front end wobble..trailing arms??

[thebannister8]

hi all...i know diddly about suspension and i have a wobble in the front end...i was looking around and the two big beams that run back toward the firewall i noticed have rubber mountings...seems to me if they are worn, and they are ..that maybe the entire suspension can move back and forth....am i right?...i think i should really replace these if i want an alignment to hold....can i get some comments on how to go about changing them...i noticed the part they mount to is rivited on ...thanks ....whoops..two more things..what are those arms called, and are the rubbers things called rubber bushings...

[FORDification]

You're referring to the radius arms. And yes, once the radius arm bushings wear out, your entire front suspension can shift forward and backward, obviously not a good thing.

Some folks will grind off the rivets, replace the bushings and then then bolt the bracket back on with Grade 8 hardware. However, I prefer dropping the front suspension. It's not that hard, you can have the whole suspension on the floor in 30 minutes with basic hand tools.

[ratfink]

The tracking bar bushings will also cause the "death wobble".
Ratfink

[thebannister8]

thank you keith...much appreciated...i think i'll drop the suspension to learn a little....ratfink: can i get the location of the tracking bar bushings, so i can check those out...there are great diagrams on here, but they don't name the stuff.. thanks

[FORDification]

He's just calling the radius arms by a different name....same piece.

[thebannister8]

...thank you...

[NM5K]

Yep, I agree with Keith on that. It's better to just drop the axles loose,
and that way the radius arm bushings are easy.
Cutting the rivets and replacing with bolts is kind of silly I think.
That's as much or more work than just dropping the axles.
Some also will use a come-along to pull the axle forward enough to
pull the bushings, but I consider that a bad idea. It's an easy way
to bugger up a perfectly good axle pivot bushing. It also puts a lot
of stress on things.
Heck, if it were me, I'd check all the front end parts, including the kingpins.
If they are getting old, it would be a lot less work to rebuild the whole
front end while it's apart in one shot, than do just the bushings now.
You might end up having to yank it all apart again before too long to
replace other parts. Jack the front wheels up and grab the tire from the
top and from the bottom, and try to get it to wobble. There should be no
play. Shot king pins could also cause wobble/shimmy if they were bad enough.
Also cause fast tire wear compared to normal. If your tire wear seems low,
and fairly normal, the king pins may be ok. But I'd still do the wobble test
to see what slack they might have.

[thebannister8]

great advice...thanks ...

[rjewkes]

also, are you planning a front disc swap? If so perhaps getting some donor parts from 73-78 or 79 and rebuilding this front end and just swapping it all out at one timed.
Remembering to grab the Distribution block and booster and master cylinder while there.

[thebannister8]

rjewkes....i don't plan to change to disc brakes....the truck i have now is the one where i want it primary for putzing around town and easy driving.....in the future i want to get a 4x4, perhaps a 72 or so...also the next truck i get will require that it have a v8 ( i have a 6 cyc 240 )...it's that truck that i'll do the building to and some conversions...wow do i miss a v8

[rjewkes]

Cool, i know the feelin but it was me missing an FE BB versus a 302 windsor family small block.