Front Radius Arm Bushings... and then oops.

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
I thought I had this one in the bag... And then I got stuck. Seriously stuck. What the hell did I do, and how do I fix it?

The weekend project was to R&R the front radius arm bushings. I thought I did my research, I had parts needed in hand.

With the vehicle on the ground, I removed the left side arm. I left the right side attached to "hold the axle while I worked on the other side.

Stripped the rust. Used the "cut the bushings out method". Used a coat of rust epoxy, then a coat of Rustoleum. I would have preferred powder coat, but in the interests of time, I thought I'd do that next go-round. Pressed in the new poly bushings. Things going well, and I learned enough that I could speed it up on the other side.

Bolted in the rear of the arm. As I pulled it back with the nut, I got the front holes very close. So close it took light pressure with a pry-bar to get the front bolts in. Added anti-seize on the bolts, snugged them up to get my torque wrench.

Realized I forgot the anti-seize on the rear nut... and here's where it all went south.

The nut was about ¾ off... and then it stopped. I mean stopped hard. Me standing on the wrench did nothing. Brand new nut. Clean threads. Maybe a drip of silicone grease from the bushings. But it stopped. I thought maybe some plastic from the lock nut got caught in the threads. Heat didn't help. I was hoping maybe if the plastic was hot, I could back off past the plastic. I tried tightening it again (there's about an eighth to quarter inch of slop to the bushing), hoping to clear the threads. No go. My nut cracker will not fit on a 30mm nut (too small). Cold chisel only barely dented it (no room to swing a hammer). Just... stuck.

Any suggestions on what to do now? There's not a lot of room to bring in a hacksaw, but that's my next plan... I'm really hoping I didn't damage the threads. New radius arms aren't cheap!
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Pics . It sounds like somehow you gorilla stripped a 30mm nut or the radius arm ? Wtf are you eating ?

Next time loosely place the rear nut and bushings/cupped washers in place. Then align the front with a jack and insert the bolts. Then use a ratchet strap or come along to move the axle back in to place and tighten down the big nut
 

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
IMG_5036.jpg
Well that came out much bigger than expected. This was before I started hacking at it. Can't think it would be stripped. Went on fully, then backed off almost past the nylon. I tightened it up to get it "back" as far as possible. Then raised the radius arm and put a jack stand under it, and used a punch to move the axle back about ½ inch. Then started loosening it. Threads looked good before started wrenching.
 
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Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Put a big ass pry bar under the nut or washer and pry so that you are forcing the nut to the back of the truck and turn it . Push HARD on the pry .
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
If it spinning and not moving it's stripped somehow :(

Edit: and I can't remember but, I think your rear cup washer is in the wrong location. I believe the cup washer has to go on the front on the front bushing with the cup facing towards the rear of the truck. I'm pretty sure you put a flat washer on the rear? I'm doing this all from memory so maybe I'm wrong
 

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
Put a big ass pry bar under the nut or washer and pry so that you are forcing the nut to the back of the truck and turn it . Push HARD on the pry .

I think maybe I may not be communicating well. It's not spinning and not moving. It's not spinning at all. Stuck. Standing on an 18 inch breaker bar with a length of pipe on it does nothing. It's almost off, so there's about a quarter inch gap between the nut and the cup washer, and the bushing is not touching the chassis.
 

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
Edit: and I can't remember but, I think your rear cup washer is in the wrong location. I believe the cup washer has to go on the front on the front bushing with the cup facing towards the rear of the truck. I'm pretty sure you put a flat washer on the rear? I'm doing this all from memory so maybe I'm wrong

I think you may be mis-remembering. I looked hard at the other side before I put the washers on... then it dawned on me: The flat washer has a larger hole in the center, so it can move all the way to the front, over the un-threaded portion of the rod. The cup washer, with its smaller hole, is only large enough to go over the threads. You couldn't get it all the way forward if you tried.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
You are probably right then , disregard.

Have you tried an impact ? if you have a harbor freight near you or even a Lowe's or a home Depot you can go "rent" one and then return it
 

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
The nearest of those places is about 3500 miles away. I may purchase an impact this week. I just spent the last hour and a half trying to drill holes in it so I could break one side. The holes are there, and some work with the cold chisel started to open a crack, but I ran out of daylight. Tomorrow doesn't look good, but I'll get back to work on it Wednesday or Thursday evening.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Have you tried a torch? And then get like a 6-ft fence post put it on the end of your breaker bar and hang on that mother fucker.
 

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
Tried a small torch. Melted the nylon. That may have gunked it up worse.

What I learned with the 1 meter pipe is that at the angle the nut is, as you get longer you get closer to the ground. One meter out, the weight on the springs grounds it out before you even start torquing the wrench.

Yes, I'm now wishing it was on a lift, which is a tow away. But who the hell locks up a nut taking it off? This makes no sense! I was so close to having it together. If I would have just torqued it to spec instead of thinking "you forgot the anti-seize!", I'd be done by now.
 

Napalm00

Technical Excellence Contributor
Think about it this way. It's good that you took it back off and it got stuck because obviously something is wrong. It's better that it's stuck with you ready to do the repair then it would be for you to blow the nut off the back of the radius arm somewhere on the road.

It sounds like you're in the middle of nowhere so you may have to get creative. If the truck is still drivable drive that side up on some wood or something so that the truck is sitting up on a major angle. Then get your cheater pipe back on it and go to town. Torching it and Melting the nylon is not going to matter at all.

If you really want to get redneck backyard shade tree pro style put the cheater pipe on the nut with a long breaker bar and put your jack at the end of the bar at the point where you can't move it. you some wood or something on the jack to get it to the point where the nut is totally frozen. then start jacking up the jack with the weight of the truck on top of it. Something will give for sure!

If you're using a 2 m long bar and your 250 lb like me you are exerting around 1500 foot pounds of tq on the fastener. You would absolutely annihilate any plastic.
 

SaintPanzer

Well-known member
The threads on the radius arm are likely damaged. Plan on replacing it. I would just cut the arm off at this point and put on a used one.

That is what I'm afraid of. My next question was going to be "I'm pretty sure I will at least need to chase the threads when I get this off... What is the thread pitch on these?"

But if I have to cut it and buy a new one, well, that changes everything. I can't imagine cutting it on the truck will be easy. I'm hoping to chop the nut off, and then seeing what I have. Then I can look for a new/used arm in Germany, and see what I can come up with. In the mean time, has anyone recently "upgraded" to a caster correcting arm and want to sell their used arm? $560+ for a brand new one is a bit spendy.
 

Z.G

Well-known member
That is what I'm afraid of. My next question was going to be "I'm pretty sure I will at least need to chase the threads when I get this off... What is the thread pitch on these?"

But if I have to cut it and buy a new one, well, that changes everything. I can't imagine cutting it on the truck will be easy. I'm hoping to chop the nut off, and then seeing what I have. Then I can look for a new/used arm in Germany, and see what I can come up with. In the mean time, has anyone recently "upgraded" to a caster correcting arm and want to sell their used arm? $560+ for a brand new one is a bit spendy.

What year vehicle?
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
A cutoff wheel on an angle grinder will cut through the arm pretty quickly. A reciprocating saw will do it too, but it will take a few blades. I wouldn't buy a new one since its just a sold chunk of metal. Get a used one and put some new bushings in it.
 

JimC

Super Moderator
Staff member
That is what I'm afraid of. My next question was going to be "I'm pretty sure I will at least need to chase the threads when I get this off... What is the thread pitch on these?"

But if I have to cut it and buy a new one, well, that changes everything. I can't imagine cutting it on the truck will be easy. I'm hoping to chop the nut off, and then seeing what I have. Then I can look for a new/used arm in Germany, and see what I can come up with. In the mean time, has anyone recently "upgraded" to a caster correcting arm and want to sell their used arm? $560+ for a brand new one is a bit spendy.

They have used discos in Germany too - you can find an arm cheaply. Try blacklandy.de with google translate
 
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