tension rod bushings

Does any one know where i can find tension rod bushings? mine are totally shot and are startin to make it difficult to drive... i swear everytime i fix somtin on this car somthin else goes, makes me feel like this :wall: !!! i think while im at it im gonna rebuild the whole steering everything tie rods i already put in new balljoints (that was fun..) :guns:

Seeing as you are in Ohio I suggest you replace the bushings, rods, washers, sleves and the brackets the bushings are held in as I'd lay odds they are rusted to hell.

I recently did this on mine and it is all dealer stuff.

Make sure to get all the correct washers or the alignment will be wrong.

There is also a torque spec on the nut on the rod end that is a bit critical for proper alignment.

the bushings you shold be able to get at schucks, checkers...etc

I live in Ohio and my tension rods and brakets and other parts still had the paint on them and no signs of rusting. I used Z31 poly strut rod bushings from zcarparts.com work great and only cost about 24 bucks i think it was. The ones for the 84-85 300zx that is.

i am in ohio also, i am in the middle of rebuilding my front suspension , i had zero rust in the tension rods and very little on the washers for the tension rods , but the sleeves for the bushings were rusted pretty bad , will be making some from 316ss to replace them, the componets with the most rust were the hubs, the little steering rods that mount to the bottom of the strut housing and the caliper mounting brackets. all parts will be bead blasted and coated with black epoxy paint. oh and i am using new nissan factory tension rod bushings

There is also a torque spec on the nut on the rod end that is a bit critical for proper alignment.
But if i just install them and take it to be aligned won't that fix it? I really gotta get this done because im goin through front tires faster than i can back tires (every 5-600 Miles!!) :confused:

500-600 miles???....damn. I replaced my steering rack and just winged the alignment and didn't kill my tires that fast.

The torque on that nut is 44-54 ft lbs. That is it and non adjustable.

The big thing here is to make sure that the mounting brackets are not rusted to hell because if the cups that the bushings sit in are rusted away there will be too much slop nad the alignment won't be able to be done.

This isnt realy for the streets but this is what I did. I have a lowerd car so the caster was off and my bushings where also toast. I had extreamly bad tire ware and darting under breaking. when I was at a stand still heel/toeing the gas and break and fethering the clutch. first and reverse my friend told me my wheeles had alot of slop both ways. Becouse my car is lowered the caster was pushed back due to the geometry of the suspention. they dont make an adjustible tention rod so I decided to experiment.

cut 2 of the bushings in half get rid of the other 2
discard the tention rod protective sleve you wont be needing that rusty
cylinder
use the thin half twords the countrol arm and the thick on the front
get 36 1 1/2" x 1/8 " flat washers and put 18 on each side of the car
put the stalk washers and nuts tighten them up
you can also put the washers on both sides to adjust the caster to your
desire.
get an alignment if you mess with your caster. the toe will be off.

This moved my front wheeles about 2" forword they sit purfect in the wheel wells. It was a night and day differance. The increased caster helped the car bite into the corners a whole lot more agressively. and the semi-solid bushings made the steering a whole lot more responcive. Becouse of the semi- solid desine I dont really advise doing this if your streets are bad becouse you can break or bend sumthing if you hit a pothole or curb hard enuogh. I havent yet. Its been driven everyday for 2 months now no problems. I think it is well worth the risk