Has anyone installed the whole bushing kit body, leaf, control arm, sway, end link and noticed a difference? I was thinking of doing the sway, end link and control arm bushings and was wondering if the body and leaf bushing make any difference in handling.

Thanks
John

 

I installed all new control arm bushings/sleeves for skyjacker lift system. One of the bushing sleeves and bushing was cracked thus allowing movement of the axle and preventing alignment. Pretty easy process by just doing one at a time, a couple of hours. If your replacing factory just know other brands may/maynot fit. I know factory control arm bushigs wont fit in skyjacker control arms.

 

I did the sway bar and end-link kit. Seems to be good.

 

I've got the control arm bushing set, but I can't get it in because the control arm bolts are siezed inside the metal sleaves of the old rubber bushings, so I gotta buy new bolts from dodge since I'm going to have to cut the old bolts out just to get the control arms out

 

Yeah, I had to cut mine out too. Get ready to kiss $75 goodbye to Dodge because you can't get them anywhere else.

The bushing seem to be better. I have replaced everything in the front end at this point, so the truck is pretty tight, but the bushing are good. I never did the body mounts though.

In hindsight, I should have gotten a leveling kit and then just bought new arms. So, just something to think about...

- Craig

 

Hmmm. See I have a 2.5" leveling kit on the front with 285-75-16s...and at $75 for the stupid little bolts you're thinking it's better to just get aftermarket arms? Maybe I ought to look into that. Why do you think it would be better to go with the new arms? Does 2"-2.5" really affect the axle enough to make a difference? My only thing is I'm really starting to lean in the direction of swapping that lovely 12v into something that's built a tad smarter (like an older F-350) so I'm trying to avoid as many dodge specific upgrades as I can get away with. This whole goofy front end and special parts only available from dodge is starting to git to me.

You know (just rambling) that Land Rover in my sig and avatar, I had that thing for 4 years, put 4 inches of lift on it, constantly swapped back and forth between 31" ATs and 34" LTBs, drove it on two cross country trips, used it as a daily driver to work, bombed down every mud track and craggy mountain goat path I could find, consistently got it stuck and had to winch out or be yanked out, and I never once had to get it aligned. The one time I took it in (after I'd been pulled out of a gully so hard it blew out the bead on one of the front tires) and the guy didn't have to do anything to it, alignment was fine!



Ed

 

Well you need the bolts regardless of the arms. So kiss the $75 goodbye. My thoughts are that the control arms are flimsy and replacing the bushings was a pain in the ****. I would have been very content to pull the old arms out, throw them away, and install some after-market arms. The leveling kit is in my plans, so it would have made sense to do this all at once.I don't necessarily think that 2 inches will put you out of the caster adjustment range.

All these trucks have their issue, but come on man, you don't want to go to the dark side with a ferd!! hahaha

 

Oh I revel in the dark side I just don't like what makes the dark side go, and a 12v would make the dark side go alot better (and darker, y'know, rollin coal! )

Ed

 

I installed them also on the control arms.It made a difference,tightens up the frontend a bit.......But those bolts where a pain to get out..

 

Well just ordered the bolts. I believe it was about $64 from our local dodge dealerden. Just one more question for you guys who've done this...my problem is the the forward bolt on the lower control arms, and the rear bolt on the upper control arms. These dudes will NOT budge. It's gonna be pretty easy to cut the forward lower bolts...both sides of it have plenty of room for the angle grinder. However, how do you get the rear upper bolts??? There's some room to get to the thread side of the bolt, but the head is recessed inside the chassis! How am I supposed to get to that guy? Or is he gonna just require a whole heck of a lot of pounding?

Thanks!

Ed

 

You "may" get it out with a hammer and punch....That did not work on my truck.I used a air punch and a lot of wd-40.Kept working the bolt till it came out...You will have to replace the bolt.I think it was a grade 10 bolt...Also grind the bolt head off and use the air punch on which ever side it is easier to get at...This was the only way to get mine out....Even a 10lb hammer and punch would not move that bolt...hope that helps...

 

Does anyone have the bolt size? Maybe I can order them from Mcmaster-carr ahead of time ?