Uhm. I think thats supposed to be attached.

[ninjazombiemaster]

Dropped by JDM Legends today, never seen so many Skylines in one place. That red 240 behind the yellow one is a series one that sold for 2k a while back. I wanted it for myself, but its in good hands.

Here's my new donor car. I didn't want to take a chance on the 260 part. The folks at JDM were great, and I got it pulled off quick enough.

When I got back to the shop, I was surprised to see this. Its for sale, by the way...

The new 280 rod is in much better shape than the 260 piece. It had all the washers I needed, and at least one of the bushings was usable enough, and the other was still attached to the car. Unfortunately, none of my local parts shops carried the ACDelco kit in stock.

Everything's back in one piece and it seems to be taken care of. The other side seems alright, so I left it be. I'm gonna try to go by the pick n' pull and swap the other rod for a spare valve cover, or something... with the broken rod off the car, it's easy to see the culprit.

[EuroDat]

Its good to hear you found one in such good condition. I didnt like that old 260 one much.

Captain. Thanks for the info. I didnt know about the AC Delco ones, but I had seen them on another car and the owner didnt know the brand. All his bushes were red except these on the TC rod. He said the PO changed them.

I ended up using a set of original rubbers for the back side. It certainly made it flexible compared to the original PU bushes I had.

Chas

[Captain Obvious]

And the potential confusion about the proper install direction of the rubber bushings continues... If you look closely at these pics, you'll notice that they couldn't make up their mind and installed one bushing each way.

One had the thick rubber section towards the frame hole and the other has the thick rubber section towards the large washer:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]66175[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]66177[/ATTACH]

[Zed Head]

I spent some time trying to figure out which way to install those bushings also. I've attached a copy of the drawings from carpartsmanual.com and the FSM that seems to show them with the smaller diameter pointed away from the body. Like your "wrong" picture CO.

But, I just checked mine to see what I ended up doing and find that I installed them with the big,thick part away from the center. I remember examining several TC rods that I had acquired and they seemed to be installed that way. I vaguely recall then rationalizing that with PU in the front, there would be less stress on the rod end with the small end in the cup. I'm going to leave them that way since I'm already non-factory with the urethane.

Nobody has really addressed the other odd thing about the OP's issue though - what is the brass-colored metal piece attached to the bushing in his first picture? Did somebody add a washer? I've not seen a piece like that that fits in to the bushing cup. If there was one on the other side that would have created about 3/4" of steel that the rod would have been fighting against during use. Blue's first comment might be the main reason it broke.

Edit - I think that metal piece might actually be the factory cup that was welded or brazed to the frame. Maybe. I don't know what they were doing in 1973. Hopefully not, but if so, it should probably be fixed.

Edited September 26, 2013 by Zed Head

[ninjazombiemaster]

And the potential confusion about the proper install direction of the rubber bushings continues... If you look closely at these pics, you'll notice that they couldn't make up their mind and installed one bushing each way.

One had the thick rubber section towards the frame hole and the other has the thick rubber section towards the large washer:

Yeah, thats how they were on the 280 I removed it from. I don't know any of its history, so I can't say why. One is clearly backwards, though.

I spent some time trying to figure out which way to install those bushings also. I've attached a copy of the drawings from carpartsmanual.com and the FSM that seems to show them with the smaller diameter pointed away from the body. Like your "wrong" picture CO.

Nobody has really addressed the other odd thing about the OP's issue though - what is the brass-colored metal piece attached to the bushing in his first picture? Did somebody add a washer? I've not seen a piece like that that fits in to the bushing cup. If there was one on the other side that would have created about 3/4" of steel that the rod would have been fighting against during use. Blue's first comment might be the main reason it broke.

Edit - I think that metal piece might actually be the factory cup that was welded or brazed to the frame. Maybe. I don't know what they were doing in 1973. Hopefully not, but if so, it should probably be fixed.

When I got around to the job, that brass piece had actually fallen off. It appeared to have been glued to the bushing evident by some residue, but I could be wrong. The bushings that were attached were single diameter with a small, off-center groove, as can be seen in the OP. I ended up reusing that busing, and the better of the 280z bushings was used on the back side of the rod, so it can easily be replaced when I get a new bushing.

It seems to have done the trick, no tire rubbing on reverse, and much softer going into bumps with the front passenger corner. Whats interesting is the overall handling of the car really wasn't that effected by the whole deal. Thanks again for the help everyone.

[Zed Head]

1976 has a "tin cup" attached to the frame to support the bushing. Looks like yours doesn't have it, in the first picture. Attached a picture. As I said, I'm not familiar with 73. If you find it and it's supposed to be there, it may not need to be attached, you could just take the rod out and re-insert it.

Also, you do know that the easiest way to remove and replace the rod is with the suspension loaded? Mentioned in case you fought it with the wheel in the air.

[Captain Obvious]

I spent some time trying to figure out which way to install those bushings also.

Zed Head, To be honest, I'm not totally convinced on the "correct" direction of those bushings either. On my 280, I originally installed them as shown in the pic above, but then after a few days I spun the rears around because of what I found on a "probably" unmolested 260.

This 260 wasn't purchased new, but had been in the family early enough that I doubt the front end needed that kind of work before purchase, and I'm sure that it wasn't messed with once in the family. So unless it needed bushings very early on and was done before entering our stable, it came from the factory with the thin part of the rubber bushings towards the frame.

It was strong enough data for me that I spun my rear rubber bushings around. But I could still be convinced either way with even stronger data.

I've got pics of the 260 bushings around here somewhere and if I can put my hands on them, I'll post something.

[ninjazombiemaster]

1976 has a "tin cup" attached to the frame to support the bushing. Looks like yours doesn't have it, in the first picture. Attached a picture. As I said, I'm not familiar with 73. If you find it and it's supposed to be there, it may not need to be attached, you could just take the rod out and re-insert it.

Also, you do know that the easiest way to remove and replace the rod is with the suspension loaded? Mentioned in case you fought it with the wheel in the air.

I did realize. I got it off the 280z in about 20 minutes laying down, and only 'cause the bolts were stuck. Took like an hour with it in the air putting it back on. I knew it'd be that way, but had no idea how much grief it'd give me.

[Zed Head]

In case anybody wants to find that AC Delco bushing kit, Rock Auto has it listed as a Shock Absorber Bushing for some reason, not Strut Rod Bushing. Came across it by accident.

Here's the part number if CO hasn't already posted it. The number alone will work in Parts Search.

Part # 45G25036 (Edit - actually you can see it on the box in his pictures...)

[Captain Obvious]

That's why I took that pic with the box and P/N visible. I've found it a great help to do stuff like that. It just removes all ambiguity about what the number was and what was included with the kit.

I bought mine from Rock Auto, and yes, they are listed incorrectly. I should have mentioned that...

Actually, I was keeping that as my own little secret so the next time I needed more, they wouldn't be all bought up by other Z owners. :laugh:

[ninjazombiemaster]

That's why I took that pic with the box and P/N visible. I've found it a great help to do stuff like that. It just removes all ambiguity about what the number was and what was included with the kit.

I bought mine from Rock Auto, and yes, they are listed incorrectly. I should have mentioned that...

Actually, I was keeping that as my own little secret so the next time I needed more, they wouldn't be all bought up by other Z owners. :laugh:

I did notice you were kind enough to leave the parts number intact (wish ebay folks would!). I checked the parts catalogs that day and I couldn't find anything from local suppliers. I really should get a set and load them up, but the existing bushings do seem to be doing okay so I'm not in