Body mounts ???

[tamiii1]

I have all new rubber body mounts and hardware for my 85 Suburban and need some info on replacing them.I have loosened all bolts except the very rear pair,which looks like you would have to remove the hitch and gas tank to get to,but dont understand how to go about replacing them.Leave all loose ,but do you do one side at a time or what,Also what do you use to lift the body of a suburban ,I mean will it lift easy once all bolts are loose or what.Looks pretty heavy too me,dont want to bend anything.Also what would the torque values be for these.Any ideas.Thanks...

[TRUCK6DRIVER]

I have not done a Sub. I did do some on a S-10 Blazer. I did one at a time. I lifted the body a bottle jack and a piece of 4x4 to even out the weight while lifting, and only lifted high enough to pull the bushings out and put in the new ones.
Ray

[bigblue86]

I just did a set on my 86 burb.  It's actually pretty easy, but in my case it has a 3" body and 4" suspension lift so I had tons of room.  You probably already did this too but I'll put in my 2 cents worth!   The rear bushings shouldn't require removing the tank.  Just loosen the bolts, and jack up the body with a jack and a piece of 4x4 wood just enough to take the body tension off and change them out.....like I said I had a lot of room, you might not.   As far as having to do all at once.....I did loosen them all at once, but you really don't have to.  Just do a section at a time, the body of the truck will flex enough without hurting anything.  You only need enough space between body and bushings to get the old one out and the new one in.  Good luck.

[tamiii1]

Thanks for the help.I think I might finally try to do it this weekend...

[bigblue86]

Yah I know how that goes, I sat on mine for a good month before I got to them too.  Oh yeah, I don't know if you are replacing the bolts too, but if you are make sure you get ones the same length.....when the guy that I bought my truck from put a new body on the frame, he replaced the bolts for the body bushings.  One problem though is that he used bolts with shoulders (thread only goes part way on the bolt), and when he tightened the bolts on the mounts under the front floor pans he snapped the welded in nuts inside the floor support rail because the bolts were a little to long and the shoulder hit the nut and wouldn't turn any more.  That was a real pain in the ass to fix.  If you happen to do that I now know a real good way to fix it  

[tamiii1]

I actually bought the whole kit from   Truck parts with all new bolts and nuts.The rear look impossible to get out maybe I will just replace the nuts on those if I can even get in there to loosen the old ones in the first place.Might have to at least remove the hitch to get a better shot at them.I actually got these things about 6 months ago and kept looking under the truck and saying it looks too hard I'll try later but I think I will really do them this time,hopefully with a smoother ride.Thanks....

[bigblue86]

Actually on mine the bolt lifts out on top from under the carpet.  Loosen the nut below and pull the bolt up and out from the bed floor.  Maybe mine is different because someone had already replaced them once but check to be sure.

[tamiii1]

Thanks ,I will try  that and let you know how it goes....

[tamiii1]

Finally done.Dont think I will ever do this job again.Wasnt as easy as I thought.The hardest being the ones directly beneath the rear axle and the very back,had to remove the hitch to get to the bolts.The only really bad ones were the ones over the rear axle.Even the brackets they sit on were rotted ,but not enough that I am going to attempt replacing them.Even the bolts under the carpet were tack welded to the body inside,had to grind the weld off to remove them.Ride is a litte better,but not what I expected for all the work.Took me 2 days to do them.I guess the old ones werent that bad after all.Now I just have my new Edelbrock shocks to put in.Thanks for the help....

[bigblue86]

Oh well....maybe you  need to get the big lifts done and then everything would be easy access. HaHaHa.  My mounts over the axels were rotted too...I ended up tack welding a steel plate about 1/16" thick on top of the original and drilling the proper size hole in them.  What fun....all for a truck....something must be wrong with us.  Glad to be of help, if I even was.
Mike