The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Hi All,
Last year I bought a polyerethane bushing kit for my Challenger..Now its been sitting on a shelf because to be honest Im still drumming up the courage to start the job.

Has anybody else done this job and if so what are the things to watch out for and remember....

Thanks!!

I have done it a few times but not on a Challenger. My best advice is to get the correct tools first. Mancini Racing, Year One, Paddock, ACME, many more suppliers sell them as well as Just Suspension or Firm Feel. Another tip is soak the Hell out of the bolts you are going to remove with penetrating oil,(cam bolts on the upper control arms are an example), this may make the job easier, especially if you soak them for a few days before venturing out with Sledge Hammer in hand. Also if you use the Poly bushings instead of the rubber bushings the lower control arm stud has an inner sleeve that must be removed if rubber is used, poly reuses the old bushing. I skinned the hell out of my hands when doing it. It takes some brutal strength to remove the upper ball joints and replace them. Only remove them if they are really bad. It's not a "pleasant job" for some people, I would rather degree in a cam, port heads, time the dizzy, re-build a carb, wash parts, ect..

What tools exactly do you need dude.....I want to do this right!!!

airfuelEddie wrote:I have done it a few times but not on a Challenger. My best advice is to get the correct tools first. Mancini Racing, Year One, Paddock, ACME, many more suppliers sell them as well as Just Suspension or Firm Feel. Another tip is soak the Hell out of the bolts you are going to remove with penetrating oil,(cam bolts on the upper control arms are an example), this may make the job easier, especially if you soak them for a few days before venturing out with Sledge Hammer in hand. Also if you use the Poly bushings instead of the rubber bushings the lower control arm stud has an inner sleeve that must be removed if rubber is used, poly reuses the old bushing. I skinned the hell out of my hands when doing it. It takes some brutal strength to remove the upper ball joints and replace them. Only remove them if they are really bad. It's not a "pleasant job" for some people, I would rather degree in a cam, port heads, time the dizzy, re-build a carb, wash parts, ect..

Sure thing man. www.justsuspension.com then tools. They have a sixpack installation kit that includes the complete set. Are you going to replace the Leafs in the rear as well? Also RR do you have a friend that has any experience in this area? It would help, if not ask any questions and we will help you as much as possible. You defintiely have the strength, just dont get mad at it!

Strange you should mention six pack dude...I want to keep my Challenger stock and have keep all the parts when I upgrade...but tell me would it be easy enough to slap a six pack carb on my 383 instead of the 4 barrel I got...even if it were just for a while!!!:)

I would attempt the springs until I build up some know how on the easy jobs first!!!

airfuelEddie wrote:Sure thing man. www.justsuspension.com then tools. They have a sixpack installation kit that includes the complete set. Are you going to replace the Leafs in the rear as well? Also RR do you have a friend that has any experience in this area? It would help, if not ask any questions and we will help you as much as possible. You defintiely have the strength, just dont get mad at it!

Well, you have 2 choices, buy a "kit" which contains everything from www.billkayparts.com which isn't cheap, about 2k! Or you could piecemeal it with used and sometimes questionable parts. Both choices will cost. You do now that with the right parts a single four and intake will make more power? The dual plane intake, which a sixpack has, becomes the "cork" in airflow to the valves. A single plane by it's virtue of a large plenum that "feeds" the cylinders can ingest a larger quantity of fuel and air, thus producing more high RPM Power. The SixPack is undoubtedly sexy and purposeful in it's underhood "appearance" it's kinda like a ugly faced chick with a killer body! I'm not saying a sixpack cant be fast. Many out there that will clean your clock. It's just when you want to get serious, really serious the dual plane will become a cork. Ask any street/bracket racer. BTW, his site sucks, he'll e-mail you but in the recent issue of Mopar Collectors guide magazine he lists his complete sixpack kits for 1899.00 for 383/400 440/426 Wedge and small block 318/340/360/408 stroker Also, you could buy new individual parts from the new 2007 moPar perf. catalog.

Well that told me didnt it...dude at this stage I know bit and pieces but I lost you 1/4 the way into that ha ha...too technical for me at this point...I will try and break that down in a couple of months..Im way out of dept with you and the grumpy one!!!

Cheers to both of you guys!!

airfuelEddie wrote:Well, you have 2 choices, buy a "kit" which contains everything from www.billkayparts.com which isn't cheap, about 2k! Or you could piecemeal it with used and sometimes questionable parts. Both choices will cost. You do now that with the right parts a single four and intake will make more power? The dual plane intake, which a sixpack has, becomes the "cork" in airflow to the valves. A single plane by it's virtue of a large plenum that "feeds" the cylinders can ingest a larger quantity of fuel and air, thus producing more high RPM Power. The SixPack is undoubtedly sexy and purposeful in it's underhood "appearance" it's kinda like a ugly faced chick with a killer body! I'm not saying a sixpack cant be fast. Many out there that will clean your clock. It's just when you want to get serious, really serious the dual plane will become a cork. Ask any street/bracket racer.

Replacing the suspension bushes is easy except for two critial areas.

First of all, if your rear springs are sagging a bit replace them first. Then replace the bushes at each end. Poly bushes in the rear make a big difference and act a little like (but not as well as) a rear sway bar. Which you can also fit if you want.

Mount the rear chassis on axle stands and use a combo of axle stands and a trolley jack to support the rear axle as you unbolt the spring bushes. Do one end of the springs at a time. If the original bushes are tough to get out take a blow torch to them. Once they are alight they push out easy.

At the front you will need to remove the front suspension torsion bars (tricky job - check the workshop manual) and the upper and lower control arms along with the diagonal strut that runs from the LCA to the front of the K-frame (engine crossmember).

The UCA bushes have to be pressed out and in. The correct tool makes this easy. But I used some bolts, sockets and washers to draw mine out. Then you have to press them in. Again this is covered in the workshop manual.

The LCA has a pivot with a bush on it. If your suspension kit includes a poly bush for here just burn the old bush out leaving the outer metal sleeve of the bush in place. If you have a stock type bush then do the same but then you will have to cut out the metal sleeve as well.

Again the new bush presses in.

The bushes for the ends of the diagonal struts are dead easy.

It all sounds complicated but I had never done it before and managed OK. It made a big difference to the car.

Don't forget you will need to re-set the front rige height and suspension geometry. But I can tell you how to do that quite easily.

Ok...I will try my best to digest that....I have list of the poly bushes that I got in the kit..they were made bya company called Energy Suspension...

Nice one Dave....

dave-r wrote:Replacing the suspension bushes is easy except for two critial areas.

First of all, if your rear springs are sagging a bit replace them first. Then replace the bushes at each end. Poly bushes in the rear make a big difference and act a little like (but not as well as) a rear sway bar. Which you can also fit if you want.

Mount the rear chassis on axle stands and use a combo of axle stands and a trolley jack to support the rear axle as you unbolt the spring bushes. Do one end of the springs at a time. If the original bushes are tough to get out take a blow torch to them. Once they are alight they push out easy.

At the front you will need to remove the front suspension torsion bars (tricky job - check the workshop manual) and the upper and lower control arms along with the diagonal strut that runs from the LCA to the front of the K-frame (engine crossmember).

The UCA bushes have to be pressed out and in. The correct tool makes this easy. But I used some bolts, sockets and washers to draw mine out. Then you have to press them in. Again this is covered in the workshop manual.

The LCA has a pivot with a bush on it. If your suspension kit includes a poly bush for here just burn the old bush out leaving the outer metal sleeve of the bush in place. If you have a stock type bush then do the same but then you will have to cut out the metal sleeve as well.

Again the new bush presses in.

The bushes for the ends of the diagonal struts are dead easy.

It all sounds complicated but I had never done it before and managed OK. It made a big difference to the car.

Don't forget you will need to re-set the front rige height and suspension geometry. But I can tell you how to do that quite easily.

Red Raven, just make sure you have the correct lower control arm pivot shaft with the poly bushings. Sometimes it fits other times it wont. The O.E.M. shaft doesnt have a groove or flat cut into it to prevent the bushing from moving inboard on the shaft. In other words the shaft that the car came with from the factory may not accept a poly bushing, you may have to use a rubber bushing thats designed for it. Just suspension makes a lower control arm pivot stud made from Chrome Moly steel and cnc machined for both regular "rubber" bushings or poly , your choice. It's also much stronger than the factory shaft.Nothing worse than your shaft not fitting into a tight hole

Im sizing this job up again as the weather gets better.

I noticed that some of the old rubber is coming away from its positioning and will need to be replaced with the polys I have.

I will post some pics up and perhaps if you guys have time you can direct me on the know how. I love pics.

i will be doing the front end on this cuda, i have pix

sweet

I hope to be doing the front end this weekend if my finger has grown back after tackling the rear end, do you still want some piccies mate

Yes loads of piccys please

I've just heard from my mate that a pair of Hotchkis rear sport springs and a pair of 1.06" torsion bars I ordered way back are due in 2nd week of December, of your not desperate to start on yours yet can I wait till then to take some piccies

I can't leave anything alone for long so I went into the garage this afternoon and finished the rear suspension poly bush installation snd took piccies, here goes;

Jack up the car and put some nice tall, strong axle stands under the rear frame rails. I put them just behind the axle so that when the axle drops down a bit it clears the stands, see the first pic.
When your happy its safe and properly supported you can let the axle down a bit, I put some shorter stands under the axle.
Undoing the main spring eye bolts was actually very easy, I used a breaker bar and socket, stuck it on the nut so it was at about a 45deg angle and let the car down on it. Easy.
I attacked the rear hanger bushes first, just to get a feel for the poly bushes, the silicone lube, the fit etc. Was a piece of piss
Remove the rear valance tho', it is too close to the shackle assy to do any work and if you have to lever the shackle backwards and forwards to help in freeing off the main spring hanger box you'll take all your paint off, trust me
The shackle plate and pins pull out ever so easily, the 4 rubber bushings came out by hand.The new bushes go in very easy, just hand pressure is enough to push 'em home, plenty of lube on the outer surfaces, then push the new metal sleeve in to the bushing eye, I did have to use a big pair of water pump pliers to squeeze them in tho'. Take a good look at the deteriorated rubbish before you chuck it, its easy to see why these kits get installed.

With the rear of the axle done I moved onto the front and the main spring eye and hanger boxes. You have to remove the hanger boxes to get to the spring bolts and be able to attack the old bush. Remove the 4 bolts on the other side of the frame rail where the hanger is attatched and making sure that the spring is releived of its tension, lever the box forward enough to expose the 4 studs and lever it down with a suitable striong lever bar, I used a jack handle, the spring deflects quite easily and once I pushed it down I shoved a 4" square piece of timber inbetween the frame and spring eye. Watch you don't damage any fuel or brake lines by doing this tho'. What I did do that annoyed me intensely was to flake off nearly evey bit of paint on nearly every surface I touched with the bar and big pliers:x
Becuse I did'nt want to burn the old bushes out and damaged any surrounding painted area, too late tho' eh?, I used this puller to first push out the inner sleeve. It tears its way out easily and then I just levered the rubber inner out with a gig old screwdriver, its not bonded so it comes out cleanly. Next job is to take a chisel to the outer metal sleeve which is left in the spring eye, simply hammer your way along it until it splits into 2 and push it out. I got a Dremel drill and used it to clean and deburr the inner of the spring eye thoroughley before installing the new main bushes.
Went in just as easy as the shackle bushes, remember the silicone grease on all the outer surfaces, as well as the new inner sleeve.
Once cleaned and wire brushed on the inside mating surface, the hanger is reattatched to the spring, make sure to lube the outer edge of the bush where it sits against the hole for the big bolt or it'll squeak later on

Heres the last few pix, sorry they are'nt in order.Remember to torque every thing up right and lower the car back down off its stands. I bloody hurt my finger last week starting this, but this was a real easy job, I can't see you having any trouble Wayne
When the new torsion bars arrive I'll start on the front. Mind you I'll have to do this all over when the new springs turn up anyway

weren't you getting new Hotchkis rear springs next week?

Yeah, I know that didn't stop me from finishing the job even tho' I knew I had to do it all again, I just can't leave things alone, drives Carol mad . In all fairness I was only that last main bush away from finishing it anyway, so at least I know whats involved. Still, at least I can't make the same mistake with the torsion bars
Got snow yet?

Adrian Worman wrote:Got snow yet?

Buried under the damn thing!
Good thing I'm on vacation, I can stay home all day...

My new rear springs have turned up and I'm about to install them. The bloody torsion bars are still lurking in some American warehouse no doubt due to UK weather

pm,d you ade

I've fitted the new rear springs now Wayne, was super easy mate, but I had a quick drive with just the new poly bushes installed and mate what a difference, you'll be well impressed

Lets see the pics dude............

No sweat pal, try and do it tonight, still waiting for the bloody Hotchkis torsion bars to show up, into Feb I reckon

A few pics of the new springs, They went in so easy cos I'd already done the poly bushes and knew what was coming The new spring hanger boxes make all the difference.
Dropped the car about an inch and a half, this pic shows me lush,shiny Magnum 500's fitted, gives a good indication of the drop with a 15" wheel , I'm well pleased with the result

SO that's what the Hotchkis springs look like.
How do they feel, did you do a test drive?

fbernard wrote:SO that's what the Hotchkis springs look like.
How do they feel, did you do a test drive?

Still have'nt been out in it yet. Too busy with work and dogs, one I can forgive, the other not.
If I try and bounce the back of the car now it simply drops 2" and springs back instant, before it would spend a few minutes settling down for bed. The front end still feels like that now, I think untill I install the torsion bars and poly bushes its going to feel a bit weird.
Interestingly, when I bounce the back down now it drops fairly evenly, no more tipping over to one side. Hopefully that will alleiviate some of the body roll, scraping things on the floor is better left for bikes to do