[AMC-List] Diary of a crippled white man III (strut rod bushings)

[<francis.swygert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rod ends are NOT for daily driving! At least not the typical spherical
rod ends. They will beat out and wear fast. For a track car that might
be okay, but a daily driver would have to have the ends changed yearly
(5-10K miles). There are urethane bushed rod ends such as used for four
link rear suspensions that will last, but these are straight through,
not spherical. The rubber seals for spherical rod ends help, but you'd
still have to change them every 18-24 months on a daily driver. The
urethane ends only allow movement in one direction, therefore would have
to be at just the right angle to replace a strut rod bushing. 

I see a daily driver as something you actually use, not just weekends
and shows -- 5-7K a year. Half that (the minimum for AMO daily driver
class -- 2500 miles) is still a weekend car to me -- a hobby or fun car,
not a show car, but not a "daily driver" either. Hobby/parade/weekend
cars still get a lot more pampering than a true daily driver even though
the owners aren't afraid to risk a rock chip or possible parking lot
ding. But that's just one man's opinion. Now that I got that out of the
way... ;> 

There is, however, a solution that I intend to pursue. Maybe. When I
have time and if I don't get to involved in some other project first....
;> 
The AMC suspension more closely follows the Mustang II design for the
lower arm. So use a Mustang II strut rod replacement kit. The kit needed
is the one that uses the stock arm and has tabs that weld to the
chassis. The pivot point is on the same plane as the pivot of the lower
control arm. What I'd like to do is make a bolt on bracket instead of a
weld on, though it would require drilling most likely. I think the strut
rod bracket is way to far back for that. The real problem is I think
there would have to be several bolt on brackets made to fit different
chassis. 

DO NOT try to use a Mustang II lower arm that straddles the crossmember
(one pivot on each side)!! I'm not sure the arm would be the correct
length, but there are adjustable types that might work. Since the AMC
lower arm has nothing but the ball joint, at least on late models
(earlier carry the shock, which would be easy to mount to a MII lower
arm with a little fabrication), the length can be adjusted or the arms
cut and welded to fit. I'm surprised no one has done that yet! The
problem with this type arm is the lower crossmember, even some
aftermarket MII lower crossmembers, are not designed for that kind of
stress. Many street rodders have found this out the hard way, bending
and/or cracking welds on their MII front ends. Newer crossmembers are
wider and made of heavier material to prevent this, at least from those
manufacturers who make that type strut rod replacement arms. 


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