Trainmaster
Old School Member
After replacing all four shocks and springs and carrying a 500 pound iron radiator, I was getting a bad rattle behind my passenger seat. It turned out to be a body bushing between the frame and body. It's the very soft body bushings that reduce noise, vibration and harshness to sedan-levels. The bushing is a hard foam - a vibration isolator and after 18 years, it just rotted away and fell apart.
There are 10 bushings between the body and frame, numbered 1 to 5, front to back. Changing the 3 & 4 ones means removing the bolts on 2,3, 4 & 5 and jacking up the side of the body about 4 inches. There are Youtube videos that show how.
Here are some tips. Don't use an impact wrench. Heat each bolt with a torch for one minute or more (until it smokes), loosen the bolt a few turns and when it becomes hard to turn with a regular 1/2" drive ratchet heat it again. Remember the bolts are about 5" long and take some time to heat. There is Loctite on these bolts that softens up well when heated.
The nuts are hidden inside the body with tabs bent over them to retain them. If you break them lose, you are screwed and have to drill a 2" hole through the top layer of the double floor under the carpet to grab the nut with a 22mm socket after heating it.
I broke the #2 mount cage nut free (in the front wheel well) and couldn't figure out how to get at it under the carpet, so I left it for another day (looks like it's accessible through a port under the inner fender well liner). After removing #3, 4 & 5, I was able to get the body up high enough to replace #4. I was 1/2-inch shy of fitting in #3 so I cut a 1/2" off it with a hack saw for the foam and a Dremel for the sleeve. Hey, it's an 18 year old truck. We're going by an 80% rule here.
The torque spec is 59 ft/lbs. I went to about 50, so as not to break free any more cage nuts.
I used Motorcraft bushings and they worked beautifully. About $300 for everything from Tasca Parts. The truck operates with no rattle and the engine vibration is gone. Aftermarket bushings are hard rubber and I suspect do not fight vibration as well as the OEM. But they are 1/3 the price.
Watch the You-tube videos. If the truck is a rust-bucket, you've got lots of work. And don't be afraid of drilling the floor with an $8 Amazon hole saw to access a busted cage nut. You can always buy plugs to cover the holes. A MAP-gas torch is your friend. Don't think of loosening those body bolts without heating them! Bad things will happen. You have been warned!
The Ford mounts are sold with separate part number for the top and bottom. I reused the bolts and both top and bottom washers. I replaced two complete mounts and one bottom part. The job took four hours in the driveway with hand tools.
Good luck. And be careful.
There are 10 bushings between the body and frame, numbered 1 to 5, front to back. Changing the 3 & 4 ones means removing the bolts on 2,3, 4 & 5 and jacking up the side of the body about 4 inches. There are Youtube videos that show how.
Here are some tips. Don't use an impact wrench. Heat each bolt with a torch for one minute or more (until it smokes), loosen the bolt a few turns and when it becomes hard to turn with a regular 1/2" drive ratchet heat it again. Remember the bolts are about 5" long and take some time to heat. There is Loctite on these bolts that softens up well when heated.
The nuts are hidden inside the body with tabs bent over them to retain them. If you break them lose, you are screwed and have to drill a 2" hole through the top layer of the double floor under the carpet to grab the nut with a 22mm socket after heating it.
I broke the #2 mount cage nut free (in the front wheel well) and couldn't figure out how to get at it under the carpet, so I left it for another day (looks like it's accessible through a port under the inner fender well liner). After removing #3, 4 & 5, I was able to get the body up high enough to replace #4. I was 1/2-inch shy of fitting in #3 so I cut a 1/2" off it with a hack saw for the foam and a Dremel for the sleeve. Hey, it's an 18 year old truck. We're going by an 80% rule here.
The torque spec is 59 ft/lbs. I went to about 50, so as not to break free any more cage nuts.
I used Motorcraft bushings and they worked beautifully. About $300 for everything from Tasca Parts. The truck operates with no rattle and the engine vibration is gone. Aftermarket bushings are hard rubber and I suspect do not fight vibration as well as the OEM. But they are 1/3 the price.
Watch the You-tube videos. If the truck is a rust-bucket, you've got lots of work. And don't be afraid of drilling the floor with an $8 Amazon hole saw to access a busted cage nut. You can always buy plugs to cover the holes. A MAP-gas torch is your friend. Don't think of loosening those body bolts without heating them! Bad things will happen. You have been warned!
The Ford mounts are sold with separate part number for the top and bottom. I reused the bolts and both top and bottom washers. I replaced two complete mounts and one bottom part. The job took four hours in the driveway with hand tools.
Good luck. And be careful.
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