is that a body mount bushing?

Hi there!

...i found this today on my '75 Grand Safari: the rubber is completely destroyed. Is it a body mount bushing? There is only access through a hole from underneath the car where the front doors begin.
It's a bit difficult here in Germany to find the right parts for it. Maybe someone can tell the parts-number?
That'd be great.

Best regards.

 

That's exactly what it is

 

Get a Kit from OEM

 

Ok, thank you very much.
I wasted two hours yesterday searching for a suitable kit without any result. :-(
As the Grand Safari is a B-Body, I would say any kit for a B-Body should be good?

 

Some boat trailer rubber donuts will work.

 

The bolt that holds the body mount threads into a captive cage nut. Expect this nut to break the cage and spin freely when you try to remove the bolt. At that point, you need to cut a hole in the floor above the cage nut to access it, weld in a new cage nut, and weld a patch to the floor.

 

Yep.

 

Oh sh*t...

 

Yep.
If this was easy everyone would drive old wagons and cars.

 

Today i checked the rear body mounts...it seems that only one side was replaced. WHY should anyone do this!? Anyway...my question is: there is a massive gap where the rubber should be - does that gap mean that there is lash the same size between body and frame?

 

Your car is covered in undercoating. That will affect how the bushing look. You need to remove it all from around the bushings to replace them. I wouldn't presume that the bushings have been replaced judging by the undercoating age, certain sides of the car wear faster than others due to the weight they handle (driver's fronts tend to get the brunt due to always having a driver).

There are no correct kits for the '71-76 big cars, much less the wagons. The only way to know is to pull each one individually and measure the diameter, then order the individual body bushings that are available. The good news is each side is the same so once you've done one side it's practically the same on the other. And 2door-4door-wagon are all different...

The trick to removing them is to use a long breaker bar and go evenly and firmly: tighten, loosen, tighten, loosen until they break free. Unless the bolts or caging is in sad sad shape, this usually gets them free without breaking the cage nut or snapping the bolt. Regardless how you do it, do NOT use an impact gun as you'll almost always break the caging or bolt guaranteed.

 

Ok, thanks for that.
The rubber on the second pic looks almost new where I removed the undercoating, that's why i guess it was replaced.

Anyway...the reason for my question is the following: when i slowly(!) hit a speedbump with the rear axle, it feels like there is something loose. It's really hard to describe.
Could the missing rubber on one side cause that problem because of lash between body and frame?

 

Missing rubber would definitely cause that, but I'd be more apt to suspect the shock or rear spring mounts than the body bushings... My '73 used to always bottom out and crunch when I got it, turns out the original factory shocks from 1973 were wasted. New shocks and it has been fine ever since.

Other things to consider is the front control arm bushings could be bad. My '73 made horrible creaks and groans going over bumps. The front lower control arm bushings were down to just the shell and center post with very little rubber left.

 

Okay thx, I'll check that again. The gap is approximately 0.4" which is a lot.
Rear shocks and rear spring mounts are new.

 

No. Every time I tried this, I've spun the cage nuts. An impact wrench is the ONLY way to do this with any reasonable chance of success.