72 Mustang castor rod / strut rod bush replacement. Are the factory original ones one piece?

[bdennis]

Gents,

I need to replace the castor rod / strut rod end bushes on my 72 Mach 1.

I managed to get the castor / strut rod off the lower control arm and out of the bushes.

I have a Scott Drake rubber replacement kit for a 67 to 73 OEM Strut rod bushings for a mustang. (C60Z-3A187-A - This kit is just the rubbers). But when I got the rod out, it looks like the rubber bushes and end caps are 1 piece. It looks like the sleeve in the centre of the rubbers is rolled over and part of the end caps. Has any one replaced the bushes? If so, was yours the same?

Any suggestions?

Or am I not trying hard enough to break the seal on the rubbers and the steel shaft?

  



Thanks.

Regards

Brendan.

 

[timachone]

It seems that there is still an end cap in there you have to get out there. As far as I know the original ones were some kind of one piece design and not as easy to pull out. 

I bought the Moog K8157 to replace them. 

 

[bdennis]

Tim,

Thanks for the info. How did you get the old one out? Does it need an angle grinder on the ends?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Brendan

 

[Hemikiller]

The end of the inner sleeve was swedged in place during assembly. You can use a grinder to take the lip off the front side and be able to reuse the sleeve and washers. 

 

[timachone]

The end of the inner sleeve was swedged in place during assembly. You can use a grinder to take the lip off the front side and be able to reuse the sleeve and washers. 

+1 to Hemikiller  :thumb:

 

[bdennis]

Thanks for the info.. Will give the grinder a go.

 

[MKSpeedlab]

I just did my strut rod bushings and as far as I could tell they were the originals and looked just like yours. And mine didnt need a grinder, a little bit of encouragement with a small prybar and they came apart without too much struggle. 

 

[bdennis]

MKSpeedlab, Thanks for the info. I will give it another go before I take the grinder to them.

 

[bdennis]

Update to my castor rod bushes.

No mate how much pressure I put on them, they would not come apart.

I ended up using a dremel tool with a cutting burr on the end and ground down the leading edge of the metal bush that was protruding from the large washer. This worked a treat, as I was able to then just remove the front washer and all came apart with no issues. Here are a few pictures of the push with the leading edge removed. The bush has a heavy duty sleeve that the rubber sit on and then had this extra sleeve inside it that was removable once I cut the leading edge off. I reinstalled it as it came out.



I cleaned up the rough leading edge with the cutting tool before I reinstalled the sleeve and reassembled.









Both sides now completed..