TWIN-I-BEAM

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

On the front end of my 85 F-350, at the in-board ends of each "I-Beam", where they pivot at the cross-member, what are the rubber bushings called when asked for at the parts house; and can I replace them in the yard, or do I need professional tools to fix them??

Thanks.

 

[Dieselguy123]

They are called axle pivot bushings, I replaced mine myself, I just found a really big socket that the new bushing would fit into and used that as a reciver cup and I took a long bolt and put throught the end of the socket and all the way through the bushing itself, then put a heavy duty washer (smaller than the bushing diamater) and put that and a nut on and then just start cranking it. It will tighten up and start to push the old bushing into the big socket on the other side, Mine came out fairly easy with this method, Hope this helps -Brad-

 

[Exekiel69]

Yep, I did mine along with the radius arm bushings, not a difficult job if you use air tools. I used a balljoint kit to remove them.

 

[69oiler]

summit racing has them in poly. (at least they did in '03) i second usind the ball joint press. works good.

 

[tractorman86]

i used an air hammer to remove mine and a big rubber mallet to hammer them back in. energy suspension sells a polly set i got from bronco salvage iirc

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED --- HALF ACCOMPLISHED

It took the day; but, I got the worst shape axle-bushing replaced.

All I had left was a little shredded *** of rubber and the sleeve the bolt slides through.

I used every jack I had, half the wood-pile, and a come-a-long. (I get my wood by the dump-truck load as cut-offs from pallet-mill cants, usually 6x6 or 4x12, just right for blocking things up.)

I made my own bushing press from the housing of a small-block Chevy starter-solenoid; it was a perfect fit for the bushings.

Thanks for explaining the bolt-through-the-socket trick; as, I modified the idea when making my press.

I am taking several pictures through this process and will maybe do a write-up, if someone can walk me through the picture posting process.

 

[Agnem]

Easiest way to tell you how to post pictures is to click the manage attachments button under the posting window, and browse to the file on your PC and attach it.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED -- OTHER HALF !!!

I undertook to install the remaining axle-bushing.

It took about half the time and went twice as easy; as, I learned how, during the first episode.

I have taken a ton of pictures and a lot of notes.

Now, I need to practice the picture thing and get them where they can do the next poor victim some good.