Upper Suspension ( control ) Arm Bushings, Rear

[Anders]

After having quite a "klonk" sound for a while, I found out that the bushings to the Upper Control Arm in the rear of my ī58 pretty much is gone.
Now, Looking for new ones ended up as a much harder than I thought.
In the end, the only Vendor who seems to have it in there catalog is Thunderbird Headquarter. I have mailed a few other but they donīt have it.
The "only" problem for me, is not that I donīt want to order from TBHQ, but the price. Most Rubber bushings seems to be priced quite fair around a few bucks each, but these ones are a tough one to take. They want 108 dollars for a pair, and I need 2 pairs...
Now, Is there any one out there who know if there is another bushing that might fit or have some tip how to fix this for less bucks

[simplyconnected]

Anders, I'm a little baffled. A HUNDRED BUCKS??? (picking myself up off the floor)

Check out this part number:
B8S-3068

It is an Upper Control Arm Bushing for a 1958-60 Thunderbird.

Mac's has 36 of them for US$6.95/each + shipping.

Am I missing something here? A lot of vendors have this part. Does your car have Air Bag Suspension? - Dave

[RustyNCa]

Anders, I'm a little baffled. A HUNDRED BUCKS??? (picking myself up off the floor)

Check out this part number:
B8S-3068

It is an Upper Control Arm Bushing for a 1958-60 Thunderbird.

Mac's has 36 of them for US$6.95/each + shipping.

Am I missing something here? A lot of vendors have this part. Does your car have Air Bag Suspension? - Dave

Yes, I think you have the front control arm bushing, Anders is talking about the rear bushing.

Anders, I didn't think they were even available, there aren't many of our 58's around so I would guess the higher cost is due to the limited market and hence the higher production costs to make a small run of parts.

I would guess that I am not to far behind you though in needing to replace those bushings.

[tbird430]

1958's have a rarer coil spring/trailer arm rear suspsension system instead of the 1959-60 rear leaf spring type.

I didn't know you could buy ANY 1958 rear suspension bushing seperate. I've only heard of the entire (pricey) kits!

[simplyconnected]

I don't mean to be contrary, but all my Ford books show the SAME bushing is required FOUR times on a 1958 Thunderbird. ('S' denotes, Thunderbird, 'A' denotes, All)

That means LH, RH, front, and rear bushings are the same.

Mac's agrees as well.

[Anders]

That would be GREAT news. Macīs is the only who have not answered my mail so far.

Negative from Larrys ( but as usual, Mike Fisher spend time looking for other replacements ), negative from Dennis Carpenters and positive from TBHQ so far.
Dennis Carpenter did however suggested looking at www.kanter.com
But Iīm only in here for a few minutes to bring my Shop Manual back out to the garage, where I am trying to get the bolts out so I can have a look and measure.
NOT easy to get the bolts loose......

Thankīs for the effort all. Please let them flow

[YellowRose]

Upper Suspension ( control ) Arm Bushings, Rear

Anders, I have been researching this for you. So far, I have talked with Bird Nest, Bob's Bird House, Concours Parts, Pat Wilson's, Dennis Carpenter, MAC's, Green Sales, Obsolete Parts, Tbird Products, Tbirds Southwest, Classic Cars Unlimited, partsetal and Rare Parts in California. So far, no luck. Several of them are doing some checking for me and will get back with me. However, Doug at Dennis Carpenter told me that his parts books shows that the rear Arm & Bushing Assembly for the rear upper control arm on a '58 Tbird is Part # B8S-5500-A. That part consists of a new control arm with the bushings on it. However, Don at Bird Nest told me that about the only way you are going to find that is as part of a bushing kit. He also told me that the bushings for the front cannot be used in the rear. They are different bushings in the rear.

I have been searching by that part number, but, so far, no one has it. Except that Rare Parts in California might... They have a Part #17846 which they call a rubber sleeve, which might be the rubber bushings. But the cost on that is $250.45 just for the bushings. Their Phone number is 209-948-6005 email alex@rareparts.com Bird Nest has the whole replacement kit, but it is like $795!

I am going to look for that part number that Dave gave us, but I was told that the four rubber bushings for the rear are NOT the same as those on the front, and neither are the control arms. Aren't there four rubber bushings for the front control arms? Two per side. If so, then you would think that kit would say 8 instead of 4. But then again, if they are the same bushings, one would have to order two kits, I guess, one kit for the front and one for the back? However, as I said, I am told that the front bushings are different from the rear bushings...

Back to hunting...

I just talked with Kanter. They do not show the rear upper control arm bushings in their stock. However, they were closing, and she is going to do some more looking tomorrow, not only for the bushings, but to see if they happen to have the rear control arms with the bushings in place.... She will let me know.

Dave, do your books say anything about the REAR Suspension Upper Arm Inner Shaft? Could that be Group 3062 instead of 3068? There must be a Group for the rear suspension.

It only gets worse... I just talked with the Vintage T-Bird Sanctuary up in Oregon. They also have the bushings kit that does both sides, upper and lower. $841.29 for the kit. This, like Bird Nests, I think, is just the bushings, nothing else.

[Guest]

This was on here before and if I remember it wasn't easy! Eventually somebody will find a gm part that will work. Hate to say that@#%^^$

[partsetal]

These rear suspension bits for the 58 were a low volume item and Ford was the only manufacturer/supplier of them. Now, 52 years later the NOS parts have dried up and some specialty houses have made complete sets, Rare Parts being the only one I know of. Over the past 5 years I have heard from 3 individuals who said they were going to make their own and several sets for me. None have been able to do so. I've provided samples and even the special sized tubing to bond the rubber to, but the projects have died on the vine. I know their cars are still being restored and they may get to it someday.
One solution I've heard of is to take a bushing catalog where bushings are listed by size ( I believe NAPA has one, and possibly Flagg has one) and find a bushing that resembles the correct one and modify it to fit. Another is to bite the bullet and pay the price to someone who has invested the resources in creating the correct ones.
The bushings in the link that Anders needs never were sold separately, only the link with the bushings was available. I believe a good mechanic could figure a way to make an existing bushing work.
Carl

[DKheld]

Here are the thread links showing the suspension parts and one solution. Haven't posted thread links before so not sure it will work - if not just search on "bushings" and scroll through the finds - should be the ones named "58 rear suspension" and "58 rear bushing archived information"

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin...bushing&page=2

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin...hlight=bushing


Think I had read also but could not find it that someone had replaced their swing axles with a standard leaf spring setup - probably not an option overseas though.

Eric
registry 5347

[Anders]

You guys are the best! Thanks for your efforts so far! ( but you donīt give up yet eeeh?... )
It soon seems to be a bargain to buy the ones from TBHQ for the 108 dollar / pair = 216 dollar set they want . It contains the bushings, nuts and bolts but not the arm. I donīt need the arm either.
Got one loose yesterday, and holy Toledo, there was only small sign of rubber left....

I have also checked with most vendors here in Sweden who is big on importing parts for American classic cars but they struggle big time. I still wait for answer from a guy who is specialized on Ford parts only, but itīs a one man company and he is ill at the moment, so I have to be patient here.
Itīs a bit strange realy, that this seems to be so unique as Ford is known for having Carry-over parts between models for almost everything, and that for years and years as well.

[simplyconnected]

Yeah, sometimes I can be dense. Sorry for my misunderstanding. I never thought of the trailing rear axle in the '58.

Rare Parts offers a kit that includes TWENTY parts! No wonder it's so expensive. I thought you needed a bushing or two.

I like Partsetal's take on this; if it were me, I would pursue Jed Zimmerman's letter from the fellow in Canada. He made his own bushings from correct urethane. I like the idea of pressing 20% oversize urethane into a cavity. Antifreeze makes a good assembly lubricant.

For you adventurous hobbyists, here's a site showing the dimensions of all the Rare Parts bushings:
http://www.freewebs.com/squarebird/parts.htm

Some of these parts were simply turned on a lathe. Others were cut off of longer parts. I can see the dimensions, but it would help to know the actual bolt diameters from the car. I don't see where all 20 parts need to be replaced. Someone has a line on bushing materials. - Dave

[YellowRose]

Upper Suspension ( control ) Arm Bushings, Rear

Anders, as you know by now, this subject of upper control arm bushings for the rear of the '58 has been kicked around a lot in the recent past. Dutchbird went through this with his '58 also. I think that either Rare Parts in California or Vintage T-Bird Sanctuary up in Oregon is the supplier of the kits to Bird Nest and others.

It is my understanding that you do not need the entire kit. Just the rear upper control arm bushings and no other parts. Correct me if I am wrong..

Now, I have found on one of the threads listed below that the '58 Ford Thunderbird Rear Suspension Kit from Rare Parts is their Part # RP18109 for the entire kit. In that kit, according to their own part listing, the Rear Upper Control Arm Bushings are Part # RP18098. I will call them tomorrow and see if they will just sell those bushings you need. They may not do it, but I can ask. I will let you know what they say. That Part # 17846 that I referenced below is just part of this RP18109 kit. That part(s) alone was $250.45!

Read those threads that Eric posted. Here is the thread that has the Part # for the kit and the Part # for the actual rear upper control arm bushings...

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin...hlight=bushing

[Coral]

I did a quick look on the internet and the 'Birds are not alone in the bushing replacement field and seems to be quite an expense overall - however several people have gone and decided to make their own, here is one fella's wiki page on the subject:
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...ubber_bushings

[YellowRose]

Upper Suspension ( control ) Arm Bushings, Rear

Anders, I just spoke with Alex at Rare Parts in California. 209-948-6005. alex@rareparts.com He just told me that the rear upper control arm bushings (Part # RP18098 or 18098) are available for $197.60. There are 8 pieces in this set he said. He also said that package contains parts to do both sides of the control arms, left and right.

He was unable to look at a break out of the parts. But here is that break out. If you go to this link and slide down, you will see the break out for Part # RP18109, the full kit. In that break out you will see RP18098, the bushings.

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin...hlight=bushing

Last year, Frank58 provided this break out picture of the kit and the parts it consists of.

So here is another source for you to check out.