rwd5021

Finally got the 2nd bolt off the left rear lower control arm of the r50. The bushing was pretty much gone.

Sold it

Great, thanks. I'll check for those tomorrow when I get supplies.

The bolt was somewhat siezed to the bracket so it wouldn't move, at first. Banging on it didn't help at all, so I put my jack under the breaker bar handle and broke that free, only to see the bushing sleeve start spinning with it. Part of the bushing spins with it and some stays still. I started trying destructive methods yesterday, repeatedly banging it with a hammer and then the sawzall. I got through the bolt once, but the one blade I had was dull before I could finish cutting the head side of the bolt, so I had to stop. Then I got stuck at work late today, so no progress, but I'll be getting new bolts and sawzall blades on Friday so I can finish this weekend. Should I get any special drill bit to go through the bolt? I don't have a grinder, but just grinding the ends off and getting new bolts won't solve the problem because I need the bushing sleeve, and no bolt in it. And I'm trying to avoid buying bushings or control arms, because I'm cheap. If I can't drill out the bolt correctly, new arms will be my last resort. But for now I guess I'll plan on 1 finish cutting the head off the bolt 2 wiggle the control arm out of the bracket 3 drill/scrape out as much bushing rubber as possible 4 place bushing sleeve in vise 5 drill out the bolt

I decided to try replacing the bushings on the rear control arms of my r50 with polyurethane that goes in a caulk gun. I soaked all the bolts with pblaster for a couple days. Started with the pass. side lower, that wasn't too bad. I cleaned what I could and filled in the gap, easy. Put that back on and start to remove the driver side lower, and it's obvious that's the side causing the death wobble. The front isn't too bad and I got it off, but the rear bushing is completely blown. The bolt is siezed to the bushing sleeve. I got the nut off but the bolt still won't come out. At first it wouldn't even spin with a breaker bar. So I'm buying another couple metal blades for my sawzall today to get the control arm off the truck, but the bolt will still be stuck in the bushing sleeve. Any ideas on how to remove it? My dad just gave me a drill, would that be any help? Any ideas will be much appreciated.

Well mine is a 98 so hopefully they just swap over, the only power tool I have yet is a sawzall. Thanks for the links, I will read through it later when I get home from work.

Hmm, ok. I tried searching but didn't find anything on it, I guess I'll try again.

Just like the title says, is it possible to switch the drive flanges on an r50 for auto locking hubs from a wd21? Anybody tried yet? I have warn hubs on the r50 now, but want to switch them to my wd21. I know that'll work fine but thought maybe I can throw the autos on the r50 instead of the drive flanges so the cv's aren't spinning for no reason. Everything should fit I think... The warns can switch back and forth so I don't see why the stock autos wouldn't be as well.

Adjusted my clutch freeplay, now it's slipping out of gear.

I also decided to check what the passenger side exhaust manifold looked like, there's been a very loud leak there since I got the truck. So I get the heat shield off, breaking 2 of the bolt heads in the process, and out dropped half of the top rear manifold stud. Hopefully that was rattling around making most of the noise I was hearing. Off to do some searching!

Hahahaha ya that is pretty bad. After work today I'll be bleeding my clutch system, changing break pads that I've had in the back seat for a month, changing the oil and cleaning the air filter. Hooray for daylight savings time!

Im pretty sure the auto hubs are supposed to unlock after reversing 3 feet, if not they aren't working correctly.

4 wheel drive in reverse is good too

I think he covered it pretty well.

Ok thanks. And yes nice spreadsheet! sorry for threadjacking.

My mistake, I should have been more clear. When I said 70 that is a speedometer app reading. I always use that and didn't even think about it on my first post. The truck's speedometer is at 65 and rpm's are at 3500, 5th gear, vg30 engine, 31's, 4.3 gear ratio. Does THAT seem too high? I just want to make sure everything's ok. I never used to take the wd21 to 70 mph, but I just moved and will be on the freeway 40 miles every day now so I want to fix any problems that may cause this. It seems like I'll be wasting a lot of extra money on gas if not.

Pretty sure, says hg43 in the engine bay. But now that I look at the sticker on the door it does say 235/75r15, is that 29"? If so, I guess that kinda makes up for it but like you say it still shouldn't be that high... Any more ideas??

Ok so the bottom part shows what the rpm's SHOULD be at if everything is in working order right? My 5 speed with 4.3 gearing and 31" tires is considerably higher than this chart. Cruising at 70 my rpm's sit right at 3500 in fifth gear. Anybody know of anything in particular I should check into that could cause this?

Hmm, what color matches rape red? Thanks for the info guys, I will be doing this soon.

Can you damage anything by doing that or is it ok? Ever since I got my warns I've wanted to try.. Or will it only work that way if the front diff is welded?

Ok thanks guys, just need to find the slave cylinder and I'll be able to get a better idea what I need to do. It sounds like I might be placing an order at rockauto soon. Hmmm, what else could I get..... I was pretty much expecting to have to replace the clutch so it'll be awesome if this fixes it. Maybe I'll see what I can get at the jy, got a list of stuff I need from them

x2

Ok, I guess I should check/adjust the pedal height while I'm down there adjusting the free play, that seems simple enough. I bled the clutch damper this morning and no changes yet. While we bled it, the pedal would stay to the floor when released, what does that mean? The directions were to release the pedal slowly after closing the bleeder valve, so I just pulled the pedal back very slowly.. I didn't have time to find the operating (slave?) cylinder to bleed that. Haynes says it's on the right side of the clutch housing, that means under the truck near where the trans meets the engine right? Every time I've checked the clutch master cylinder it's been right at halfway so I don't think it's losing any fluid, it does look very dark though. It probably is really old. Hopefully the parts are still good and bleeding them works, but thanks for the advice on replacing both.

Thanks for the info!

That looks good, I'll have to see if there's one at the jy. That will solve my cupholder issues. Everybody loves cupholders right? Hahaha jk but ya, good to know.