Strut Rods

Brad Nelson

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Hey all.
So while finally taking the front end apart on my '66 Fury I could finally see the strut rods and noticed a curve in them (picture).
Both sides seem to have a similar bend in them.
It is also very likely this car had some front end damage some time in it's life that might have bent them?
This car isn't going to be a canyon carver, just a cruiser.
Should I just replace the bushings and reuse the original ones or get a set of the Firm Feel HD ones?
ALSO...
If I go with Firm Feel, their web page to use urethane bushings, but I cannot find any sold separately on their site.
Is there another place to look or just go with standard rubber?

TIA

20230219_145702.jpg
 
More likely someone jacked on them, put jack stands on them or used them for tiedowns on a trailer/tow.


Alan
 
I had a bent right side strut rod on my 1971 Fury. I bought a straight strut rod from a parts car. I was concerned that a bent strut rod would pull the outer end of the lower control arm forward. That might put an unintended stress on the lower control arm bushing. Also it would throw off four wheel alignment. I would replace both sides. I think given the amount of time that we actually drive our cars and that the car is not going to be a Canyon Carver, it's no big deal to use rubber bushings..
 
Personally, I would not use urethane at the strut rod (front) location in the suspension. There needs to be some compliance there that urethane will not provide to the same degree as the OEM rubber ones will. Think "impact absorption" on any bump or chuck-hole or expansion strip.

Seems like the Firm-Feel items are adjustable and are of a larger diameter than the OEM items?

If the car does not have a front sway bar, now would be a good time to add one.

Almost any of those C-bodies from back then, in stock form, with good tires and HD shocks, will "carve canyons" better than any similar GM car of those times, except the F-41 full-size Chevies. And especially the understeering Fords of back then, too.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
Personally, I would not use urethane at the strut rod (front) location in the suspension. There needs to be some compliance there that urethane will not provide to the same degree as the OEM rubber ones will. Think "impact absorption" on any bump or chuck-hole or expansion strip.

Seems like the Firm-Feel items are adjustable and are of a larger diameter than the OEM items?

If the car does not have a front sway bar, now would be a good time to add one.

Almost any of those C-bodies from back then, in stock form, with good tires and HD shocks, will "carve canyons" better than any similar GM car of those times, except the F-41 full-size Chevies. And especially the understeering Fords of back then, too.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

I once put urethane strut bushings on my 1970 Chrysler 300 and after driving the car a couple miles I turned around and couldn't yank them out fast enough. They made a quiet car into one that gave a loud bang when encountering the smallest defect in the road. Ridiculous was my reaction. Don't do it!
 
Hey all.
So while finally taking the front end apart on my '66 Fury I could finally see the strut rods and noticed a curve in them (picture).
Both sides seem to have a similar bend in them.
It is also very likely this car had some front end damage some time in it's life that might have bent them?
This car isn't going to be a canyon carver, just a cruiser.
Should I just replace the bushings and reuse the original ones or get a set of the Firm Feel HD ones?
ALSO...
If I go with Firm Feel, their web page to use urethane bushings, but I cannot find any sold separately on their site.
Is there another place to look or just go with standard rubber?

TIA

View attachment 582972
I just rebuilt my front end and can tell you the firm feel heavy duty ones they told me would need their sway bar kit too as the OE one would not work with the HD strut rods. I ended up picking up a pair of good straight used ones from Murray B Park for a decent price. Cleaned them up and painted them to look new. I used the rubber bushings for these. I was told those OE strut rods usually end up bent like that with any extensive miles on the suspension. I put a link below if you want to see if he has any more strut rods.

Murray B. Park - Used and NOS Parts for Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge, Desoto, and Plymouth
 
G'Day,
My Personal Opinion!
Stick with the OEM Rubber.
Couple of Experiences.
1. Put a Set of Nolathane L/C/Arm Bushes into an Early Valiant, My Own fault Did Not Lubricate Properly
Every Time I Drove Over a Speed Bump the Car Brayed Like a Donkey.
I Absolutely Drowned the Bushes with Spray Lube But Never Managed to Silence Them.
2. Also Worked with the Aussie Military for Twenty Years, At One Stage They Used Nolathane Replacement Bushes in the Ten & Twenty Ton Trailers.
They Eventually Started Cracking Control Arms & Those Things Weren't Light Duty.
Rubber Lasts a Hell of a Long Time & is Much Kinder to the Suspension.
Regards Tony.M
 
IMHO, as said, probably bent from being tied down etc.

I would stay with the rubber bushings too. I'd also either replace them with good used, or they could probably be straightened if you can't find good replacements.

I'd also use rubber rather than urethane bushings.
 
Stick with the OE style rubber bushings. I know of a few A & B body guys who used the polyurethane bushings and hated them. Took bumps way too hard and negatively affected their steering. I know of a guy who actually broke a strut rod using the poly bushings.
 
I just rebuilt my front end and can tell you the firm feel heavy duty ones they told me would need their sway bar kit too as the OE one would not work with the HD strut rods. I ended up picking up a pair of good straight used ones from Murray B Park for a decent price. Cleaned them up and painted them to look new. I used the rubber bushings for these. I was told those OE strut rods usually end up bent like that with any extensive miles on the suspension. I put a link below if you want to see if he has any more strut rods.

Murray B. Park - Used and NOS Parts for Chrysler, Imperial, Dodge, Desoto, and Plymouth
That is a great piece of information!
I have all the bushings for the stock anti-sway bar and really didn't plan for having to buy another if I don't have to.
 
I have the FirmFeel strut rods with the poly bushings. No problems here. I used liberal amounts of PTFE silicone lube when I assembled everything. I suspect I have a very squeaky ride coming in the future, but 2 years in and no complaints.
 
That is a great piece of information!
I have all the bushings for the stock anti-sway bar and really didn't plan for having to buy another if I don't have to.
Hi Brad,
I had a friend, who has done wheel alignments for 27 years and who knows old Chryslers, tell me that if the bend in the strut rod is small - like 1/16 inch or 1/8 inch - that can be adjusted for when the caster is set with the upper control arm bolts. His thought was that strut rods could bend a little bit over time from the front tires going airborne and then the stress as the tires hit the ground. As these very short moments of airborne tires happened over the life of the car, it could make incremental changes to the straightness of the strut rods. I thought of your thread and thought I'd share what he had to say.
What did you decide about keeping your's strut rods? Thanks, Ben
 
Brief update;
Since I live about 2 hours north of Firm Feel, I called them and took the lower control arms down to have them do a recondition on them; reinforcement plates, control arm pins, powder coated. Plus I got a set of their strut arms and they are working with me on prototyping a set of bushing that will work with the factory sway bar.
Add to that all I've got all new ball joints and upper control arm bushings (going rubber with all parts).
Then rebuilding the power steering pump with Berman shims and I had Red Head Steering rebuild the steering gear box.
Should handle like new!
 
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