1950s 1959 Trailing Arm Bushings

[Cadillac Jack 82]

I just purchased a nice set of trailing arm bushings for my 59.  How difficult are they to install?  Mine seem fine as is however they're over 65 years old.

[Gabe Davis]

Where did you get them from?

My '59 has a nasty driveshaft vibration and I'm pretty sure it related to the pinion angle being out of spec caused by the bushings being old and collapsed. I think this job is in my future too.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Found em on ebay from someone in Canada.  Supposedly made by a well known guy.

[Clewisiii]

So you got some of the Dan McNarry bushings. Harder durometer then the original.

He has YouTube videos showing before and after with his set up.

[Clewisiii]

Here is his before video as he was trying to determine how much movement the rear differential was having with the old bushings.

[Moody]

Not too difficult if you have a press and the rest of the tools for the job. Plenty of YouTube videos show how it's done. Caddy Daddy does some for a '59.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Do I see a Ford 9" diff there?

There is a lot of movement there, plus some unpleasant knocking sounds.

Bruce.

[Clewisiii]

Do I see a Ford 9" diff there?

There is a lot of movement there, plus some unpleasant knocking sounds.

Bruce.

Yes that was his before. He made new bushings and custom trailing arms to stiffen it up. I saw an after video years ago. But I don't know if he took it down.

[Clewisiii]

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Thats him.  Set was for 75 bucks so I figured it was a good buy.  The ones in there...even after 65 years...are amazingly solid and soft.

[Big Fins]

Where did you get them from?

My '59 has a nasty driveshaft vibration and I'm pretty sure it related to the pinion angle being out of spec caused by the bushings being old and collapsed. I think this job is in my future too.

Where the carrier bearing is mounted in the 'tunnel' of the frame, there are shims mounted under the bearing mount that control the forward shaft angle. Many times if the shaft has been removed, those shims are either left in the tunnel or eventually fall out while driving.

I ended up taping fender washers to the bearing mount so I could get the bolts back in without losing the shims. It takes time and patience to remove and replace the shaft enough times to get the vibration out. Mine was between 45 and 60 and if my feeble memory serves me right, I put in near 1/4" of washers to get the angle right. That meant an R&R procedure 3 times.

I loved my '59, but the gremlins it had kept me under it a lot.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Where the carrier bearing is mounted in the 'tunnel' of the frame, there are shims mounted under the bearing mount that control the forward shaft angle. Many times if the shaft has been removed, those shims are either left in the tunnel or eventually fall out while driving.

I ended up taping fender washers to the bearing mount so I could get the bolts back in without losing the shims. It takes time and patience to remove and replace the shaft enough times to get the vibration out. Mine was between 45 and 60 and if my feeble memory serves me right, I put in near 1/4" of washers to get the angle right. That meant an R&R procedure 3 times.

I loved my '59, but the gremlins it had kept me under it a lot.

Hmm what did you run into?  I find the 59 to be very simple and reliable

[Big Fins]

Hmm what did you run into?

Hmmm! A GM Engineer? I didn't design the frame and drive train. I was only a year old when they were built. But, IF you were to bend the forward shaft, I'd say that you were in no place a Cadillac should be.

[Big Fins]

I find the 59 to be very simple and reliable

On to the simplicity claim. We are still talking about a '59, correct?

It's a two piece shaft with a carrier bearing. No way to grease this bearing or the universal joint, due to it being inside a tunnel. (No worries. There were other years for this too.) Then there was the pressed in rubber bushing in the rear section of the rear shaft that had the rubber bushing in it facing the wrong way. It captured every piece of dirt on the road that blew up in that direction.

This caused the rubber bushing to be in a constant state of wet and dry, depending on the climate driven in. The use of said rubber bushing also caused it to be twisted out of phase when the rubber dried out too much and any use of those 325 horses were called upon.

Luv the '59's, but just saying! None of them are perfect. If they were, we'd have nothing to complain about!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

On to the simplicity claim. We are still talking about a '59, correct?

It's a two piece shaft with a carrier bearing. No way to grease this bearing or the universal joint, due to it being inside a tunnel. (No worries. There were other years for this too.) Then there was the pressed in rubber bushing in the rear section of the rear shaft that had the rubber bushing in it facing the wrong way. It captured every piece of dirt on the road that blew up in that direction.

This caused the rubber bushing to be in a constant state of wet and dry, depending on the climate driven in. The use of said rubber bushing also caused it to be twisted out of phase when the rubber dried out too much and any use of those 325 horses were called upon.

Luv the '59's, but just saying! None of them are perfect. If they were, we'd have nothing to complain about!

Don't forget that they were only designed to perform perfectly till the Warranty period ran out.

They were never designed to last as long as they have, which is why they made spare parts for the. (It is the Spare Parts counter that is where the profits are).

Bruce.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Well Fins idk what you ran into but on this side I find them to be quite simple.  Perhaps I lucked out and got one that was well taken care of?  The one thing I'm not looking forward to is replacing the rear ball joint.  Looks as if its riveted in.  The rear diff definitely shows wear cosmetically but then again she did come from Pittsburgh.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

This is the rear ball joint.

Bruce.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

Guess it needs to be drilled out?  Why would they make something so complicated?

[Roger Zimmermann]

Guess it needs to be drilled out?  Why would they make something so complicated?

Because riveting the ball joint was a cheap method!

[Clewisiii]

And the warranty was either 30 or 90 days.