Man-A-Fre Control arm bushing failure (1 Viewer)

[bhicks]

So the rubber bushing on my rear MAF control arms are literally falling apart. I have been getting a real bad driveline clunk on acceleration and deceleration and found out the MAF upper and lower bushings outback are junk. The entire axle is rotating back and forth in the bushings. They have about 15k on them and look like they have over 300k. I called MAF and they knew nothing. These arms were sold up to 2016 and then the company was sold. The new guys know nothing about the older style arms. They no longer sell arms and the recent ones they sold have poly bushings. Here are the questions they could not answer. Can I swap in OEM bushings into the old style MAF rear control arms? If not, are there any poly bushings out there that will work with my current control arms? The uppers have heims on one end that look good and are nice and tight. The other end is the rubber bushing that looks like old dry crumbly bread. The lower arms are rubber bushings on both ends and they are in equally bad shape. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[baldilocks]

Sorry to read about your dilema. I run the metal tech rear upper and lower arms over two years now with lots of beatings on the trail with no complaints.

You would have to take measurement to know if you could install oem bushings in those arms. This info I don’t have.

P.S. I love my singe center console drop in cup/phone/pen holder.

 

[bhicks]

My guess is many folks ran into this bushing failure a few years ago and there is a common remedy for the issue. Between the previous owner (R.I.P. Chris) and myself we only put about 15k on it in the last 5 years. My guess is that these bushings would have failed way sooner if I was driving it a lot more. This was probably a hot topic 3-5 years ago but most have probably been swapped out by now. I just need to know my options. I would just go out and measure the hole for the bushings by my 80 is at my buddies shop about 40 minutes away. He has a lift and WAY more tools then me.

 

[bhicks]

So nobody has dealt with faulty rubber bushings in MAF controls arms? I guess on Monday I will just have to go down to the shop and measure the ID of the bushing holes to see if they match OEM. Can someone tell me what the ID is for OEM control arm bushing holes so I have something to compare to on Monday.

 

[NLXTACY]

Sorry I don’t have a fix other than replacing the MAF setup. Just did that with a local guy before Thanksgiving. Similar bushing issue but maybe not as bad as yours.

 

[midfat]

PM’d you.

 

[dogfishlake]

Bummer man. If you do have to get measurements off of the arms, at least the info will be out there for posterity, but also I bet there exists an off the shelf bushing in poly that would fit. Personally I kinda hate poly bushings but anything is better than what you have.

Good luck!

 

[bhicks]

I will bump this one more time. Is there anyone out there that has found a poly bushing replacement for the old MAF rear upper and lower control arms? Or do the OEM rubber bushings fit in the MAF control arms?

 

[midfat]

Check out Prothane. I’ve used them for custom bushings and they did a great job. I believe they are relatively local to you, so just drop the arms off and let them figure out what needs to be done.

Home

 

[PabloVTA]

so I was just putting in a Delta bracket this weekend and noticed my Upper rear arms bushings on the Frame side had lots of play.
Did you ever find a replacement?
I shoulda measured mine when i had them out, they are two piece with a sleeve.
The bushing half has the number "MO2854" on it.

Sure hope I can find a set of just the bushings to replace these, the johnny joints are fine still. Man A fre web site doesn't show them anymore.

 

[GeoRoss]

so I was just putting in a Delta bracket this weekend and noticed my Upper rear arms bushings on the Frame side had lots of play.
Did you ever find a replacement?
I shoulda measured mine when i had them out, they are two piece with a sleeve.
The bushing half has the number "MO2854" on it.

Sure hope I can find a set of just the bushings to replace these, the johnny joints are fine still. Man A fre web site doesn't show them anymore.

You might contact Dave Gore at 4Plus. I am pretty sure he was the one who supplied them to Man-a-Fre.

4PlusProducts | Land Cruiser Parts and Accessories

 

[Oscar Witte]

If you can't source them, you could possibly make your own with liquid polyurethane.

 

[NLXTACY]

it all comes down to the durometer rating for which type of poly to use but it can be machined. Heck, I would just need a good sample.