Lower control bushing ??

John Reddie

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I am changing the lower control arm bushings and strut rod bushings on my '67 Fury convertible. When I put the lower control arms back in should I load the torsion bars with the weight of the car down on the front end and then torque the pivot shafts and the strut rods to specs? I have one side ready to back in. Any info here is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
John
 
I am changing the lower control arm bushings and strut rod bushings on my '67 Fury convertible. When I put the lower control arms back in should I load the torsion bars with the weight of the car down on the front end and then torque the pivot shafts and the strut rods to specs? I have one side ready to back in. Any info here is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
John
Not a good idea. Leave the front end jacked up and tighten the torsion bar to factory specs. That way you will put less strain on the load screw. They will sometimes strip out if tightened under load from the weight of the car. Also a good idea to put some light oil on the threads. You will usually be real close to factory specs by turning the load back to where it was before you removed torque by loosening the adjuster. You can usually see the clean threads with a flashlight, tighten until they are all engaged. Make your fine adjustments from that point. The rest of the front end components should also be torqued under a no-load condition (ie with the car jacked up and the weight off the front wheels) Do the setup on the rest of the front end before loading the torsion bars.

Hope this helps
Dave
 
Tighten that **** up when it's under load or you may tear the bushings.
 
As far as the ride height adjustment goes, you can use the "clean threads" dimension as a reference point. Make that adjustment "no load". As for the strut rods, get them positioned "generally", but NOT with final torque. Snug might be a good orientation as they WILL move from "no load" to "ride height". Some dielectric silicone can be a good lube (as you'd use on the plug wire boots). Same with the lower shock absorber mounts, snug.

As you ease the jack down, things will settle and move until you get to ride height.

The service manual mentions some control arm to sub-frame measurements. Many use the wheel opening molding. If both the lower control arm bumpers are in good shape and even in height one side to the other, you can use the dimension (open space) between the bumper and where it contacts the sub-frame in full compression, by my own observations. As for measurements? You can eyeball the car and make sure the rocker panel is parallel with a flat road surface. Extending the "line" of the lower rocker panel through the wheel cover, the line should "hit" the same part of the center of the wheel cover.

Doing the "snug", then tighten at "ride height" ensures all of the rubber items are basically centered in their range of travel. This means they flex equally in each direction. As mentioned, if you tighten them with the suspension at full extension, when you put the car on the ground it will preload the bushings, when they weren't designed for a constant preload, their service life will be compromised and shortened. SAME with the lower control arm pivot stud/nut, too! Final torque at ride height.

Recheck the ride height in a few thousand miles or so as the rubber in the lower control arm pivot will settle-in, too. When you get some more miles on it, then a normal wheel alignment can be done, for good measure.

In theory, if you didn't touch any of the camber/caster adjustments on the upper control arms, things should be good. Probably similar with the toe-in adj.

CBODY67
 
1.) I should have mentioned that you should bounce the front end a few times to center the bushings prior to the final torque. This usually helps to avoid excessive pre-load or "pinch points"
2. For purposes of clarification,the rocker parallel method works well as long as the rear springs are in good shape, if they have settled, you will have an instant low-rider using this method.

Dave
 
Good points, on the rear springs. Otherwise, there are many pictures of sales brochures and in other online pictures for a decent reference point.

CBODY67
 
Good points, on the rear springs. Otherwise, there are many pictures of sales brochures and in other online pictures for a decent reference point.

CBODY67
At the Chrysler dealership, (mid 70's) we sprayed the rubber parts with silicone lubricant spray and set up everything with the car jacked up. Most of the cars coming in for this type of repair were either police cruisers or high mileage fleet rigs. Most of the time these cars had something approaching 150 to 200k on them in usually less than three years. I guess the point was that these cars would settle in pretty quickly given the number of miles they were traveling and they would be unlikely to need a second repair of this type.

Dave
 
A common rubber lubricant/dressing, weatherstrips and otherwise, was RuGlyde. Kind of left a flat satin sheen to the rubber. Almost all dealerships and gas stations had a gallon can of it.

Reason I mentioned the di-electric silicone paste was that I've found it to work well and also resists high pressure car wash spray. That was the only thing that would quieten and maintain quietness of the rear hood bumpers on my '77 Camaro. When the body flexed on rough roads, a "squauk" from the base of the windshield would happen. HARD to track down unless you'd been there before. And . . . Motorcraft sold it in a large tube that was "a forever supply".

Most of the TX DPS cars of the '68-'74 C-body era almost ALL had dropped noses. I asked the old-line Chrysler service manager at the local dealership about that. He replied that it was from jumping medians and such to chase speeders. Kind of looked neat with the body styling and such, but still "different". In later years, possibly to help high speed capabilities, I suspected.

CBODY67
 
As mentioned don't tighten LCA pivot shafts until ride height. I usually roll the car forward and back a few feet to settle the camber bind you may have if alignment was done when bushings we're on their way out. No amount of lube will help on LCA as they are steel sleeved in and out. I would not put any lube on strut bushing but it would not hurt either.
 
The factory service manual lays this process out very well.
 
A common rubber lubricant/dressing, weatherstrips and otherwise, was RuGlyde. Kind of left a flat satin sheen to the rubber. Almost all dealerships and gas stations had a gallon can of it.

Reason I mentioned the di-electric silicone paste was that I've found it to work well and also resists high pressure car wash spray. That was the only thing that would quieten and maintain quietness of the rear hood bumpers on my '77 Camaro. When the body flexed on rough roads, a "squauk" from the base of the windshield would happen. HARD to track down unless you'd been there before. And . . . Motorcraft sold it in a large tube that was "a forever supply".

Most of the TX DPS cars of the '68-'74 C-body era almost ALL had dropped noses. I asked the old-line Chrysler service manager at the local dealership about that. He replied that it was from jumping medians and such to chase speeders. Kind of looked neat with the body styling and such, but still "different". In later years, possibly to help high speed capabilities, I suspected.

CBODY67
Napa stores still sell RuGlyde, in gallons only for $13.75. Good stuff to have around, although a gallon is serious overkill.

Dave
 
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