Thanks

Much else might be a crapshoot.

Better to Moog than to fade away.

Parts quality is all over the place. I've been moving more and more towards quality *vendors* that will stand behind what they sell. Like Mike's Carburetors, I'm sure his carbs are chinese made, that's not the problem, Q.C. is and Mike seems to do that. RockAuto stands behind their parts -- way behind! lol kidding. They're drop-shippers, and they do take parts back, but custo serv is a bit rough. Summit is always slightly more money, but top notch large-scale vendor. Then our AMC suppliers, pricey, but you can talk on the phone to someone with the sticky part in their actual hand, and I need a rare, rare, yoke, and I'm gonna pay and pay, but I'll get the right part. Etc.

I'm wary of "kits" for cars this old. I buy a la carte. Last time I ate at a buffet I got the runs. (Seriously, don't eat the lettuce.)

Viton is the same material that the space shuttles cargo bay doors were sealed with.

I bought polyurethane boots for the ball joints, 15 years later they're still doing a good job. That's about 30K miles. Moog ball joints from 15 years ago were still excellent quality.

I strongly suggest you do NOT use polyurethane strut rod bushings.

If you do use them, do NOT lift the car and leave the suspension at full droop.

 if you do use poly bushings,  only lift the front of the car one side at a time under the very end of the lower control arm so the suspension does not droop..

tomj wrote: ... chinese made, that's not the problem, Q.C. is...

Certainly good quality parts can be made in China, or anywhere for that matter, if the manufacturer cares enough. Quality costs money and consumers, in general, buy by price first, quality second. Manufactures are responding in kind by supplying very cheap products that are crap.

FSJunkie wrote: ...3 year warranty...Lifetime warranty...

Don't conflate warranty and quality. Warranty is insurance, not a quality indicator.

I once had a NAPA counterman explain the difference between the one year warranty part and the lifetime warranty part. In fact, it was the exact same part (TRW), but the price was slightly higher to cover the extra take back on the lifetime part.

A warranty doesn't mean they don't think it will fail during the stated period, it means the actuaries have budgeted for a calculated number of failures and tacked that cost onto the price of the part. If you buy a part and it doesn't fail, you have lost money because you paid for someone else to be compensated for their part failure. In this respect, the above mentioned  three year warranty part is a better deal... if it doesn't fail.

Steve_P wrote: Moog is definitely not the quality it was 30 years ago...

I think that is true of pretty much every brand

Nothing wrong with keeping an old part as long as it's good. With steering parts, look for more than play. Grabbing it with your hands isn't exhibiting the same forces as driving. Take it loose and check for articulation. Any noticeable tight or loose spots?

Ive had good luck with Mevotech across 4 different vehicles. From tie rods to steering boxes.

Thanks for the tip on poly bushings for the forward struts.  I have a Prothane kit that came with the car with everything in it, front and rear, but I'll avoid the strut bushings if they cause too much stress or not enough movement.

I just had an experience with one of the metal sleeves that goes inside the strut rod bushings being too long. It meant that there was still slop in the bushing when it was tightened down to the factory torque spec.  It would occasionally clunk when backing out of my driveway too.  I drove the car that way for over a year and my alignment guy only found it when he couldn't get enough caster dialed in on one side.  The answer was simply to cut the sleeve down. Not sure all this time later what brand it was, if it came that way from the bushing manufacturer or someone just grabbed the wrong sleeve during installation.  

Just make sure both halves of your strut rod bushings are fully compressed when you're done. One half of mine (two piece bushing) you could spin by hand, but just viewing it from the outside it looked to be properly compressed. Up on the rack, viewing from the inside, it was obvious that it wasn't.

Maybe someone here can tell us what the correct length of those sleeves should be.

I forgot I had this article. http://www.suspension.com/blog/where-are-moog-parts-made/%20" rel="nofollow - https://www.suspension.com/blog/where-are-moog-parts-made/

As for lifetime warranties, if you have the receipt any any auto parts store can warranty it. I've had stuff go bad that I bought from Rock Auto and got it replaced locally.

Like Steve Lawrence.

Does anyone know of a part that is actually available?

This is maddening...

We all assumed the "lifetime" was of the part, or the buyer, not the seller! lol

Wanting rubber for this location I did this:

http://theamcforum.com/forum/strut-rod-bushings_topic103832.html" rel="nofollow - http://theamcforum.com/forum/strut-rod-bushings_topic103832.html

Just re-read that, the multiple lengths business. I remember hacksawing the spacer to match the old. Or just use the old steel spacer, no big deal.

Yeah, you gotta be careful where and when with polyethylene, I'm with you here, strut bushings are no place for polyurethane on a street car. For such a simple-seeming part they've given me a lot of grief over the years. Inside the trunnion pivot on 68 American, fine, it's not in compression.

The parts-number, catalog collapse thing is terrible.  These part numbers may all fit, be the same, or one of the two different heights:

Moog K8157.

Mevotech MK8157. Says alternate number is K3090.

Moog K3090. No longer exists, but was in my notes from 10 years ago.

McQuay-Norris FA685. Seems to have disappeared.

Dorman 531-650.

What a mess.

...

I just went out to check my inventory... I have a half set of two two-piece types, with different inner-spacer lengths. I recall now that these were leftover from my working out half rubber/half poly solutions for the then-unavailable 63..66 strut bushing. I didn't mark them with part numbers, dumb. Original was one piece, but the strut itself has a swaged end, requires a short bushing, and cut-down rubber failed spectacularly.

63..66 solution:  http://www.sr-ix.com/AMC/Strut-bushing/index.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.sr-ix.com/AMC/Strut-bushing/index.html

That worked out OK, as far as I know it's still in that car. It's poly in front, not good, but it beats not having a bushing.

I made a page about the two-piece jobs, but it is, in hindsight, useless:  http://www.sr-ix.com/AMC/Strut-bushing/index.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.sr-ix.com/AMC/Strut-bushing/index.html

Since I'm about to re-do them in the 68 I'll see if I can pull this information together and post it with photos.

So are these part numbers for Ford bushings that need to be modified? Correct?

I used Ploy on my car because... like everyone else... I couldn't find rubber ones.

THE MENACE wrote: If/when I use poly bushings I (Whenever possible) I use the black Energy suspension bushings. The reason is their black bushings are made with a higher content of graphite than the other colors and if you use Teflon grease during assembly you will never hear them squeak.

I read that and I unfortunately bought the red ones. I would like to switch them before this car start seeing road time. I did find these on Rock Auto for 1979 AMC Concord with 304 v8...

Part Number  K3090 may not exist with Moog, but it still exist at O'Reilly Auto Parts under their own brand (Master Pro) and come with a Lifetime Warranty.

The one piece bushings, K3091 are also available from O'Reilly's.

Thanks! Just ordered a set. Will see how they work out.

Throw the teflon grease in the trash. Use a a heavy graphite/moly paste when assembling and wont matter what color the bushings are.