Tom Byrne wrote:
> I am installing new cab mounts on my 89 Shelby. What is the best way to
> install these. Procedure is not in any of my books. Also, the Energy
> Suspension mounts I have are slightly different than OEM
>
This is how I did it to my GenII, which is hopefully the same as a GenI
(long/detailed).
I'm gonna sound like Norm Abrahms or something, but WEAR EYE PROTECTION!
There is seriously a lot of crud that comes falling out of these things.
1) Spray the living crap out of the mounts with a good penetrating
solvent/oil/rust buster majig (someone on the list had the head of one
of the bolts shear off, so use LOTS).
2) Let the stuff sit for 30 mins.
3) Spray some more solvent on there, and loosen all bolts off about
halfway (you'll need a pretty long extension for the front ones).
4) Figure out which mounts go where (there should be a set that fits
rather loosely together, and the others are snug, the loose ones go
furthest rearward on a RC)
5) Remove all the bolts from ONE side. When you do, there will be metal
cups that hold the bottom part of the bushing, keep those. I decided to
scrape/sand them down and paint them with some tremclad rust-inhibiting
paint.
6) Take a chunk of 2x4 about 3' long, and use it to jack up the body of
the truck on the one side. I jacked from under the floorpan, seemed the
logical place to me. Take all the top halves of the bushings off - whack
'em with a rubber mallet. There is another cup on the top (it looks
kinda like a bunt cake pan) ;) Save those as well. They probably won't
need paint, as mine were pretty much rust-free. When you remove the
front mounts, pound them out with a big socket on an extension or a
small chunk of wood and a hammer. Mine left little metal sleeves in the
holes, you need to pound 'em out.
7) Slip the top section of bushing over the bunt cake pan, then put the
protruding metal sleeve through the hole in the body mount on the frame.
Lower the body back down onto the bushings. Take the lower section of
bushing and the bottom metal cup (you'll notice one edge of the bushing
is rounded, I put that facing into the cup, I don't know that it
matters,) grease the bolt, and slip the bushing over the bolt, then
partially reassemble - leave the bolts loosened.
8) Repeat steps 5 through 7 on the other side. When you lower the
bugger back down, you can then go ahead and tighten everything down, and
torque it all to 60 ft-lbs.
9) Go for a test drive, and admire the stiffness of it all. Then, drink
a beer.
One misc. point:
I think ma' mopar used u-nuts on the body to secure it to the frame. If
you go to stick the bolt back, but the hole is askew, try sticking a
long screwdriver in there to fish the u-nut into place.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Feb 06 2004 - 11:46:36 EST