I used hockey pucks instead would I still use the sleeves?

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Joe, there are no threads, it is a flare fit on the end of the bottom sleeve, like you said, added after the mount was put on the frame. My guess would be it was added way before the body was ever added during the assembly of the truck.

Yup, Body sits on the top bushing. The top bushing sits on the frame. The bottom bushing bolts to the bottom of the frame and contacts the upper bushing.

Hockey pucks for a body lift or to completely replace the bushings with the pucks?

Heath

hesutton said:

Hockey pucks for a body lift or to completely replace the bushings with the pucks?

Heath

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Ahhh another light goes off. I now assume Ron used the puck with the mount to gain added height...Damn I need more coffee this morning.