WHO sells the best A-Body strut rod bushings?

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partsmonsta

partsmonsta

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Made the mistake of ordering strut rod bushings from Auto Zone for 68 Barracuda 318 Car.
They sent some import looking crap. Will take them back tomorrow.
Does anybody make them in polyurethane?
I know Moog makes them, but not all Moog stuf is great nowadays.
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When I bounce the front end manually, they move, so I am thinking they are due to be changed.
The bolt will not tighten anymore.
Who's got the best ones to buy?
 
You can try Mancini Racing. I'm not saying these are the best and not saying they are junk either...:)

I would also call and see if they have them on the shelf . I've never had issues with Mancini myself, other opinions may differ.

Strut Rod Bushings
 
partsmonsta said:
Made the mistake of ordering strut rod bushings from Auto Zone for 68 Barracuda 318 Car.
They sent some import looking crap. Will take them back tomorrow.
Does anybody make them in polyurethane?
I know Moog makes them, but not all Moog stuf is great nowadays.
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When I bounce the front end manually, they move, so I am thinking they are due to be changed.
The bolt will not tighten anymore.
Who's got the best ones to buy?
Click to expand...
I've found Auto zone "pricey" for what you get . I go there if in a hurry though. I usually order online and wait etc.
 
Movement does not equate to worn out, and the nut stops on the metal tube so that's where it's supposed to be.
But I admit that on a 68 car, those bushings could be ancient. and if they are, then so might be any and or all the other ones as well....... especially the LCA inner one.
Since you have to take the LCAs off anyway, to install new the strut rod bushings, you might as well have a look at them now, before ordering parts.. and then you might notice that the idler arm is flopping around, and the lower bump-stops, if still there, are rotten ...... and then you remember how wishy-washy those weakazz 318 T-bars were, not to mention the 56yo shocks; and so, before you know it, your strutrod bushing job has snowballed into nearly two-grand, just ........ like ....... that...... lol.
 
Unfortunately your best bet is Moog, which is still terrible.

You don’t want poly bushings with stock strut rods, especially for ‘68-72. The poly bushings for those model years of strut rods are too thick, so, they’ll push the LCA backward and ruin your caster setting. Unless you cut them down, which is kind of an ordeal with poly.

Even if they were the right size, poly at the strut rod isn’t a good choice. The added stiffness is good to keep the LCA from flexing forward and backward, but it also adds resistance in the up/down travel of the LCA which is not something you want to add.

If you’re keeping stock or mostly stock suspension components I would stick with rubber bushings at the strut rods, even if you use poly bushings elsewhere. If you want to upgrade, use adjustable strut rods.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Movement does not equate to worn out, and the nut stops on the metal tube so that's where it's supposed to be.
But I admit that on a 68 car, those bushings could be ancient. and if they are, then so might be any and or all the other ones as well....... especially the LCA inner one.
Since you have to take the LCAs off anyway, to install new the strut rod bushings, you might as well have a look at them now, before ordering parts.. and then you might notice that the idler arm is flopping around, and the lower bump-stops, if still there, are rotten ...... and then you remember how wishy-washy those weakazz 318 T-bars were, not to mention the 56yo shocks; and so, before you know it, your strutrod bushing job has snowballed into nearly two-grand, just ........ like ....... that...... lol.
Click to expand...
I agree. Probably best to get a whole front suspension rebuild kit. I did mine but had access to a shop press to do the LCAs etc. Was the way to go like you said if the stuff is possibly 50 years old plus. Another thing is these cars handle real well when everything is as it should be.
 
Poly is fine at the strut rods. I've used it several times with no ill effects. I got a Poly set from PST.
Yeah, you do need to make sure that they are not thicker than the rubber bushings are. Rubber does compress more so make note of the thickness as it is when compressed, maybe by pressing them in a vice?
 
if you go poly, and they're too thick (likely) you can freeze them and cut them with a hacksaw or a ban saw (if you're done cutting pistons).

unless you've got other trick components up front, staying with rubber is the best course of action on a stock or nearly stock front end.

fwiw, i just ordered and installed two sets of moogs. one set went on a client's car about a month ago and i installed the other pair on my project last night. both sets were made in USA and the quality looked good to my calibrated eyeball. maybe i lucked out.

if you're looking for another source try mevotech supreme MK7040. i use a lot of mevotech stuff and it's generally good to great quality.

i'll echo what the others have said up thread: if the strut rod bushings are waxed, chances are other stuff is borked as well. double check you LCA bushings, you'll be there anyway to do the struts.
 
Kern Dog said:
Poly is fine at the strut rods. I've used it several times with no ill effects. I got a Poly set from PST.
Yeah, you do need to make sure that they are not thicker than the rubber bushings are. Rubber does compress more so make note of the thickness as it is when compressed, maybe by pressing them in a vice?
Click to expand...

The problem is if you’re replacing the bushings the old ones aren’t likely the original thickness to begin with. Heck even if you’ve got new Moog bushings there’s definitely no guarantee they match the originals either.

So then you’ve got to install them and check the position of the LCA, if the bushings are pushing the LCA back from perpendicular to the frame rail (or pulling it forward) then the bushings aren’t the right thickness.

@autoxcuda shows how to cut the poly bushings down here Cutting strut rod bushings for correct geometry?

Thing is if you’re doing all that you have to check for binding and the location of the LCA etc., which means you could just as easily install adjustable strut rods and have a better functioning part anyway.
 
Adjustable strut rods…
You just mentioned the possibility of standard strut rod bushings varying in thickness and then you mention adjustable strut rods?
You do understand that the adjustables have a much greater likelihood of introducing bind to the lower control arm bushing (due to improper installation) than a poly bushing that is 1/4” thicker.
 
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Further....
I have boxes of front end parts from numerous incomplete front end rebuild kits. I've taken in stashes of parts from several people. Sometimes a man needs only a few parts from a kit but it was cheaper to buy the whole thing.
In my stash, there are several sets of strut rod bushings, mostly rubber. There is a variance in size and shape. Maybe when compressed, they might end up a similar thickness but I don't think so. Some are one piece, some are two. Some came with a steel sleeve, some didn't.
Within the past 6 months, I've aligned 3 Mopars...two Chargers and one 72 Duster. All three were able to get 6 degrees of caster with stock upper control arms. One Charger has poly strut bushings that I put in around 2003. That car has 1.15" torsion bars and Bilstein shocks and rides lower than stock so suspension travel isn't like you'd see in a 4 wheel drive. I got 6 degrees of caster with stock UCAs but switched to QA1 arms.

000 D.JPG


The other Charger has all rubber bushings. The only thing special was the offset UCA bushings. It got the same 6 degrees of caster.

996CEDF7-BADB-4DD2-9C81-9340DE0E782D.jpeg

The Duster....

IMG_7716.JPG


Essentially the same as the "Jigsaw" Charger, all rubber bushings but Moog offset UCA bushings installed for maximum caster.
I need to go through this car soon:

Dart blue 1.jpg


I expect about the same results as the other three. I'll use rubber strut rod bushings in it since ultimate handling isn't the goal with this one.
 
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