On a 2001 DRV 3500 I've been trying to track down the cause of a vehicle vibration/shimmey on acceleration only between 35 mph to 50. Many possibilities have been eliminated and I'm hoping one observation may lead to the solution.
Where my strut rods attach to the frame there is a nut screwed to the end of the rod but both cotter pins are missing. Moving forward next there is a metal retainer then a rubber bushing then the frame. The bushings look in decent shape but both of them can easily be rotated about the rod by hand. I have the specs and will tighten the nut (52ft/lbs) but first would like to know- shouldn't that bushing be "squashed" a bit and unable to rotate so easily. If not could this looseness cause a vibration as described. I ask beforehand so I know if I tighten the nut to specs if something like a tapered rod prevent further tightening instead of the bushing.
Thanks

 

They should not rotate, there are shields on either ends of those bushings and then the bushings nest into each other. The nut clamps everything together as there is a step in the strut rod where the inner most shield goes but I went way past 52 ft/lbs when I changed mine. I really went to town on them, probably 150+ ft/lbs before I was happy with them. You clearly should have a cotter pin or tie-wire in the holes to keep the nuts from backing off all the way. Moog sells 10 or 12 packs of nuts as they are crush-style. I think I put in AC Delco upgraded bushings as I liked the look of the design over some of the other options.

 

Thanks SteveR- a few questions if you don't mind.
On the torque what was it that "made you happy"? The ride or what?
If I replace all strut rod busshings am I looking at 4 pieces of rubber or 2 (total for both strutrods)?
It seems like on one rod immediately next to the frame hole there would be the rubber bushing on each side (front and rear) and then outside of those the metal retainers front and rear- right?
lastly only the passenger side bushing gets a heat shield right?
Thaks very much

 

Forgot- without replacing retainers & bushings I want to try just tightening nut. Can this be done "in place" van on ground or does weight/pressure have to be lifted somewhere in the suspension?
Thanks

 

You can but you shouldnt be able to. The nuts do bottom out when tight, so you can try and if it moves, then jack up the front and try it.
Otherwise you could bend a thread if you have a 2ft breaker bar on it.
The bushings should not move.
I just finished a mystery on my van a few months ago. It included strut bushings, ball joints and springs.
About five years ago, I was getting pops from the front. I decided to replace the ball joints. While this helped the handling (the van had about 130k on it) after a few weeks a few pops and thumps would occur...and many of the times I was in reverse with the wheel one way or the other. Other times I was turning sharply and sometimes it was just acceleration.
I had taken it to friends and techs and a few recommended new strut rod bushings. I replaced them with poly, which my van thoroughly cut through after about 500 miles. After that, I had a tech friend do them and he used higher quality poly. I really hated the way it felt and it was a little noisy...also it didnt make the clunks go away totally. So I asked him to put on the OEMs. The OEMS and AFTERMARKET are much different. The OEMs are rubber with a heavy nylon bushing in the rubber where it mounts to the frame. The polys rely on the resin to do this job. It really makes the van feel and handle different. I was very pleased to get the new OEMs on the van.
This whole debacle was about 3 years.
In hindsight, yes the strut rod bushings helped a lot. But every once and a while, I still got clunks. I replaced tie rods when I got an alignment for new tires just for fun and it didnt help. I also did other things, such as wheel bearings and idler arms. It rode nice, but would still have clunks every so often. Then what I thought was nice wasnt - after I replaced the springs.
I found that the rubber mounting bushings on the upper part of the spring were totally trashed. I think that was the source of my issue all along.
I replaced all 4 springs and it drives excellent today. It is the best it ever has been. The clunks are gone.
One thing I was to add is that I thought my steering box was getting sloppy too. After the spring replacement, the tracking down the road is better than when I bought it at 100k miles. Im very happy with it 9 years later :lol:

 

If you skip to 27:30 you can see how the AC Delco bushings work. The OEM sound like they would be a good choice, I don't think I had OEMs when I took it apart (skip to 4:00). I just tightened them until I was convinced I had the nut tight and everything was well clamped. Considering the bar and impact gun I use I know it was a lot more than 52 and past typical wheel torque as well. One of my clunks ended up being the centre link flopping around. The rod ends were free of slack but not super tight so the link would rotate up and down as I went over bumps. It's pretty heavy so you get a good clunk when it hit against the rod end studs.

 

Thank you both very much. The value of this info is not taken for granted. I never would have thought these bushings would present many with the problems I've read. OEM it will be. There may be other stuff I have to do on this suspension. Only 83K miles but I know it sat for years before I bought it but have most stuff in good working order. This may not fix my shimmey but from the new knowledge I have about what some parts of the suspension do think these bushings are going to help with the slightly scary side to side shifts on the hiway when big rigs pass me. The van is a 10' high top and I thought it was just "normal".
Thanks- like Arnold "I'll be back"

 

Ordered my OEM strut rod bushings and thought it significant enough to post that apparently the factory has changed (improved) the original design of these bushings at some point in time. Maybe that's why it seems to have been a problem area for original and aftermarket bushings. Wow- my van's going to ride better than new!