rear suspension bushings. 58 tbird

[Guest]

Hi all , after removing the entire rear end out of my car I've found that basically every bush needs replacing. Where is the best/cheapest place to buy these.
Also is the rear sway bar supposed to be perfectly straight on does it have a slight bend.
Thanks Chris.

[YellowRose]

rear suspension bushings. 58 tbird

Hi Chris, I spoke with Lance Harrington, of Thunderbirds Southwest. Lance knows a lot about these old Squarebirds of ours. He said that the only place he knows about where you can get '58 rear end bushings from is either Thunderbird Headquarters in California or the Bird Nest in Oregon. He wasn't sure which. I checked the Thunderbird Hqs website and I do not see where they have a complete kit of these bushings. The Bird Nest does have all the bushings in one complete rear end suspension bushing kit. Not only does the Bird Nest have a complete set, but so does Carl Heller ~ partsetal on our Forum here! In fact, he has 2 sets and can get more of them. His kits are made from rubber, just like the originals and not urethane. They sell for $650 plus shipping. If you are interested in his kit contact Carl by sending him a Private Message.

If you are interested in the Bird Nest kit email don@tbirdparts.com (or replace don with matt) at the Bird Nest in Oregon. I just looked at their website and I found this for $795. Below is the link to that rear end kit.

REAR SUSPENSION REBUILD KIT - See view PDF for more info Complete rear suspension rebuild kit includes upper control arm bushings, lower control arm bushings, track bar bushings and insulator kit.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/Par...ITLE=Bird_Nest

Type in their Search engine 1958 rear end bushings and go to the 4th page, as I recall. You will see 1958 Rear Suspension Rebuild Kit listed.

Click on the See View PDF Detailed Info link to view the pdf file for all the parts in the kit.

In answer to your question about the sway bar, Lance said that the '58 did not have a rear sway bar in it, because of the difference of the '58 having a coil spring set up instead of leaf springs. It has what he called a diagonal bar and he thinks it is straight, but it has been a long time since he last saw one. BTW, Carl Heller ~ partsetal, says what Lance called the diagonal bar is probably the Track bar. There is only one of them on that rear end.

Also, I think that Anders has been down this road of having to replace his rear end bushings. Anders, if you can provide any assistance or advice on this, please post. Or anyone else with a '58 who has been through this.

[Guest]

Thanks for that, it's a big help. I will have to get in contact with them. They're a pricey kit. I was thinking I might take my parts down to my local suspension shop and see if any Australian parts might be interchangeable, unlikely but worth a try.
Yes the diagonal bar, mine seems to have a 4-5 degree bend, very slight, I can straighten it but really need to know for sure first.
Thanks again.
Chris.

[YellowRose]

rear suspension bushings. 58 tbird

Chris, hopefully, someone will come along who owns a '58, like Anders, or Buckaroo, who can look at their diagonal bar and tell you if it is supposed to be straight or it it does have 4-5 degree bend in it.

Regarding the bushings, I gather that until recently, there were none available at all. Then someone decided to start making them, but I think out of urethane. Carl then had some sets made just like the originals, out of rubber. Out of the sets he had made, he has those two sets left.

What Lance called a diagonal bar might be what could also be the track bar... I dunno..

[Guest]

Yes hopefully someone will know about the bar. I will get in contact with him about the the bushes shortly, unfortunately tight funds and crappy aussie dollar means it may have to wait a while.

[Buckaroo]

Chris, I do have a 58 but my rear coils have been replaced with leaf springs. This conversion was done prior to me buying the car so I have no knowledge of what the coil spring set up looks like.

[Guest]

That's fine mate. Leaf springs would definitely be the best way to go. Plenty of time to work out what I need.
Cheers.

[YellowRose]

rear suspension bushings. 58 tbird

Perhaps converting to the '59-'60 leaf spring setup would be cheaper and better but I doubt it and so does Carl Heller. The Bird Nest lists them for the '58 up for $550 a pair. Perhaps you can find them cheaper by checking with other Tbird parts or specialty houses. Or there might be a Squarebird parts car down under that you could get them off of...

I just talked with Carl Heller ~ partsetal on here. The idea of converting to leaf springs would probably be more expensive and difficult to do considering your location. He does have used Squarebird leaf springs available though. However, in addition to buying leaf springs, you would need the hangers and all the other components needed to convert over. Carl said the ideal situation would be to have a '59-'60 donor Tbird available to you (and the mechanic who knew what he was doing) and take the entire rear end, axle, leaf springs, everything off the donor car and transfer it to the '58. In the end, it would probably be far more expensive to do that than to just put a new rear end bushing kit in... IMHO.. and Carl's.

In the event you would want to go to leaf springs, here are a couple of sites that sell them. The shipping would be very expensive, I would imagine.

I just did a quick check of our Advertisements Forum and found this company that sells them for $202.33 each.... $404.66 a pair, plus shipping.

http://www.stengelbros.net/42-227-Fo...y-_p_2961.html

There is also Eaton Springs to consider. Here is their website.

http://www.eatonsprings.com/2010autopricesheet.pdf

[Guest]

Sorry I didn't mean I was going to convert to leaf spring, would cost an absolute fortune to do in Australia. I'll be just slowly rebuilding the original rear as I go through and get everything painted.
Cheers Chris.

[tmjsong1aolcom]

Both bars in the rear are straight and have no bend.

One other place for a complete set of rear bushings is rare parts. web site is rareparts.com. Just remember they are also expensive.

Understand the exchange issue might suggest fiunding an Aussie traveling to the US that could bring them back for U.

Good Luck
Fuz
58's&64's
tmjsong1@aol.com
Sun Prairie, Wi.

[Guest]

Both bars? Are you talking about the small control arms on the side. I'm actually after the rear diagonal arm at the rear.
Bushes I'm actually talking to a couple of companies here at the moment who might be able to help. Nolathane and superpro.
Just an option at the moment otherwise I'll be shopping in the us.
Problem is I only need 8 bushes, all others are good. Does anyone sell mini kits or individually.

[RustyNCa]

Thanks for that, it's a big help. I will have to get in contact with them. They're a pricey kit. I was thinking I might take my parts down to my local suspension shop and see if any Australian parts might be interchangeable, unlikely but worth a try.
Yes the diagonal bar, mine seems to have a 4-5 degree bend, very slight, I can straighten it but really need to know for sure first.
Thanks again.
Chris.

If you are talking about the panhard bar that goes across from the rear end to the frame of the car, I don't remember mine having any bend in it. What I did do with mine is section it and add an adjustment to it.

[RustyNCa]

Sorry I didn't mean I was going to convert to leaf spring, would cost an absolute fortune to do in Australia. I'll be just slowly rebuilding the original rear as I go through and get everything painted.
Cheers Chris.

You did say you have the rear end out, could you measure the width of it for me? Backing plate to backing plate? I've always wondered the width, even more so lately. I've got a few Lincoln IRS rear ends laying in my yard, I want to compare their width with the 58 9".

Thanks
RustyNCA

[Guest]

Yeah that's the bar. The idea of making it adjustable is a good one, might be worth doing while it's out.
Yes I can get that measurement for you, I'll do it tonight when I get home.

[RustyNCa]

Yeah that's the bar. The idea of making it adjustable is a good one, might be worth doing while it's out.
Yes I can get that measurement for you, I'll do it tonight when I get home.

If you need a pic let me know. We did it, because the car showed the rear end wasn't even close to centered on the alignment rack. Now, we can adjust it right to left all we want.