Strut rod bushings

[Slappy]

Hey guys and gals thanks to all whom can help. I am going to attempt to change my strut rod bushings. I have read alot of the older posts concerning this repair. I have a 1975 Dodge dart sport. It appears my lower control arms have to come out to repair this. Do I just take the tension off the torsion bar and remove the lower control arm? Can I just remove the bolt at the K-frame or is complete removeal of the lower arm necessary? Any tips? Secondly this K-frame has a swaybar attached to it. The lower control arms dont have the tabs for the swaybar link. Are there any aftermarket bolt on tabs available? If not does anyone have the correct lower control arms? Thanks Tod. you can pm this thread or send me a message or email [email protected] thanks.

 

[70Duster440]

Just R&R'd my strut rods and the LCA's have to all but be removed to get them off.

Here's what I would do:

Jack the car up and put a daub of paint on the head of your torsion bar adjuster bolts - this makes it easier to count the turns. Count the number of turns as you relieve the tension or otherwise remove the bolts completely.

Remove the roll pins and nuts at the front of the strut rods.

Remove the clips at the rear of the torsion bars. Remove the bars, OR....

Loosen/remove the nut on the lower control arm pivots. Use a pry bar to move the LCA to the rear. This will also push the torsion bar out. You may be able to move it far enough to the rear to gain access to the strut rod bushings without removing the shock or UCA. (If you leave the strut rod connected to the LCA you'll likely have to disconnect the shock and UCA in order to get it back far enough).

I'm not aware of aftermarket sway bar mounts that go in the factory location. Aftermarket sway bar kits for cars this didn't have a sway bar use a bracket that bolts to the lower shock mount. You'll have to swap the LCA's to use the factory bar or find donor mounts to weld onto yours. If you're going that far it would be wise to just do a rebuild on the front end while you're at it.

 

[Snake]

Man take a good look at your LCA bushings when your in there,this would be a good time to replace them when doing the SRB.Trust me.

 

[dgc333]

I agree! If the strut rod bushings are gone then it's very likely the rest of the bushings are gone. It would a good time to replace all the bushings (UCA, LCA and Strut Rod).

The sway bar on your 75 should be going through the K-frame. The aftermarket kits for 73+ cars had a bracket that required you drill a hole in the LCA to mount the bracket. The ADDCO bar put on mine used a piece of 1/4" 1.5" angle iron for the mount. I drilled the hole in the LCA to mount it but the bolt would loosen in a 1000 miles give or take, so I welded it to the LCA. I would just pick up a length of angle iron and make your own.

This picture isn't to clear but it should give you an idea.

 

[Slappy]

Thanks for all the advise guys.