Highboy Polyurethane Bushings

[71PA_Highboy]

The purpose of this thread is to document what poly I have found that works on my 1971 F250 4x4

Works as packaged:
Energy Suspension 4-2130 - Front Leaf Shackle bushing - 9/16 sleeve ID
Prothane 6-1601 - Transfer case mount bushings (why they include 2 washers is beyond me ) Prothane P/N 60383 x4, 60382 x4

Kits that partially work:
Prothane 6-105 - ONLY: Rear cab mount bushings - P/N 68022 x2, 68021x2

Prothane Part numbers that work:
Radiator Support - 60329x2, 60328 x2 (I ordered from WildHorses 4x4 as 69 Bronco Body mounts (2 Mount sets or 4 bushings and sleeves)

I will keep adding as I verify fit and finish.

Note: I am not using the stock front axle or springs, so if you have a product you have personally installed and used, let me know and I will add it here.

[Manny]

Kits that partially work:
Prothane 6-105 - ONLY: Rear cab mount bushings - P/N 68022 x2, 68021x2

What was up with why this kit wouldn't cut it. Sadly i guess nobody has given you good info on rear leaf spring bushings. Anyway thanks for keeping us up to date on what is happening. Will prove to be a good resource when completed.....

[71PA_Highboy]

The purpose of this thread is to document what poly I have found that works on my 1971 F250 4x4

Works as packaged:
Energy Suspension 4-2130 - Front Leaf Shackle bushing - 9/16 sleeve ID
Prothane 6-1601 - Transfer case mount bushings (why they include 2 washers is beyond me ) Prothane P/N 60383 x4, 60382 x4

Kits that partially work:
Prothane 6-105 - ONLY: Rear cab mount bushings - P/N 68022 x2, 68021x2
Prothane 6-110 - ONLY: Front cab mount bushings (P/N to follow)

As a side note: The idiots at Prothane designed their bushings to use the factory bushing sleeves, and are therefore going to be very sloppy without some custom sleeves to fill the gaps. I will do my best to document this too..

Prothane Part numbers that work:
Radiator Support - 60329x2, 60328 x2 (I ordered from WildHorses 4x4 as 69 Bronco Body mounts (2 Mount sets or 4 bushings and sleeves)

Leaf spring bushings:
Energy suspension 4-2138 has sufficient quantites of bushings that one can use that kit to make a set that will fit the highboy with the addition of some .750x.065 tubing to use as a sleeve for the front eye bushing. Frame side of the shackle mount (rear spring hanger)will have to be drilled for a 5/8" bolt. This set is NOT a direct swap and will require a lathe.

I will keep adding as I verify fit and finish.

Note: I am not using the stock front axle or springs, so if you have a product you have personally installed and used, let me know and I will add it here.

[averagef250]

Thanks for doing this. It's amazing how many products are improperly marketed for 67-79 Ford 4x4's. How many times have you seen "Fits 70-79 F-250 4x4" and thought they have no clue what they're talking about. You'd think if a company put in just a little bit of effort to market their product correctly they would sell exponentially more.

P.S. If you need to mod a poly bushing put it in your freezer before machining it in a lathe. Use HSS tooling with very positive rake and small nose radius.

[71PA_Highboy]

The purpose of this thread is to document what poly I have found that works on my 1971 F250 4x4

Works as packaged:
Energy Suspension 4-2130 - Front Leaf Shackle bushing - 9/16 sleeve ID
Prothane 6-1601 - Transfer case mount bushings (why they include 2 washers is beyond me ) Prothane P/N 60383 x4, 60382 x4

Kits that partially work:
Prothane 6-105 - ONLY: Rear cab mount bushings - (P/N to follow)
Prothane 6-110 - ONLY: Front cab mount bushings (P/N to follow)

As a side note: The idiots at Prothane designed their bushings to use the factory bushing sleeves, and are therefore going to be very sloppy without some custom sleeves to fill the gaps. I will do my best to document this too..

Prothane Part numbers that work:
Radiator Support - 60329x2, 60328 x2 (I ordered from WildHorses 4x4 as 69 Bronco Body mounts (2 Mount sets or 4 bushings and sleeves)

Leaf spring bushings:
Energy suspension 4-2138 has sufficient quantites of bushings that one can use that kit to make a set that will fit the highboy with the addition of some .750x.065 tubing to use as a sleeve for the front eye bushing.
Here is the full story:
All the bushings will fit the shackle,so if you use bushing 2053 with the supplied sleeve, the shackle bolt remains 9/16 (pull those 4 bushings and 2 sleeves out and set aside so you don't accidentally machine them). this bushing is 1.366" with an ID of .740

Next is the front eye bushing. On my springs the front and rear eyes measured different, so you need to machine all four 2052 bushings to 1.3" nominal. Note that when you install them and the sleeve, they will compress and deform. I noted .07 expansion in the OD when the sleeve was installed. This set uses the larger sleeve provided in the kit.

Next pull out 4 2053 bushings and machine them for 1.29 - seems the difference shouldn't be significant, but I could not make them fit at 1.3.
Finally cut a piece of the .750 x.065 tubing to length to fill the previously machined 2053 bushing.

These will now allow the use of 5/8 spring eye bolts and 9/16 shackle bolt.

I will keep adding as I verify fit and finish.

Note: I am not using the stock front axle or springs, so if you have a product you have personally installed and used, let me know and I will add it here.

[Manny]

Good stuff here enjoying this. Gonna save some headaches when i get into my job...

[71PA_Highboy]

Next update: Body Bushings

Unfortunately you CANNOT buy the set I list below. But if you buy the radiator support bushings with insert from Wild Horses 4x4, and Prothane kits 6-105 and 6-110, you can make a set that is quite close to stock. The major difference is OD of the upper bushings (off .25 and .5 respectively), but I do not believe that will cause significant issues. I feel that the .1" difference in the rear upper cab mount thickness will be accounted for in the compression of the factory bushing over time.

Also of note is the durometer (squishy-ness) of the bushings. The poly is MUCH stiffer than the factory rubber which will result in more vibration transmission and more road noise transfer. I am not a materials engineer, so no quantative analysis.

All that said, here you go:
Upper Rear Cab Bushing - Factory [C6TA-8100154-C] (after 40 years) = 3.25 X 1.19"
Prothane 60336 = 3.0 x 1.28"

Lower Rear Cab Bushing - Factory [C7TA-9100155-C] (after 40 years) = 2.6 X 1.3"
Prothane 68021 = 2.68 x 1.28"

Upper Front Cab Bushing - Factory [C5TA-8100154-B] (after 40 years) = 3.5 X .84"
Prothane 68031 = 3.0 x .87"
Prothane 68105 = 3.0 x .99"
Will determine correct bushing when I align the Body.

Lower Front Cab Bushing - Factory [C5TA-8100155-B] (after 40 years) = 2.5 X .7"
Prothane 68020 = 2.7 x .84"

Upper Radiator Support Bushing [C5TA-8100154-B] (after 40 years) = 2.75 x .75"
Prothane 60337 = 2.38 x .74"

Lower Radiator Support Bushing [C5TA-8100155-D] (after 40 years) = 2.34 x .75"
Prothane 60329 = 2.3 x .75"

Note: Ford numbers as read from the bushings I have. Not guaranteed to be the original bushings, just the ones I have.

Hope this information will save others the headaches I have had dealing with the useless folks at Prothane.

[71PA_Highboy]

Another update: Bushing inserts

Due to the lunacy of Prothane's designers, the body bushings listed above are designed to be used with the factory metal sleeves.

To fill in for these sleeves I have come up with the following method. It is not perfect, but it is MUCH better than nothing.

For the upper cab bushings: I had some 1.05 x .10 tubing that fits well. Cut to length to match the upper bushing -.10" (for compression)
For the lower cab bushings: I had some Sched 40 1/2" pipe and it fits well inside the upper bushing, so I used that. I cut it to the length of the bushings combined -.25" (again for compression).



These two metal pieces can be welded together, but there is no real need as they are a tight fit when they are pressed together.
With this sleeve arrangement one could use a 5/8" bolt for mounting the body, but I feel this is overkill and would cause binding on the cab should there be flex in the frame and reduced deflection of the poly and sleeves. I will be using 1/2" bolts of sufficient length to mount the cab and 7/16" bolts for the rad support as they fit the Wild Horses supplied sleeve.

I will make metal plates from 16GA sheet to simulate the steel bushing that was there from the factory should they be necessary to get the body aligned properly.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me.