First, pardon me if I don't use the proper terminology. My car has a solid Ford rear axle. It's got one coilover on each side, and a panhard bar. The last items to locate it are two ladder bars (at least that's what I call them) that are mounted toward the outboard ends of the rear, then extend forward a few feet angling toward the center of the car, attaching to the trans crossmember toward the center of the car. The car has felt squirrely going over bumps lately so I put it in the aur to see what looks out of place. I was expecting a broken panhard bar our mount. Instead, what I found is that one bushing at the trans crossmember end of the ladder bar at the attachment point is worn, and the other is essentially gone. I need to replace these bushings. From what I can tell that's left of the one, they're two piece bushings that slide in either end with a steel tube down the center that slides in, with a 1/2" diameter bolt that runs through the whole ***embly to mount it. I have the dimensions of the mounting end, but I can't seem to find a bushing that'll match up. The end of the ladder bar has a vertically oriented loop that slides into a fork that's welded onto the crossmember. I'll try to attach a photo here so hopefully some of this will make sense. The inner diameter of the receptacle where the bushing slides into is 1.099" as measured with a digital caliper. The width of it, which would be how wide the bushing should be is 1.494" The steel tube that the bolt slides through which p***es through the center of the bushing has an outside diameter of .744" and the inside diameter is .503". The tube measures 1.745" long. Hopefully, along with the photos I hope to attach this will make sense to you guys. The question is, where do I find this bushing. I have looked at Energy Suspension and another similar company and I don't see anything that matches up in all dimensions. If you guys have any tips on where to look I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.
No guarantee on them having bushing of the correct diameters and lengths, but I'd check Speedway Motors. For some reason I recall finding more bushing sizes by looking on their website than I found in their catalog, but maybe newer catalogs have all sizes listed. You might need to look at both front and rear suspension sections. Are you sure the I.D. of the tube on the front of your ladder bars is only 1.099? That seems really small diameter and doesn't even look like that would be in proportion looking at the diameter of the ladder bar tubes. Hope this helps. Lynn
I found exactly what I need, except I need it for a 1/2" bolt instead of the 5/8" bolt this one takes. Every other dimension is perfect. I would just drill out the fork on the frame that accepts the bolt to a bigger hole for the 5/8" bolt, but there's no possible way to get a drill in there because the crossmember it bolts to is welded in and the fork is angled. Long story short, even with a angle drill there is no room to get a drill bit in there. Damn this is frustrating. So close but so far. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spee...-End-Bushing-Kit-for-5-8-Inch-Bolt,66059.html
Yup, it's 1.099". It's basically 1 1/8". Your suggestion on Speedway almost hit pay dirt, see above. Very close to what I need. I need this exact bushing but with a 1/2" bilt. NO way to get in there to drill out the frame to take the 5/8" bolt that this one needs. Other than that it's perfect. Darn. https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Spee...-End-Bushing-Kit-for-5-8-Inch-Bolt,66059.html
I saw that, but they're only 1.375 wide. The ones in there now are 1.75". I guess in a pinch I can find washers or something to use as spacers on either side of the bushing but that'll look kind of sloppy, no? Not sure how well that would work either.
I found some stainless thin wall tubing on McMaster Carr that would seem to work about like you mention. Right now that's my backup plan if I can't find the correct bushing. OD is 5/8", ID is .527" and wall thickness is .049". My math in public skills aren't great, but in my head that would seem to work.
That’s just .027 larger than 1/2 inch. What does the ID I’d your current sleeve measure, it would be something larger than 1/2 in. and will give you an idea of the fit.
When I sourced some for an off topic pickup, I googled bushings by the dimensions I needed. Not asking a specific supplier. Cant recall the name, but found them from a manufacturer
Oops, didn't see the change i width. Can you re-use the sleeves you have? The dimensions are listed in the item description; can you find sleeve material and cut your own?
If you can find spring bushings that are longer but correct in diameter I have turned them down on a lathe.
Buy some round delron plastic ,turn down your own, it has some lubrisity to it, and it won’t wear !!!
The only critical dimensions are your inner diameter for your .500 bolt and your outer diameter to press into your ladder bar. The width of your bushing is not critical. If it is too short a gap in the center won't matter. If too wide , cut it down.. Energy suspensions lists a bushing for a .500 bolt and 1.00 od that I would try.
Energy Suspension sells them by size. They have a large selection. Sorry shuda red through the first post completly! Bill
The second comment on your post suggested "Pete & Jake's" You should probably look into that! Pete & Jake pioneered urethane bushings in hot rods. Most of the other parts suppliers just copied Pete & Jake, right down to the diamensions of their bushings. I'll bet Pete& Jakes has exactly what you need.
This makes it easier - if a small gap in the center doesn't matter then I see a kit from Energy Suspension that'll work. It'll leave about a 1/4" or so gap in the middle. The sleeve is too short in the kit but I can use the old sleeves, they're present and in good usable condition. The kit mentioned above from Welderseries looks perfect too, it seems to imply that it's an Energy Suspension product but I don't see the same dimensions in a Kit on the Energy Suspension website. No matter, if the gap in the middle of the bushing is not a real issue then I think I have it covered now. You guys are great, thanks so much for the help.
Seems to me P & J bushings are made of a better material than the mystery material that the cheaper bushings are made out of.
Buy a few extra to have on hand or cut down to fill the gap in the center. The car doesn't look like it should have worn them out that fast, how many miles did you get out of the set?
The p***enger side one self destructed and disappeared in about 13,000 miles. I have no idea what the original one was, as far as type and brand because I didn't build the car.
I'm guessing because you're trying to help guys out, in this case me? Pete and Jake's was on my list if things to do on Monday. However, prior to that I found a Energy Suspension kit that seems like it'll do the trick and it was available on Amazon. I ordered it yesterday and it's already in the garage as we speak. I'll try to install on Sunday night, as I would really like to get the car back on the road. If it doesn't work out I'll ping P&J on Monday.
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