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It is about to warm up and time to think about getting rid of the wagon's clunking rear end. I suspect the bushings need to be replaced. Should I get poly or OEM style from IPD?
Remember, I only have a couple of 3/8 sockets and wrenches. No air compressor, no torch, no lift, and tight garage space.
After searching, I came across a couple of posts that mention metal fatigue and worn rods contributing to the clunk. Will this wear be evident just by crawling under the car for a visual? Or after the bushing is cut off?
No welding at my house. No bench vice or press.
BTW, a new slave push rod really makes the clutch work!
Thanks,
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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I too am in the process of trying to replace all the rear end bushings in my "Barn Find" '68 220 wagon. I purchases the complete OEM rear end bushing kit from VP-Autoparts. Since the car was sitting in a gravel floored barn since 1971, everything is pretty rusty. I have the car jacked up sitting on jack stands and am trying to remove the support arms, torque, and panhard. Once removed, I plan to take them to a machine shop to have the old bushings pressed out, will than sand blast and repaint them and have new bushings pressed in. I was able to get all the nuts removed, but the bolts are a different story, they seemed to have rusted themselves to the metal sleeves inside the bushings. I have sprayed everything numerous times with PB blaster and other sprays and even borrowed a high torque impact wrench (max.torque 450 ft.lbs.), but still no luck. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how I might be able to get the bolts out. Thanks
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Have you tried CRC Freeze Off ?? Super cold spray that freezes in addition to penetrating lubricants....
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Thanks for the tip, I have never heard of CRC Freeze Off , but will try to locate some tomorrow and give it a try. Will advise the outcome.
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LOL, liquid oxygen sprayed on the sleeve and a tap with a hammer! Easy way to get the rubber bushing off also.
Local mechanic just quoted me $100/hr to R&R the bushings. Ouch!
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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$100/hr seems to be the going rate here in IL also. I imagine that a competent mechanic who has all tools available, including car lift,torch, and machine press, could probably accomplish this job in 2.5 to 3hrs. When I redid the rear suspension on by 1967 122S 4dr a number of years ago it was just a matter of unbolting everything and taking the parts to a machine shop to have old bushings pressed out and new ones pressed in. Since the car originated from Southern CA there was no rust to deal with. The only thing that took time was scrapping the undercoating off the bolts and nuts so that I could get a socket or wrench on them. But not such luck this time.
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The only tip I can give you is heat, and lots of it. My 780 had that problem and the bolts would not come out until the entire sleeve was red hot. I asked a mechanic to do this for me... He had the torch going as well as the air gun on the bolt. He managed to burn most of the rubber bushing off before the bolt freed itself and the bushing fell to the ground. A total of about 5-6 minutes of noise and fire! The sleeve was fine, unscathed. It took another 10 minutes before we could pick up the bolt and sleeve. I added a coat of grease to the bolt before reassembly.
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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I'm not a welder, so a torch is not available at this time. Than I'm not sure if I would want to play with fire that close to the gas tank. If the gas tank was removed, do you think that a propane torch would make things hot enough?
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With the sleeve rusted to the bolt, the bushing turns with the bolt and there is no way to get solvent between the bolt and sleeve. Even if you could get a sawsall to the sleeve/bolt, you would have to make 2 cuts to get the bolt out.
If you burn away the rubber to expose the sleeve, put a pipe wrench on the sleeve to hold it in place, a propane torch on the rest of the sleeve, and an impact wrench on the bolt end; it should break loose! Let the pipewrench be on the nut end of the sleeve and positioned so that it is wedged against the body as the heat and impact gun do their job.
Tourch in one hand and gun in the other. Make sure the super hot bolt and sleeve fall on nonflammable material. Do NOT cool them off in water, let them cool where they rest and the bolt can be reused.
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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I just finished replacing all the rear bushings on my 220 including the large rectangular control arm bushing. I pressed them in using a vise a couple of sockets and a hammer. You will need a floor jack and jack stands to support the body and diff to remove the coil springs. I had to remove the drum and loosen the backing plate to remove the two bolts securing the rectangular bushing to remove the control arms. Don't attempt it if you don't have a proper set of jack stands.
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Not having access to a lift, etc. I elected to just do the torque rod bushings. At first, the rods didn't want to come out of their chanels. I had the rear on jack stands and the floor jack under the diff. I had a local mechanic press the new ones in and then I spent time painting the rods.
Putting the rods back on took a while :>)
I greased the bolt and both sides of the receiving chanels, insert the front up as far as it would go. Then I had to raise the diff to get the rear to go in place. Slipped a bolt through the rear bushing and then lowered the diff so that I could insert the forward bolt.
I guess the panhrod bushings are next.
But all of the 'clunks' and 'clacks' are gone! We feel much better now.
Thanks,
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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After crawling around on the floor, I found the source of my clunking: The right rear torque rod can be moved ever so slightly by twisting it. It is the rear most bushing.
IPD lists
http://www.ipdusa.com/products/6567/101663-torque-rod-bushing-rubber
But it also has a disclaimer: "1967 and later Amazon wagon models came with 2 styles of rear torque rod bushings. This bushing works with the cylindrical shaped bushing and will NOT work if your amazon wagon uses the hourglass shaped bushing."
So how can I tell visually, which bushing it is? I cannot see the end of the torque rod because of the brake drum.
Also, if there is metal surrounding the bushing, is it still press in/out?
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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If the bushing on your torque rod is steel cased like the one in IPD's pic, it is the right one.
The hourglass/bowtie bushings don't have steel on the outside.
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George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma
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Do you have alternate transportation then? If so you should take the parts and the bushings
to a shop that can change them for you. It's not a big deal for them and should be quite
cheap.
Unless the poly ones are cheaper I would go with OEM bushings.
If you were racing it might be different.
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George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma
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I removed both trailing rods, the bolts were not frozen thank you. But, questions!!
The left forward bolt has some wear on the threads. Seems that the flat portion of the bolt (not threaded) is not long enough to clear the support metal. Figures. Not a lot of wear, just visible to the eye (reading glasses). Do I need a new bolt? I don't trust hardware stores to have hard enough metal. It does explain the clacking noise...
After I order some more bushings from IPD, should I lightly grease the bolt that holds them to the suspension?
I intend to scrape and paint after the new bushings are pressed in. Perhaps a little dab of paint so that I remember which end is which?
From your experiances, is it better to reattach the rear of the trailing rod first or the forward?
Thanks,
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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If it were mine I would go ahead and use it.
I would also say that anywhere a steel bolt goes through a close-fitting steel sleeve,
you should grease the shank of the bolt so the next guy will be able to get it out.
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George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma
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Thanks George.
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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George, Zena is my garage queen. She only gets driven on week days when the sun is shining. There are 2 others that can take me errand hopping.
BTW, I have a spare boot for the slave cylinder rod if you need one.
Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
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That is what I thought.
I think I am in fairly good shape for boots but many thanks.
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George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma
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I did my old wagon a few years ago and went poly rear bushings all around, I did not find them harsh at all. I took the trailing arms, torque rods and panhard rod to a local alignment and rear end shop and had the old bushings pressed out. The IPD poly bushings just push in by hand, which I did myself after I wire wheeled the parts and re-painted the whole rear end.
Was very happy with the outcome, squeaks and clunks were gone. At least from the rear end, haha.
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