What is this? and Where are my 4way lug wrenchs?

[Justwondering]

Today was a particularly odd day.

I found these two items in the drive (1/4 mile) on my walk this morning.

They are not quite as long as a glove The one on the left is an empty tube. The one on the right looks as if it sheared the end off; however, it also seems as if the sheared off piece has a thicker shaft than the long piece.

Could this be something off the chrysler (changed the tie rods recently)?
I've also trailered a 1964 Willys pickup down the driveway.
Is it something off a floor jack?
Something off the Silverado truck (changed the rear shocks recently)?

Here are the old rear shocks - they don't look like they are missing parts.

And while you are answering questions... someone tell me where are my lug wrenchs? I had 5 of them.
Ford Dually had 2 (large and small)
Silverado had 1
Chrysler had 1
Suburban had 1

I can find none of them. I know, I know -- I'm the only one using them. But I swear, the one I had yesterday I put in the back of the Silverado with the can of PB Blaster and today at lunch I realize the can is there but no lug wrench.

Which means, I have put it somewhere in case of heavy dew, rain, distracted cause I was losing daylight and needed the flashlight, what in the world....

 

[jasperjacko]

sway bar end links

 

[Justwondering]

that sounds important.
Sway bar is near the tires so I'll get a flashlight and go look under the vehicles.
Then I can quarantine the vehicle.

 

[Justwondering]

Its the silverado.
Passenger front sway bar link is gone.
Driver's side front sway bar link is there.

Do I replace both at same time or is this a rare thing?

 

[Aspen500]

You may as well do both at the same time. In fact, a lot of them come in one pair to a box and no, sway bar links breaking is not a rare thing.
Up here it's the rust that makes them fail. If you replace only the broken one it's a guarantee the other will break within a couple days, now that the sway bar is hooked up on both sides again.

 

[Justwondering]

Got two more cords of wood chainsawed.
Was able to get to town and get the parts.
Then replaced both the sway bar links and the bushings on each side.

The key that made it easier way to cock the wheels opposite of the sway bar (turn wheels to driver side to work on that side, and cock them to the passenger side to work on that side).

Gave me lots more room.

Found one of my 4-way wrenches and got the lug nuts loose on the Willys pickup. Indeed, the passenger side is 'righty tighty, lefty loosey' and the driver side is 'righty loosey, lefty tighty'.

 

[BudW]

All car/truck wheel lug nuts are Right hand thread - except for '70 down (or 69 and down) Chrysler products (and AMC), in which the lug nuts on Left hand wheels are Left hand thread - which your comment of "righty tighty, lefty loosey and the driver side is righty loosey, lefty tighty" fits.

Note: on each and every one of my pre-'70 cars, one of the first things I did was change the left hand lug studs/nuts to Right hand thread!

If you plan on keeping that vehicle, you might to think about doing the same.

 

[BudW]

Most sway bar end links use grade 5 bolts – which is fine for most drivers.

My driving requires grade 8 bolts – to keep that long bolt you had, from breaking.


New bushings and a new bolt(s), would have been all you needed to fix that truck.
BudW

 

[Justwondering]

Bud
Are you saying that I could have gone down to the farm coop and just bought bolts and bushings?

That's cool

 

[BudW]

Are you saying that I could have gone down to the farm coop and just bought bolts and bushings?

Yes, you could have (and saved a few clams).

You were lucky and it doesn’t appear you lost any of the washers or other hardware.

Just get a correct length bolt (Grade 8), for each side.
I don’t think the type nut matters but I would get nylon lock nuts (to keep rust/corrosion down).

Reuse all of the metal parts. The rubber bushings could be reused as long as they are not ripped, broken or missing. Then attach with new bolts.

If you lost parts, then you would have to fabricate something or go get a new link kit,
More than likely, those parts fell off at different times – maybe even as much as a span of a week.

Note: rubber bushings will do you and your family just fine.
Poly bushings are more stiff and can make car handle better for those who stress there car more often (OK, like me) – but poly bushings cost a bit more.

Sway bar end links and bushings is an item that will wear out or break on just about all vehicles out there.
FMJ vehicles, the front sway bar doesn’t use end links per se, but the sway bar to frame bushings resemble a link, somewhat.

You may as well do both at the same time.

Yes! Always do sway bar bushings/end links at same time, or you will be replacing the other side VERY soon.

BudW

 

[Justwondering]

Sad story.
I had to replace the new passenger sway bar link today.
Why?
Because I didn't get it torqued enough.
Found parts of the new one on my drive way during my regular walk.
Sigh.
Missing the barrel nut and lower 2 bushings. I found one bushing and sleeve.

And of course, the new bolt is bigger than the old bolt.
Resourceful as ever, I reinstalled the old sway bar that was still in good shape.
Drove to town and got a new link kit.

Learned another valuable lesson.
Check and recheck your work.

 

[BudW]

Using lock nuts help.

A vehicle doesn’t need to have the sway bar hooked up to drive it. Some people might not even know if part is missing or not.
Without a sway bar and during a hard Right turn, it feels like the Left door handles are about to drag the ground (where as car turns almost level on hard turns, with one).
If you don’t take hard turns or drive in the city mostly, a sway bar won’t do you much good.

BudW

 

[Justwondering]

It's the squeaking that drives me crazy. And the fact that I just replaced the sway bar bushings. Hate to see perfectly good items go to waste.

My afternoon was dedicated to getting things ready to put more walls up on the house so this is just another project on the list

 

[BudW]

A sway bar generally doesn’t make that much, if any, squeak noise(s), for the most part.
Control arm bushings, ball joints and tie rod ends do have a tendency to make the majority of squeak noises.

Most sway bars use rubber bushings (bar to frame and bar end links).

You can get poly bushings, which are rather stiff, which are more likely to squeak – over rubber.
Many poly bushings are greasable and many are also graphite impregnated to reduce noise.

Poly bushings look and feel more like plastic (also come in a wide range of colors) than rubber, and you cannot squeeze them with your fingers. Rubber only comes in one color that I know of.

You will have to remove both (side) sway bar end links to test for noise in sway bar bushings.

Rubber is used from factory because they have “give” to them. I like poly because of the lack of “give”. It makes the metal bar start working faster (if that makes any sense).


For my personal cars, I will not go back to rubber for sway bars.

With that said, I went to poly for control arm bushings on my ’68 Charger, 30 years ago.
If I was racing the car, I might have to put more kidney padding in the seats but might have left them in. For street use, poly control arm bushings – ARE NOT FOR ME!

The rubber keeps street imperfections from reaching my kidneys so much better. Note: 30 years ago (back in my 20’s), the poly (control arm) bushings was too harsh for me then – which I think is saying something.


I’ve not tried poly bushings for the leaf springs (front or rear) – and I don’t think I will.
I think rubber there will keep my kidney beans from falling off, as well.

The poly Iso-clamp inserts/biscuits, I would try – but only if the older style shock plates are not available. I prefer and recommend the older style shock plates because of less weight, less components and a lot less chance of breakage.
BudW