Need some help/advice. I'm replacing the lower control arm bushings on my '79 2wd and I purchased the energy suspension set. They indicate that I need to use the existing metal pieces. The uppers made complete sense, but the lower bushings that came off didn't have an outer metal casing. There was only rubber and the metal shaft. I had to heat it up some and crank'em out...again only rubber and center shaft. I had purchased the lower bushings but returned them shortly after discovering Theresa a no metal casing....the busing seemed to fit fine. I installed the arm back on and it's clearly loose. Has anyone done this job and can you confirm I need the bushings for the metal casing?

 

Upon further review.... The metal sleeves were left behind, but the fit is not correct. I bought some moo glower bushings, sacrificed one for the sleeve. Punched out the old, put in the sacrificial sleeve and it resulted in the same fit. Loose. Has ANYONE ever installed these lower bushings on a '79 Thru '83 toy? Is there a workaround? I'm almost ready to install the rubber ones...I know they will not move around. Anyone?...talk me off the edge.

 

Update: in case any of you folks out there plan to do this job...I talked with Energy Suspension folks and they mentioned that even though the bushing will have fore and aft movement when put on, it's because the bushing is not bonded to the sleeve as are the rubber bushings. No surprise there. However, the strut rods and torsion bars will keep the LCA right where it needs to be as an assembly. Be advised, There will be some float because they are not bonded. They did not indicate what an exceptable amount of "float" was, just that there would be "some". Use plenty of the super grease (to avoid sqeak) torq everything properly, and be sure to pre-load the torsion bar or re-index as required to eliminate excessive float and the issues it causes. I'm a bit more positive about it, but still not completely convinced, because of the amount of movement I'm seeing. Once I've got the parts in and checked, I'll re-post with some additional info. If anyone is interested.

 

Interested...

Anyone else experience the same?

Ill b doing mine soon... just curious.

 

Hey YOguyDA,... Overall, after the set was installed and the job done. The ride is super nice. The parts from Energy were accurate. I have to mention, I completely replaced the entire suspension...tie rods, ball joints, shocks, and center link along with the bushings. So, that definitely has some bearing on its performance. Looking back, I'd say the bushing set was an excellent investment. The crappiest part of the job was tearing apart the old bushings for the inner and outer sleeves and getting them cleaned up. My truck never had it so good. Your planning to do this on your '86? The only thing I'd do differently....is order another three tubes of the super grease and be a bit more liberal with it....just in case. If anything, you have a couple left over tubes for some other project.

 

I'm trying to figure this one out. The lower bushings from energy suck. There is waaaay to much slop. That's just poor quality. They are twice as loose as my super worn out stock parts.
I'm returning them and gunna get some quality parts. All there other bushings seem to fit right, but the LCA bushings are far from right.

 

I had a shop install mine a few years back. Other than a clunk somewhere in the vacinity of the torn LCA bushhing I can visibly see, they seam to work pretty well. I have had them lowered for a few years, and recently raised up about 4". no serious complaints other than the shop that did the work messed them up when they put them in.