New Bushings & Front Strut torque question....

red302

Founding Member
Nov 21, 1998
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Peru, IL
I just finished the front suspension on my '68. The spec on tightening the front strut to body mount nuts in the manual is 60-80 ft. lbs., but with the new bushings (they're stiffer than the stock ones) they don't collapse the same. Does anyone have a good guideline or information on how much to tighten or crush the strut rod bushings? Should I keep tightening them untill they collapse down to the length of the inner sleeve?
 
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In my opinion I would use the same torque as torque goes by bolt strength not bushing type.
If you keep tightening till the bushing collaps then you might be way over the strength of the bolt and it WILL break and being a front suspension part it could wreck you.:nonono:
 
Any one else? Who's put in new strut rod bushings in your car....how did you go about tightening them up? The torque in my CD manual just doesn't seem right to me. 60-80 ft.lbs. seems like too much on the rubber bushings.
 
You have to be careful tightening those. If you tighten them too much you will actually pull the wheel forward, and if you have big enough tires they will then rub on the front of the fender when you turn. Since that can affect alignment I would take it to an alignment shop and let them deal with it.
Edit: Did you replace the nuts too? If memory serves me right those nuts are crimp nuts. If you were able to easily spin them on by hand I would replace them as those can affect your torque settings too.