Front Shock Bushings

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Joined
Apr 19, 2014
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Location
Utah, USA
My Car
1971 Spring Edition Coupe
(dressed up as Mach 1) full gauges,
351 Cleveland
Edelbrock Manifold Holley 4 Barrel, Jacobs Ignition system
I have a '71 Mustang with a 351C.  Is anyone else having the issue of torn top front bushing tears overtime you jack up the from end? Any solutions?

Thanks Tom

 
This is a frequently discussed topic. Some others do and some don’t. I recently replaced my cracked top bushings. When keeping the car up in the air it’s good practice to use a special tool that keeps the front wheel from hanging off of the shock. If you search this site you’ll find out more about it.

 
Shocks aren't designed to hold the weight and pressure of the front suspension for any length of time. If you anticipate an lengthy time on jackstands with the front end off the ground, block the suspension with the tool shown int he shop manual, or a regular 'ol 2x4.

If they're falling apart when you do a simple tire rotation, replace them with some polyurethane bushings.

 
I think this is the most seen complaint but still so many say you do not need to block the control arms, lol.

A simple 2X4" block of wood laying on the frame rail to stop the upper control arm from going to full extension will keep the upper shock bushings in great shape.

It is in all of the Ford manuals to use the tool to stop the travel of the control arms.

David

 
Hi All,

Sorry to re-open this two years later, but I'm running into the same problem as Tom and I wanted to know the easiest way to replace the front upper shock bushings. Could I just jack the rear of the car up so the front shocks compress and then unscrew the tops?

 
Hi All,

Sorry to re-open this two years later, but I'm running into the same problem as Tom and I wanted to know the easiest way to replace the front upper shock bushings. Could I just jack the rear of the car up so the front shocks compress and then unscrew the tops?
Like Fabrice said leave the car on level ground. If you have pressurized gas shocks you may need to lift the front slightly to get the caps reattached.

 
Yes.

Those three nuts hold the cap onto the shock tower. You'll probably need to loosen the two bolts at the firewall end of each brace in order to lift the brace up to get the cap out.

Once the cap is free from the tower (with the car on the ground the shock should extend and allow the cap to be raised), you can loosen the nut in the center and remove the cap and bushings from the shock.

 
Got 'em. Thanks everyone! I was able to get them off. Now I just need to find the correct replacements... or maybe I can just put these right back on? They look hardly used at all! 

IMG_7528.jpg

 
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