Trailing arms poly bushings - lots of extra space?

[Jackson's Dad 64 C10]

Originally Posted by AcampoDave

So to be clear....most poly bushing require the extraction of the old rubber material from the original metal shell, (I usually just burn it out with a propane torch) then that metal shell is left in place. Following that, a liberal coat of white siliconized grease is applied to the new urathane and they are then slid into the original metal shell or housing of the old bushing. Usually, depending on the application, a new metal insert sleeve of some kind is provided for the center hole of the new urathane.

Does this sound about right?

Sounds exactly like what I did. I drilled the old rubber out, knocked out the inner sleeve, and left the outer shell in place. Greased the new bushings and installed them. The issue is that there is extra room between the edges of the bracket and the bushings. In hindsight, a picture would be worth more than all of my words in this post! I’ll update with my final solution, but right now it’s probably just going to be a stack of washers on each side to take up the space.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Jackson's Dad 64 C10

Sounds exactly like what I did. I drilled the old rubber out, knocked out the inner sleeve, and left the outer shell in place. Greased the new bushings and installed them. The issue is that there is extra room between the edges of the bracket and the bushings. In hindsight, a picture would be worth more than all of my words in this post! I’ll update with my final solution, but right now it’s probably just going to be a stack of washers on each side to take up the space.

Check w/Prothane to ensure there isn't some sort of mix-up on the bushings as far as width. If you know the width is correct, an oversized washer/shim (1pc for each side on a T/A) to take up the slack would work.

I would want the T/A mounting tabs to be square w/the bushing surface as it's installed into the front of the arm. Slightly compressing the bracket together (w/a C-clamp or the T/A mounting bolt) would work if needed. You could combine the 2 options to avoid the need to 'stack' shims while keeping the flange-to-bushing surfaces as square as possible.

[pdxhall]

Have you checked to see if you have the correct bushings. It's been a few years but I don't remember having this problem.