Body mounts shot...easy to replace?

[chev4life]

My stock rubber body mounts are pretty much shot on my 87 K5 and I was wondering how difficult it is to replace them with some new ones. I dont want to body lift though...are there any better rubber ones other than basic stock replacements? The job seems like it shoudl be simple...just jam a chunk of wood in and do one at a time...sound about right?

 

[AkMudr]

I went with Energy Suspension Poly's and they work great. At times I feel more road vibration though. The hardest part is getting the old bolts out, specially on the cab center seciton becuase you can't get to them form the inside of the cab, only form underneath. If you break one yer kidna SOL and hafta cut a hole in the cab floor to get to the top of the mount.

 

[chev4life]

I thought about the polys but I would like to keep the bastard quiet. Where did you get yours at?
Yeah, I can already tell that the bolts are gonna be a pain...just for the fact that I had no problems on my lift, headers, or anything else I have done....trucks just arent nice enough to have bolts removable

 

[darkshadow]

try ord.

you can throw in a 1" lum puck too if you want.

go to the vendre forum, any of them will hook you up

 

[spearchucker]

For the cab mounts with the blind nuts, you can drill an 1/8" hole in the box that encloses that nut and spray some PB Blaster in there to help free up the nut. Also use an impact gun on them if you have one.
You'll need to remove/loosen all the bolt on one side at a time since you have to slightly lift the body. I went with poly mounts since they won't deteriorate when they get oil on them. You may notice a little harsher ride though. They shouldn't really make noise unless the bolts come loose. You may need to replace the body mount cups also (LMC truck) along with some of the bolts. Mine looked fine until I got them off. I was amazed at how much stuff gets trapped in there and eats away at them. And I don't even live in the rust belt, just a few miles north of you.

 

[tucsonkfive]

The rear body mounts can be a pain in the a$$. Make sure you have a grinder on hand. The total job took a budy and me about six hours. Enjoy.

 

[73k5blazer]

Mostly depends on where the truck spent it's life at.
Looking at your profile, CA, I would guess it's not a hard job.
Here in MI (read road salt), they are a major PITA to get out. The bolts are rusted and swelled into the rubber. Nothing short of cutting and torching would get them out.
But, if you truck spent it's life in Southern CA, you shouldn't have any problems....
You usally should do all one side at a time. get all the bolts on one side out, then lift and replace. The mounts have an inner steel sleeve that extend lower than the rubber attached to them, so they go through the steel they are sitting on. To get them out you, you need to lift the body, which is best to do a whole side and not just 1 particular point.

 

[chev4life]

So it looks like I should suck it up and finally get my hi-lift jack then huh. I think I will go through lmc and replace everything, bolts, cups, rubber. I looked at the ord stuff, but do I have to worry about screwing anything up by adding the extra 1" of lift? I dont want to deal with anything like that...if I dont have to then I would go for that.

 

[AkMudr]

I got mine from SummitRacing. Worst freakin part was doin the back of the cab...I just had exhaust put on in August and the guys put the mufflers under the ****in mounts LOL. There was JUST enough room to use a swivel extention on the impact gun.

 

[dyeager535]

You'll be pulling the tank to get the rearmost mounts out. You can't get the bracket part of them sits in (which is what the bumper supports are bolted to through the frame) out with the tank in place.

Oh, BTW, I used energy suspension poly mounts, and the only increase in noise was from the sheetmetal flexing more when I wheel (lightly) my truck. There are no squeaks, and there is no more roadnoise. To tell you the truth, I don't feel any difference in ride quality either...it still sucks.

 

[tweaker]

ever drive out to modesto? energy suspensions west coast distributor is here, and you woldn't have to pay for shipping that way.other wise just order the part from www.energysuspension.com or check out ebay. thats where i got the last two sets for about 15 bucks less shipped to my house.

 

[chev4life]

Not out in modesto much or in the summers on my way to camping sometimes. I dont mind paying shipping.
So the rear one is a pain huh...crapy. Will I have to do anything special to add the 1" pucks under?
Thanks for the help guys...I think I have a project when it stops raining.

 

[dontoe]

Don't forget your linkage to the tranny and other connections when ya jack 'er up. I put new poly, stock height on my '73 last summer and had the to lift one side at least 8 inch gap to get the old mounts and bolts out and new ones in. Used a hydraulic bottle jack and lifted it up, blocked it, and jacked again. Used a 2X4 to lift the last bit. Spent all day but did it by meself.


My signature is the key!

 

[spearchucker]

BTW, I don't know if you know this but if you just place a jack under the body and try to lift it you'll be unloading the suspension so you'll have to jack it up pretty high. The way I did it was tied a tow strap around the frame and then placed the free end under my bottle jack. That way when I went to jack it up the suspension wouldn't be unloading. The frame would stay in the same place and it would just lift the body, so I only had to jack it up a few inches.

 

[Desert Rat]

I did a 90 Bronco and did a 3 inch body lift at the same time. It was a major pain in the butt. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to do the work, but it was very time consuming. I'd seriously look at leaving it stock body mount height. One inch might not be too bad but with three, I had to spend hours moving things around in the engine compartment, weld in a piece of rod to the shift linkage, play around with the shift linkage to get it right, cut a section out of the fan shroud, heat and bend the transfer case lever, and buy new longer battery cables. I've now done 2 74 Blazers and stayed stock height on the body mounts. I'll be doing my 76 Blazer pretty soon too. Both of the 74's needed several new bolts but I was able to wire wheel the crap off of the sleeves and other parts. One of my Blazers had already been messed with and they replaced several of the rear bolts inside the cab with regular hex bolts instead of the ones that seat in the square hole in the body. That made it a pain for a one person job since I needed somebody inside holding the bolt end. On some of the really bad bolts, I just sawzalled through the bolt and bushing and pulled them out. I went with Daystar poly bushings from ORD. I found prices were pretty close whether I ordred them online, or went to 4WP on San Carlos in San Jose. I will never do a taller body lift again and stay strictly with suspension lifts. If you have anybody you know with a cherry picker, you can lift one side pretty easy all at once.