Strut rod bushings

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I installed a set of one piece bushings yesterday. They went in easy using some ready rod a few washers and nuts and a small strong back.
 
Bookmarked. Very useful post. I didn't know that strut rods varied over the years. I used the Moog 2-part strut bushings in my 1964 & 65 A-body and 1965 C-body. Didn't know there were various Moog PN's. I bought PN's listed on rockauto for each car. Seems I overtightened one on my 1965 Dart, trying to get the cotter pin hole past the washer (couldn't), since I found the rubber bushing split a year later despite not even driving that car. I find from post 16 that it has no hole for a cotter pin, just a jam nut. I recall a cotter pin and castle nut on my long-ago 1969 Dart and my C-body. I replaced the worn bushings in my 1969 with the 1-part one, which was very challenging to press into the hole so was thrilled to later find the 2-part one. Time to revisit on all my Mopars.

You don't want to move the LCA back since that takes away from caster, and we need all the caster we can get for radial tires. You want the lower ball-joint as far forward as possible and the upper ball-joint aft to gain caster. I have seen after-market length-adjustable struts, which I recall have a Heim joint at the front instead of bushings. My 1985 M-B 300D has instead a rear "guide-rod" which pushes on the LCA instead of pulls (I've seen the Mopar part termed "drag strut"). The M-B one has a length adjuster (like tie-rod). I think the pivot point on the K-frame is similarly a rubber bushing (behind steel shell) since I've read it can fail.
 
Hello, everyone,
I need to change these strut rod bushings on my Dart 75, I bought this Kit K7040 and I have a question, would it be possible to change these bushings without disassembling the lower arm?

I was thinking about removing the pressure from the torsion bar, loosening the nut spherical joint... Does anyone have a tip?

Thanks and good sunday to all!
 
For anyone who would like the original 1 piece design, I have a couple last sets of *** N.O.S. *** U.S.A. made *** Strut Rod Bushings.....

Not big $$$ , because as some note , they are more problematic to install... I would just rather see those people look e who want them , get them.....

P.M. me, as per forum rules, if interested......Craig.....
 
Ricardo said:
Hello, everyone,
I need to change these strut rod bushings on my Dart 75, I bought this Kit K7040 and I have a question, would it be possible to change these bushings without disassembling the lower arm?

I was thinking about removing the pressure from the torsion bar, loosening the nut spherical joint... Does anyone have a tip?

Thanks and good sunday to all!
Click to expand...

K7040 is for the '67-72 strut rod design, it will not fit the '73+ course thread strut rods correctly because of the differences in the shoulder location for the bushing.

For a '75 you need K7068, but they're no longer being reproduced.
 
Well, I never knew the late A body strut rods were longer and had different threads. Not too long ago, I had to replace the bent strut rods on my 65 and dug around my stash until I found some. I couldn't remember what car they had come from, but thought they were probably 73s. So now I had to go out to the garage and see if they were fine thread or coarse thread. Thank goodness they were fine thread. So they obviously were pre-73. However, they did have provision for a roll pin which my original 65s did not. I put roll pins in, and also used the two piece bushings.

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I just replaced my strut bushings today. Had the 2 piece installed, but had the fine threaded rods on both ends. I installed the 1 piece bushings and found a great way to get them in the K frame. I used my upper control arm bushing replacement tool and worked like it was made for it. The large tube on the tool fits perfect in the K frame rear and the small tool bushing is a perfect size to push the one piece bushing in. They went in clean and zero issues. I used the FSM for torques and washer/bushing direction and looks perfect. I don't have roll pins, they weren't installed. I also have free running nuts so am going to look for some top locking nuts to install. I believe the incorrect bushings installed caused the lower control arm bushings to fail. They were the pressed in replacement poly type bushings and they fell out of the control arms when unbolted. Think I may have fixed the bump steer problem it had.
 
Dana67Dart said:
did you have the lower control arms out when you replaced the 1 pc bushing?
Click to expand...
Yes the LCA's were out. They need to be moved back to remove the strut rod, which must be removed from the K frame to change the bushing. Torsion bars were also out. My front end is completely apart. I am installing all new parts with tubular uppers for increased caster. Due to header clearance, the left side had to have the strut rod loosely through the K frame bushing first, then the LCA installed. The right side strut was installed on the LCA first and went right in. Everything is only installed finger tight at first. The strut rear nut needs to be torqued to value before the front is torqued. Torsion bar install is today. I have 1.03 bars from PST and they are last item to check for clearance with everything. Fingers crossed. 440 big block K frame with Schumacher Tri-Y's and 727 console shift. I still have the original power steering box and starter and everything is clearing so far.
 
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