ATTENTION !!!! Ford F-53 Owners READ!!

[jrbarber]

OK, since we're playing the age card... This 75 yr. old finally made it underneath this afternoon (needed help to drag me back out) and found three of the four bracket bolts slightly too tight to take out with my fingers. Had to use a ratchet (air driven of course) to get the 4th one out.

Somehow, I thought the bushings were split so they could be removed for greasing. Nope, not gonna make it easy on me. Thinking I'll get out my Dremel with little cutoff wheel and see what happens. Already tried slipping a hypodermic needle with Zerk between the sway bar and the bushing so now I'm in the market for a new needle/Zerk thingy.

The fun part comes after greasing all 4 bushings. Then I can get out my seldom used Lincoln pneumatic grease gun to hit all 9 Zerks up front.

Yeah TeJay, I think that's the same gun you got a year or so ago after a lifetime of wishing and dreaming. Most kids my age wanted trains or wagons but my Santa letter always asked for a genuine Dave Ourada Minneapolis Moline grease gun. Only at my retirement party did the dream finally come true... right there on the rollaway was my very own Lincoln Pneumatic grease gun, when I didn't really need it anymore. So now I can use it for 9 Zerks a year.

What can I say? I've had my meds tonite and feeling no pain.

[TeJay]

Jim,

Three loose bolts on a 2015 unit. Shame on them. You may have forgotten to mention this but we assume you torqued the bolts (66-ft/lbs) and also used some blue LT??

Stress in life is a killer. The proper attitude and of course humor is essential for greater longevity. Many thanks for the report and job well done!!!

[Hudsoner]

Originally Posted by jrbarber

Only at my retirement party did the dream finally come true... right there on the rollaway was my very own Lincoln Pneumatic grease gun, when I didn't really need it anymore. So now I can use it for 9 Zerks a year.

What can I say? I've had my meds tonite and feeling no pain.

I never had that dream, but I was so clever to raise my only son to become an automotive master mechanic. Now he is handling all the Zerks for me.
and yes, meds do do wonders (that is a little more down my professional line). I always thank my former co-workers of the pharmaceutical division of my employer that they had very good ideas on what to do against my pains here and there.

[TeJay]

I forgot about the bushings. I first did the fronts and didn't check to see if the bushings were split and maybe they weren't. I just slid it one way lubed it and slid it back.

When I got to the back I thought about just cutting the darn things because they just set there held in with a bracket. When I tired to get my blade in on the backside (thin part) the thing just slipped off. It was already split. Moral of the story is to just cut the back side and peel them off.

[Hudsoner]

Originally Posted by TeJay

I forgot about the bushings. I first did the fronts and didn't check to see if the bushings were split and maybe they weren't. I just slid it one way lubed it and slid it back.

When I got to the back I thought about just cutting the darn things because they just set there held in with a bracket. When I tired to get my blade in on the backside (thin part) the thing just slipped off. It was already split. Moral of the story is to just cut the back side and peel them off.

Once I am back from my current trip, I will ask my son how they do it at work. Of course do they have the advantage to have them in stock and can charge the customers for new ones.

[TeJay]

Remember that Ford, according to Skuterdude, switched to poly on the 2012 chassis. The polyurethane material is heads above the soybean oil based ones before.

[jrbarber]

Yesterday ended with me hoping my little Dremel cutoff wheel would slice thru the tough poly bushings so I could get some grease between the bushing and sway bar.

Got up today to finish the job on the aft sway bar and move on to the front end. Noticed my vision wasn't quite all it should be but decided it could wait 'til my already scheduled Wed. eye doc. appointment. Wife convinced/threatened me that it might be serious so we spent the day having eye poked and prodded by two specialists who decided I have a torn/detached retina and need immediate surgery followed by a one week minimum of laying on my side while the eyeball heals. And doc said "No, laying on your side under your motor home doesn't count as healing, especially not with a torque wrench in your hand."

Looks like we'll be pushing the Oct. trip to visit daughter in Mesa, back a week or so. Which will be when we'll have to start competing with early snowbirds for parking space.

And, so it goes.

I see this post has me at the magical "100 posts" mark. I'm a Senior Member; how about a little respect?

[TeJay]

Wish you a speedy recovery. Just finished my 16th weeks after toe surgery and all is well. Back to running pain free if i wanted to. Sure makes getting around easier.

[Brockx]

I am going to be replacing my rear bushings in the near future. I just read through this thread and had a thought on the loose bolt problem. 2008 24K Chassis Dana 17,500# axle 11,000 miles

Not torqued to spec. or
Over-torqued stretching the bolt(s)
Inferior bolts not manufactured to grade spec

[TeJay]

Brockx,

Any one or a combination of your possible suggested causes is correct. It's for sure there seems to be an inordinate number of them coming loose and being reported on just this forum.

Because of what they do the looseness is not noticed until they allow the bracket to come completely off which is followed by a broken clamp.

That's a nice picture of an 8-9 year old coach with the soy bean oil based rubber bushing that lasts just about 8 years then it just falls apart as seen in your picture.

By the way that soy bean oil based rubber information came from Skuterdude who sells replacement bushings both on this forum and on e-bay. He checked with some sources at FoMoCo and got that information. Don't see any reason to doubt it because they sure do get awful soft then fall off.

Starting on the 2012 chassis (2013 Coaches) Ford switched to the better polyurethane bushings.

Another bit of information also from the same source (SkDu) He's never heard of any front SB bracket bolts coming loose and he's been selling these bushings for a good number of years. They use the same bolt size, length, class and same torque.

One can assume that since the bolts are the same that should/could rule out defective bolts. That just leaves to much or not enough torque but only on the rear bolts. It's still a bit of a mystery to me.

I'm 99% certain that the torque wrench that is used during the assembly process is automatic which eliminates the skill (or lack of ) the worker and is calibrated on a regular schedule as all self torquing assembly wrenches are.

Like I said I'm still baffled by this.

[Brockx]

Originally Posted by TeJay

Brockx,

Any one or a combination of your possible suggested causes is correct. It's for sure there seems to be an inordinate number of them coming loose and being reported on just this forum.

Because of what they do the looseness is not noticed until they allow the bracket to come completely off which is followed by a broken clamp.

That's a nice picture of an 8-9 year old coach with the soy bean oil based rubber bushing that lasts just about 8 years then it just falls apart as seen in your picture.

By the way that soy bean oil based rubber information came from Skuterdude who sells replacement bushings both on this forum and on e-bay. He checked with some sources at FoMoCo and got that information. Don't see any reason to doubt it because they sure do get awful soft then fall off.

Starting on the 2012 chassis (2013 Coaches) Ford switched to the better polyurethane bushings.

Ordered a set from skuterdude and the parts are coming from Orange California, thought he was based in Indiana.

[CJ7ole]

Heading to FL in a month, so guess it is time to scoot under and check the bolts as it has been probably 3 years since I did the CHF. Are there still legit concerns with using the adjustable links?

BTW, loosening the shock bolts that were torqued to 250 ft-lbs then left to sit for 10 years can be a real challenge. Couldn't get the breaker bar to clock with the tight clearances and I probably didn't get enough air pressure at the gun 80-100) to get my 650 ft-lb IR 1/2" rattle gun to work on a few stubborn nuts. Has to use a combo 1-1/8" wrench with my floor jack to break a few loose.

[B Dubya]

Several months ago I replaced mine with the pretty poly bushings. The old ones looked just like that picture, but after 15 years all the bolts were still tight. VERY tight. But here's another question. Now I have to pull the 3rd member on the diff. Is there room to slide it out, or am I gonna have to remove the sway bar to get the clearance I need. Geeeeez, wash rinse repeat!!

[TerryZ]

Found this on my 2016 Sunstar / 2015 F53 last week. Passenger side rear, lower, welded nut was gone.



I mentioned it to my [independent] service guy and he said he's seen a lot of these lately.

Terry Z
2016 Itasca Sunstar 30T