Rear trailing arm bushings- premature failure

[Doug Scarrow]

    Last fall I replaced my rear yoke and trailing arm bushings . Now with 410 miles on them the large

  rear trailing arm bushings are done . I contacted Rare Parts the maker and they were defensive and

  wanted me to purchase new ones and if sent the old ones back they,  upon inspection would  reimburse the original seller  (Old Parts) a seller on ebay. Seemed like a lot of hoops to jump through so I inquired at all the

known Cadillac Suppliers and it seems the Rare Parts is the only maker of the RP15606 bushings . Further

 internet searches found this is a common problem. This has led to Dan McNarry and Russ Austin heading up making replacement arms with high tech bushings that do not distort and last. Rare Parts needs to retool and use rubber that will last .  In the mean time DO NOT  purchase trailing arm bushings from them with the

expectation they will last as I assure you they will fail quickly

[Jason Edge]

... I'm guessing it was not Steele Rubber...that would bring this full circle! LOL

[Jason Edge]

...talk about a lot of resellers. By the time you get the control link bushings they may be worn out just from shipping from company to company to company to our homes!

[2920a2crpjlyd]

Here are 2 pictures 1st with Rare Parts bushing, clearly showing bushing being compressed and elongated  and off center on my 64 Deville, 2nd picture is the Dan McNarry link (bolt installed facing opposite of factory) showing bushing nice and centered with the bolt on my 64 Fleetwood.

[2920a2crpjlyd]

Left negative feedback at Rare Parts, we'll see if they post it.

Personally, I will use the Dan McNarry  links on any Caddy of this era that need them, getting tired of inferior replacement parts for classic cars..........try to use NOS or keep using originals wherever possible.

New Moog tie rod ends on my 64 Deville 2 months ago ago and 2 of the grease boots are already split!

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

I believe Dan is an engineer and owns his own company. Although these were made at home, they were not made on the garage floor while sipping on beers.

Everything is made in jigs and was measured to ensure the holes and parts are square and aligned.  Dan has a 62 and it was down for extensive maintenance. I sent him a trailing arm, as they are the same from 62-64. (64 was redesigned, but it is an inferior part, so a 62-63 will fit as it has the same dimensions.)

He sent me the first set to try out and it was a success.

The parts are covered by his companies liability policy, so these are a legit aftermarket part.

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Tony, the go pro video was while the car was being driven. It showed the pinion angle drastically changing under acceleration and deceleration.  This was with new bushings on the control arms with less than 2 years use.

I do not have the video, but I am looking for it.

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Here is the link. Don't confuse the up and down motion of the drive shaft with the axle going up and down to the actual pinion angle changing during hard acceleration.

You can see the angle of the yolk and drive shaft change under acceleration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNEiPvx5Rno

[Jason Edge]

Tony or Russ, You or anyone can take the link and copy to our Videos. Just click on Videos then click +Add. You will need to copy and paste in the link. It would be helpful to include some contextual information so people know what they are looking at.

[Kim K Kaiser]

i used the McNarry replacements on my 63 per suggestion from Russ,, my back end wobble at 63 -65 mph went away,, really smoothed it out for me...  i was happy with the move

[2920a2crpjlyd]

It will probably be sometime in the fall when I will be able to swap out the rear links on my 64 Deville, at that time I will send them to Rare Parts.

[1n7b92in0cq10]

What was/is the latest with the rear bushings?? I’m replacing the front suspension and figure might as well replace the rear ball joint and bushings while I’m at it, but after reading this thread I’m now concerned at quality and performance. 

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

You can not use the poly bushings in the stock rear control arms. The stock arm is too small and will not take the larger poly bushing.  It would have been an easy fix otherwise.