96 ford Bronco Bushing Install

[Brody]

Stephanie brought a friend over yesterday for a front A arm bushing replacement on his Bronco. The A arm brackets were riveted in which is typical. The Ford manuals and the Ford mechanics replace these by dis assembling the whole front end, costing big $$. The quick and dirty way to do these (and I had to both double check and refresh my memory of what I did on both an F150 and a 69 Bronco I had 20 years ago) is to drill out the rivets and replace them with with Grade 8 7/16" hardware.

The right side had already been done at some point, so we concentrated on the left side. After the usual problems of trying to drill out the rivets (not much room and hard to work tools in the space), the rest of the install of the new poly bushing went fine.

Shameless plug:I managed to save her friend over $300, so keep me in mind.

[Warrlord]

Yeah Pete, you did it the easy way.... A smart man you are. There's no point in taking it all apart, saves alot of time that way & money for the customer. I remember talking about it before here (http://www.frontrange4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2675). Good job :thunb:

[Pathrat]

Absolultely good job! And I got to see how it was done, start to finish.

I posted on the other thread too but should say here too that on the ride home the difference was very noticeable, no more clunking noises and a smooth ride. :2thumbs:

Sorry, no photos...my camera battery seems to have bit the dust.

[Brody]

Thanks....

Pathrat probably had to do a full boil emersion to warm up, too, much like I did. She refused to go into the house to warm up and my garage isn't heated. At least we didn't do it yesterday when the weather was even better.

Had to do some welding on a guys fence the other day;the spring closer (a rather complex unit) had been without oil for too long and had been binding up, finally causing the hinges to break. A little oil and TLC goes a long way avoiding costly repairs and that applies to 4x4 as well.

Take the time, especially if you wheel, and go around under your rig every couple of weeks, tightening, oiling and greasing everything that you can get your hands on. Don't worry about torque specs unless it is very specific like lug nuts or wheel knuckle bolts/nuts...just tighten it.

[Pathrat]

Yep, what Brody says. I am overdue, I need a day where my garage isn't so dang cold.

[Pathrat]

Thanks....

Pathrat probably had to do a full boil emersion to warm up, too, much like I did. She refused to go into the house to warm up and my garage isn't heated.

Take the time, especially if you wheel, and go around under your rig every couple of weeks, tightening, oiling and greasing everything that you can get your hands on. Don't worry about torque specs unless it is very specific like lug nuts or wheel knuckle bolts/nuts...just tighten it.

I had to see what you were doing! :) And yep, what Brody says on preventative maintenance. It helps me become more familiar with how things should look under there so I notice any deviations. I am overdue though, I don't have a heated garage either.

[Chris]

Yep, what Brody says. I am overdue, I need a day where my garage isn't so dang cold.

Propane heaters are great! I got one and it's great to heat the garage before going into it. :thunb:

[Pathrat]

Propane heaters are great! I got one and it's great to heat the garage before going into it. :thunb:

Are you implying that I want a solution to the problem I am whining about? :D
(yes, I was thinking about a heater I saw at Costco last week)