Mine on my rack have been in over a year and are fine. The front end remains tight. The bushings that came out with the bad rack were not in bad shape. I replaced my rack because it was leaking all over the driveway.
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Any feedback a year or two out from the folks who've gone this route? Feeling like a front end refurb is in my future.
I did the same. Peace of mind, not good to have a wobbly rack for any reason.5-1/2 years since installing the new rack and Super-Pro bushings: Zero regrets. Good investment IMO.
Has anyone replaced the rear panhard with superpro? I replaced 4 rear axle arms with new OEM arms awhile ago.
@AimCOtaco, I just picked up a set of poly steering bushing from Slee. I'm unclear onto which bushing and where to put the included package of lube. Can you please help me out?
Has anyone replaced the rear panhard with superpro? I replaced 4 rear axle arms with new OEM arms awhile ago.
FWIW, this is the hardware that I bought from Home Depot to install the new.
Just a few washers to get it started but still have enough thread length to get the nut on. Then add washers at bottom end to pull it all the way down.
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Also curious if anyone has installed the drivers diff mount with superpro? I replaced that entire OEM arm, but I think superpro is ideal for that particular bushing load as rubber will eventually sag.
These steps worked perfectly for me.Thanks for the tips! Got this done yesterday on my 2000,. and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was thinking. Actually, just a little tedious, but certainly no more difficult than installing a lift, etc. Couple of additional notes to add to the above...
The results? So far, so good. No more wander on the freeway, and less road chatter than I thought the poly might transmit. Honestly though, I'm not sure my rack has much longer to go anyway. I have some leaks, and it has 205K on it. If/when the time comes shortly to replace it, I'll DEFINITELY go with the poly bushings from the get go.
- Unbolt the PS side first, and redo it last, for ease of wiggling the rack around.
- Once the hardware is removed from the PS, use a hacksaw blade to cut through the lower lip of the rubber bushing. No need to cut it all off, just helps to have about 1/3 of it somewhat mangled to ease in removal
- It helps to understand that the current rubber bushings are not fused to the rack or anything, in fact, they seem to be designed more for isolation than for placement. Of the surface of the cylinder of the rubber bushing, very little actually touches the metal tube of the rack. The cylinder itself is undersized, and there are raised "pads" around the cylinder that wedge it in.
- To remove the rubber bushings, I did a little work with a hacksaw as mentioned above, then wiggled the rack out of position by about 1/16"-1/8". That allowed a punch to be inserted through the cross member from the bottom, and it would contact the metal sleeve in the rubber bushing (sinde it was slightly out of alignment). I could then hammer the bushing up and out. Both bushings came out fairly easy this way.
- I inserted the poly bushings in a slightly different order than you did. Like you, I slipped the bottom ones in from underneath and used the stock bolt, washer and nut to pull the rack down on top of it and seat it in..
- I then inserted the metal sleeve in from the top through the bottom bushing only. This can be done on both the front and rear mounting hole.
- I then put the upper bushing on. Depending on how strong your fingers are, you may have to use your wire/allen key trick, or if you use the stock bolt and washer you "might" get one thread of the bolt to show above the washer. In this case, if you flip the nut over, the threads are closer (inside the nut) and will likely grab. You can then use the bolt to pull down the upper half of the bushing enough to flip the nut over to the correct orientation.
- I found a 19mm crow's foot socket with a 6" extension to be extremely useful for holding the top nut. Space is at a premium up there. I don't have a 19mm flex head, but suspect that you wouldn't be able to use it anyway. For sure not on the rear mount, maybe on the front.
- Don't ask me how long it took. I am seriously the world's slowest mechanic. I'll sit and have a Dr. Pepper while I contemplate putting the skid plate back on, etc. I'd imagine if you were determined, and had all the tools, you could do this in less than 2 hours, easy.
I did have a curious event happen after doing this, and that was an unexpected activation of VSC on a freeway interchange. On a tight, 180 degree left turn the PS front brake activated. I also washed the truck immediately before that, and found my windshield leak (PS top window, so guess where it drains? onto the ECU area). I've also put on Fox shocks, and new rear sway bar bushings (and extended links from MAF). So lots of suspension changes and possible water entry to the ECU. I came home, did a zero point calibration of the yaw sensor, deceleration sensor calibration, inflated the tires, and headed back out to see if I could get it to happen again in the same spot. It did it one more time, but then not on the next three runs. Not sure if there is any "learning" that goes on regarding steering sensor input going from a stupidly sloppy rack to a tight one? Couldn't find anything about "calibrating" the steering sensor. Will definitely keep an eye on this.
Anyway, thanks to AimCotaco for making this a job I was willing to tackle. It does drive SO much better.
As to the rack/bushing design, what were they thinking???
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where did you get all these? trying to pick some up myself. thanks!Did the SuperPro rear anti-sway bar this evening after I got off work. Used their extended links and hardware.
old stuff was shot @ 212k miles, especially the bushing in the end of the bar, it was beyond loose...
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