1974 F350-Radius arm & I-beam bushing replacement

[@dalemitchell3794]

Used painters tape to hold ball joint press parts together. Thanks good video

[@AJsGarage]

I didn’t think about that but easy way to keep them together. Thank you for watching!

[@brianvaughn2096]

Thank for the video, definitely going to help me with my 79 F350 camper special rebuild.

[@AJsGarage]

Glad it will help, thank you for watching!

[@Fordman7575]

Nice work. Got to love the simplicity of the twin I-beam suspension.

[@AJsGarage]

Thank you. Yeah makes it real easy to work on.

[@Nah_jack]

Good video and informative

[@AJsGarage]

Thank you and thanks for watching!

[@chirkware]

Been dreading doing this job on my 70 F100. Thanks for the straightforward overview of the process. Planning to swap on Dentside front disc brakes, so I’ll wait till I’m doing that and swap it all over. I’ll be upgrading to power steering at the same time, so it’ll be a new truck when I’m done I hope. 🙂

[@AJsGarage]

Nice! Yeah just wait till you get everything to do it all at once. It really isn’t to difficult, the I beam bolts can be a little tricky once your getting it all back together.

[@rolando4812]

Lol what do you mean. Put it on whichever way you'd like. Look up a suspension diagram on the internet. I'm doing this job, this weekend. Wish me luck, thanks for the video!

[@AJsGarage]

Lol if I remember correctly I believe I mean that in terms of either doing it one side at a time or both at once. Nice! That’s plenty of time to knock it out, thank you for watching!

[@obsessedwithcars219]

Needed this video! Thank you

[@AJsGarage]

Glad it will help! Thank you for watching!

[@berenicejimenez4545]

Cool video duuuddeee 🤙🏽

[@AJsGarage]

Thanks bro!

[@markcunnings1555]

Nice video. Where did you end up getting the bushing for the pivot axle? I have a 73 1 ton and can't find them anywhere...all not available. You are correct they are slightly larger than the 3/4 ton

[@AJsGarage]

Thank you for watching! I got mine from O’reilly’s, I just checked the part number and they are not available. Use this part number K8179 and try calling Moog maybe they can reference a different part that will fit. I remember I had called them and it got me pointed in the right direction.

[@TheBorgCollective]

This was great. My radius arm bushing was completely gone on my drivers side. As Chevelle Ranch mentioned in the comments already, I'm thinking it's due to the massive power steering fluid leak I have. That's my next battle. I haven't refilled it because it just sprays onto my driveway.. So far I've ordered everything from LMC Truck and it's been great quality. I think I'll probably order the axle pivot bushing for the I Beams too since they'll be out anyway.

[@AJsGarage]

Thank you for watching! Yeah it makes sense after he mentioned that. LMC is awesome having all those parts available from one place. Depending on your truck see if you can find some polyurethane bushings for your replacements. They should hold up longer and are a upgrade to the original ones.

[@chevelleranch7481]

Nice video. Your drivers bushing was backwards. The drivers side bushings always go first because the power steering boxes leak , and also the master cylinders sometime leak and run down to the lowest part of the frame....where the bushing is , and it destroys the rubber. I always use urethane bushings on the radius arms because they don't break down like the rubber ones. I also try to use urethane bushings on the beams.....but nobody makes them for F-350s....just F-250s. I personally also don't think greasing the new rubber bushings is a great idea. The grease will start the break down process on the rubber. Just my opinion. Its too bad your so far from me...I have a cab with a beat and rusty roof , but a nice firewall and cab mount area I'm about to scrap that I would give you pieces from. Thanks for keeping another one alive!

[@AJsGarage]

Thank you for watching. I appreciate the information, I did have a hard time sourcing replacements for this truck compared to my F250, I was hoping to find urethane ones but none fit. So I put it back in correctly?

[@chevelleranch7481]

@@AJsGarage Always glad to follow a fellow Ford truck guy....Yes , you put the bushing in correctly. The "male" part goes on the radius rod first , then through the frame bracket where the "female" ish half of the bushing goes on last , and the cupped part of the washer faces the front and encapsulates the bushing. I have seen guys put them the other way. I have had to put the bushing through the frame bracket first to make for an easier install ...

[@smokingtime420]

Do you how much I have to torque the radius arm to the bracket?

[@PR-gn2vd]

Great video, I am super confused how you get the wheel assembly to move so freely when pulling the radius arm out and putting back in. It is super loose and moves freeley in your video, you even lift it and move it with one hand ( minute mark 7:50 ) . Im in the middle of this project right now and I have removed spring and shock and the radius arm will not budge one inch so I am very confused !

[@AJsGarage]

Had to go back and watch but mine was a bit difficult to get out as you saw with the bushing intact. With the spring and shock removed I can’t think of what else could be preventing it from coming out. I-beam bolt is out and beam dropped?

[@PR-gn2vd]

ahhh. I did not realize you had taken the ibeam bolt out and dropped it prior. Its the opposite side bolt, correct ? @@AJsGarage

[@AJsGarage]

@@PR-gn2vd Yes it’s the opposite side bolt for the side your removing the radius arm. It should go a lot smoother now, thank you for watching!

[@PR-gn2vd]

@@AJsGarage I got everything put together, but I cannot slide the I-beam with the new bushing back into place. It is a little too wide. It’s almost like I need to spread the bracket where it goes a tiny tiny amount. Any ideas?

[@AJsGarage]

@@PR-gn2vd I had the same problem with one side. Applied some grease and used a pry bar to get it started. I can’t remember exactly, took me a bit to get it back in the right spot.

[@DS-mo6md]

So did you notice a big difference in handling and feel of freshness or?

[@AJsGarage]

Yes I did. The radius arm bushings were shot so I could feel the front I beams shift from front to back when pulling out of the driveway or coming to a stop. Now there is no movement besides the suspension as it’s supposes to move.

[@DS-mo6md]

@@AJsGarage oh awesome .. That sounds so sketchy lol.. Yeah im restoring a 91 econoline (restomod with a blown 306 so it has to be safe) and i get excited to see other peoples victories . like I have parts for all of it. So im thinking it may be easier to jack and secure the truck and like.. Pull the arms.. The I beams. . even new radius brackets .. Kingpins etc . so just get the whole front components off (one side at a time ). Probably the best way to do everything but.. Yeah. Awesome to know!

[@bendrake1216]

I may have missed it but if you remember how long per side did this take?

[@AJsGarage]

Honestly since I’ve done it a few times it would probably just be a little more than an hour per side. Getting the i-beams back in can be a struggle I’d say give yourself half the day. An impact really speeds it up also

[@bendrake1216]

Thanks!

[@AJsGarage]

@@bendrake1216 You’re welcome, thank you for watching!

[@robertfogarty3253]

spray control is better then my shave cream,How does it smell?

[@AJsGarage]

Good! It actually has somewhat of a citrus smell

[@wittysgarage]

Howdy, I was curious if you knew any of the torque specs for the suspension? I will be restoring my entire front suspension on my 73’ F250 2x4 this spring and I am not having any luck finding torque specs for any bolts on the front suspension. Nice job on the video showing every step. I really appreciate it. Keep up the awesome work and videos. 🤘🏻🍻

[@AJsGarage]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate, I always try to show as much as possible and step by step in case anyones doing the same thing at home. I honestly didn’t look for any torque specs, I didn’t tighten them to much either. Radius arm ends specially I didn’t want to damage the bushing.

[@wittysgarage]

@@AJsGarage , sounds good. I was thinking about just playing it by ear and feel but wanted to make sure. Thanks for getting back to me. Keep up the awesome videos. 🍻🤘🏻

[@obsessedwithcars219]

i dont know how your bushing slid in so easy. i have to ratchet strap the radius arm to the frame and it still isnt going in

[@AJsGarage]

The bushing to the radius arm?

[@robertchristensen7140]

Dangerous not to have another jack in the front, especially kicking a wheel assembly and also wrenching near that jack that's saving your life....And that jack is not bullet proof--can slip out of the teeth--known to happen. A jack on a board like that---dabAlso--replace those springs and shocks while you're at it. Everything is related....

[@AJsGarage]

I agree it’s just what I had at the time. I do have more now, shocks were replaced but haven’t got to the springs. Thank you for watching.

[@smokingtime420]

Wats the torque specs for the radius arm bushings? I have the shop manual and it says that radius arm to bracket F-100 thru F-350, Econoline 80-120 Lb-Ft But I just could torque it at a maximum of 35 Lb-Ft because the bushing started split out and deforming. Do you have any suggestions that may help me??? Thanks

[@AJsGarage]

Honestly I didn’t really check the torque specs for it. I got it back down to where it was before the bushing did have a slight bulb but nothing that would damage it. If for some reason it does come loose the cotter pin will hold it

[@smokingtime420]

@@AJsGarage what's the bushings brand? I'm thinking that could be the problem, I'm just bought the cheapest ones at AutoZone "Duralast" brand. I have been watching other videos and and some of those shows how the guy use an impact wrench and the he re-tight it by hand applying all his force and the bushings barely expand a little bit. What you think? What brand did you use?

[@AJsGarage]

@@smokingtime420 For this truck the brand and parts I got were from MOOG suspension. I don’t think you’d need to use an impact, I did this same thing on my 70 F250 about 3 years ago and haven’t had any problems

[@smokingtime420]

@@AJsGarage How many Lb - Ft torque did you put on them? Do you have the part # for the bushings? Because I was looking for Moog brand and apparently there's like 3 or 4 different bushings for this same application. Thanks