Re: [Amc-list] Replacing strut-rod bushing

[Tom Jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2007-05-31 at 21:55 -0500, mhaas wrote:

> I need to replace the strut rod bushings in my 67 American but the TSM doesn't go into much detail on how to do it. Does the rod need to be removed from the lower control arm or is there enough movement in the control arm to get it out after the end nut is removed?

You'll have to remove the strut rod bracket from the chassis at the very
least. I've tried all sorts of procedures to make it easier, but it's
never trivial.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you jack the car up and let the
suspension dangle, limited by the shock or whatever, there's a LOT of
force on the strut rod, making it a lot harder to get in and out,
especially if you take out the two bolts at the arm end, they're hell to
get back in with the arm at lower travel extreme.

Believe it or not, the easiet method I've found is to do all the work
with the car on the ground, not jacked, suspension at normal loaded
rest. The lower arm is near level, the strut rod is too, you can take
off the bracket with the strut rod in place.

This has the nice side effect of maintaining toe while you do the work;
I don't trust it to maintain toe after assembly (bushings change shape,
etc) but it's close enough to drive.


You might consider replacing the front half of the bushing with a
urethane, and use the rubber in the rear. I drive my Hornet 20K a year
or so and today's strut bushings are all made from crap, even the Moog
part deforms. I have to re-set toe every 6 - 9 months as the rubber
deforms with time. (I even made an elaborate heat shield to protect the
drivers side from exhaust heat, so it's not that.) Tires are scrubbing
on the outer edge again. The half and halfs I have on my Classic wagon,
about the same number of miles but twice the time, have had NO
toe/alignment change in 3 - 4 years. Both cars have all-new bushings,
rod ends, idlers, ball joints/good trunnions top to bottom (all less
than 30K miles).


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