Posted by Frank G on Monday, July 19, 2004 at 9:00PM :
In Reply to: More FFaxle bushing info FYI posted by Steve Elliot on Monday, July 19, 2004 at 8:26PM :
I don't know if this matters or not. But when I had my 1968 FF Powerwagon in the 1979-1983 era, I bought some axle bushings and other parts from a Chrysler dealer. The parts man at the dealer cautioned me that sometimes the factory will take parts that are either barely in spec or just out of spec, and instead of use them in new vehicles, set them aside as "service" parts. The result is that some of the service parts you buy don't fit as well as they should. On most parts, this doesn't matter much, but on things like axle bushings with tighter machined tolerances it might. But this is a generic comment, not directly related to FF Powerwagons. I tend to believe this story, because when I hired into the Oldsmobile plant in Lansing in 1979, my first job was installing water pump bearings in Olds V-8 water pumps. If the castings were not exactly within spec they would have us run the pumps anyway and set them aside as service pumps instead of installing them on new engines. The moral of the story: when there are fine machined tolerances you "might" be better off trying to have the part made from scratch rather than buying them. Of course, it all depends on the application, how good the service parts are, and what options you have available to make your own parts. However, I do not know of a specific instance where service parts did not work right in a FF Powerwagon though.
Follow Ups: