BillGrissom
Active Member
The strut rod bushings on my 65 Newport failed. Surprising, since I rebuilt the front end in 1999 w/ a kit from PST and have driven the car daily only a total of ~3 yrs since.
Only the front bushings were worn, with the driver's side totally gone (1st photo, lower middle). The rear bushings are loaded only when braking in reverse. To replace those requires sliding the lower control arm back, and possibly un-bolting the upper control arm. I just replaced the front bushings, which requires simply removing the front strut nut.
I suspect the rubber was defective, since I could pull it apart by hand. I would prefer a better material like polyurethane, but couldn't find. Rubber ones are available from RockAuto, Autozone, etc for ~$30/set. I found a NOS set, Elgin HB-1035, on ebay for about half (1st photo, top).
I am currently rebuilding a 65 Dart (A body) and used polyurethane strut bushings (rockauto ~$30/set). The "improved design" is 2 disks similar to C-bodies, except front and back are indentical with a shoulder, rather than the nested shoulders in C-bodies. Would be nice to use those, but would they fit? My Newport strut rod is 0.725"D vs 0.615"D in the Dart. Also, the frame hole is ~1.18"D in the Newport, don't know about the Dart (assembled). Maybe with a little trimming an A-body polyurethane bushing would work. If you try that, assemble with the bushing washers curved outward as in A-bodies.
Another polyurethane possibility is modifying a ball-joint boot. I had a cut-off end from an Energy Suspension 13024 boot (from 5.1302 kit, red in 1st photo). Probably for later A-bodies since most didn't fit my early-A ball-joints. It perfectly fit between the strut sleeve and frame hole (2nd photo). I didn't want to rely on the rubber since the frame appears to tear up the rubber shoulder (1st photo, lower right). I put the "flat" rubber bushing in front and the red poly fit into the rubber's recess. It seems one could trim down a ball-joint boot to serve as a complete "shoulder" bushing. We may need such tricks in the future as replacement parts disappear.
I tried to "follow-the-book", paying big bucks for a suspension kit, but looks like a poor-boy cobble-together approach works better. I'll know in a few years if this old Elgin rubber bushing is any better than the rubber PST supplies. BTW, the bracket bolted next to the strut (2nd photo) is a trailer "leaf spring bracket" that serves for tow bar attachment. If my car fails, I can call my wife to come and be gone in a minute. Used it once so far, when a freeze plug came out of the block.
Sorry for the tiny photos. I had to keep cropping and compressing before they would "take". I use www.forabodiesonly.com a lot and have no such problems posting photos. The admin should investigate, since many complain here.
Only the front bushings were worn, with the driver's side totally gone (1st photo, lower middle). The rear bushings are loaded only when braking in reverse. To replace those requires sliding the lower control arm back, and possibly un-bolting the upper control arm. I just replaced the front bushings, which requires simply removing the front strut nut.
I suspect the rubber was defective, since I could pull it apart by hand. I would prefer a better material like polyurethane, but couldn't find. Rubber ones are available from RockAuto, Autozone, etc for ~$30/set. I found a NOS set, Elgin HB-1035, on ebay for about half (1st photo, top).
I am currently rebuilding a 65 Dart (A body) and used polyurethane strut bushings (rockauto ~$30/set). The "improved design" is 2 disks similar to C-bodies, except front and back are indentical with a shoulder, rather than the nested shoulders in C-bodies. Would be nice to use those, but would they fit? My Newport strut rod is 0.725"D vs 0.615"D in the Dart. Also, the frame hole is ~1.18"D in the Newport, don't know about the Dart (assembled). Maybe with a little trimming an A-body polyurethane bushing would work. If you try that, assemble with the bushing washers curved outward as in A-bodies.
Another polyurethane possibility is modifying a ball-joint boot. I had a cut-off end from an Energy Suspension 13024 boot (from 5.1302 kit, red in 1st photo). Probably for later A-bodies since most didn't fit my early-A ball-joints. It perfectly fit between the strut sleeve and frame hole (2nd photo). I didn't want to rely on the rubber since the frame appears to tear up the rubber shoulder (1st photo, lower right). I put the "flat" rubber bushing in front and the red poly fit into the rubber's recess. It seems one could trim down a ball-joint boot to serve as a complete "shoulder" bushing. We may need such tricks in the future as replacement parts disappear.
I tried to "follow-the-book", paying big bucks for a suspension kit, but looks like a poor-boy cobble-together approach works better. I'll know in a few years if this old Elgin rubber bushing is any better than the rubber PST supplies. BTW, the bracket bolted next to the strut (2nd photo) is a trailer "leaf spring bracket" that serves for tow bar attachment. If my car fails, I can call my wife to come and be gone in a minute. Used it once so far, when a freeze plug came out of the block.
Sorry for the tiny photos. I had to keep cropping and compressing before they would "take". I use www.forabodiesonly.com a lot and have no such problems posting photos. The admin should investigate, since many complain here.