Bowtie Brody's Namesake 96 454

[BNielsen]

Good score! My understanding (without the matching experience) is that the black bushings have graphite in them so they don’t squeak? Could be one of those things that someone said that sounded like it made sense. I DO know the red poly bushings squeak if you don’t keep the greased though.

I would try to incorporate grease zerks into the shells while you’ve got everything apart just in case.

I was actually trying to figure out a way to be able to grease them; I've already got the Energy Suspension greasable sway bar bushings.
I wasn't aware of the material difference in the bushings from black to red! I guess I'll have to dig a little deeper on them; at least more than the quick glance at them through Summit Racing

 

[Dravec]

I was actually trying to figure out a way to be able to grease them; I've already got the Energy Suspension greasable sway bar bushings.
I wasn't aware of the material difference in the bushings from black to red! I guess I'll have to dig a little deeper on them; at least more than the quick glance at them through Summit Racing

I don't think there's actually a difference in material from red to black. It's just a color difference, as far as I'm aware.

 

[BNielsen]

I don't think there's actually a difference in material from red to black. It's just a color difference, as far as I'm aware.

Certain bushings apparently are infused with graphite, at least that's what it says directly from the MFG,
Bushing Information

 

[Dravec]

Certain bushings apparently are infused with graphite, at least that's what it says directly from the MFG,
Bushing Information

Guess that'll teach me to think . I fulfilled my daily requirement of learning something new. Cool.

 

[South VA]

I had red poly bushings installed on my '93 K1500 Suburban when I first got it around 2003. Coupled with a new set of Bilsteins, it really firmed up the ride, but not unpleasantly so. Didn't replace the body mounts, but basically everything else. It handled like a different vehicle. I don't remember it squeaking much.

I've thought about doing the same for my '96; although in stock form it seems a bit firmer than my '93 was.

 

[BNielsen]

I had red poly bushings installed on my '93 K1500 Suburban when I first got it around 2003. Coupled with a new set of Bilsteins, it really firmed up the ride, but not unpleasantly so. Didn't replace the body mounts, but basically everything else. It handled like a different vehicle. I don't remember it squeaking much.

I've thought about doing the same for my '96; although in stock form it seems a bit firmer than my '93 was.

I've already got Bilsteins on the truck. Installed them in 2020; I couldn't believe how much of a difference they made after first installation considering as the truck still had the factory shocks.
I'm kind of debating on getting a new set simply for the sake of more new components all around. I'm hoping for a slightly firmer ride but not a teeth shattering ride.

 

[BNielsen]

Anyone ever had the ears break off your ignition cylinder before?
Got back from lunch at work, shut the truck off and noticed the tumbler seemed a little loose.
Poked around and noticed the ear portion of the ignition is broken off all the way around, guess I need to see about getting that replaced pretty soon, I've seen some older stuff about swapping in a cylinder out of a manual truck for the key lockout button, anyone got any further info on that?

 

[Orpedcrow]

Anyone ever had the ears break off your ignition cylinder before?
Got back from lunch at work, shut the truck off and noticed the tumbler seemed a little loose.
Poked around and noticed the ear portion of the ignition is broken off all the way around, guess I need to see about getting that replaced pretty soon, I've seen some older stuff about swapping in a cylinder out of a manual truck for the key lockout button, anyone got any further info on that?

The thumb and forefinger nubs that are next to the key? Yes.
At the time I decided that changing the whole tumbler was more work than I wanted to do so I popped the cover off of a new one (not recommended btw) and finagled it on the old one. There’s a big chunk missing but it’s on there and I can turn the ignition.

 

[BNielsen]

The thumb and forefinger nubs that are next to the key? Yes.
At the time I decided that changing the whole tumbler was more work than I wanted to do so I popped the cover off of a new one (not recommended btw) and finagled it on the old one. There’s a big chunk missing but it’s on there and I can turn the ignition.

I may just put a couple little dabs of adhesive on it to get me by; had an abundance of veterinary bills crop up here in the last two weeks so money is a sparce commodity around my parts.
Plus since I need to replace the steering wheel and multifunction switch I might as well do it all in one go.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Anyone ever had the ears break off your ignition cylinder before?
Got back from lunch at work, shut the truck off and noticed the tumbler seemed a little loose.
Poked around and noticed the ear portion of the ignition is broken off all the way around, guess I need to see about getting that replaced pretty soon, I've seen some older stuff about swapping in a cylinder out of a manual truck for the key lockout button, anyone got any further info on that?

Yes I think that happens a lot. My Burb had them broken off, and Dad changed the lock cylinder after getting the new one rekeyed to match the doors. So Burb still has one key like GM intended. Apparently sometime on Rawhide before we got him, that had happened and the cylinder was changed. There's two keys on this truck: ignition and doors (like the early 400s and squares).
A locksmith friend told me that the key barrel(the actual key part that is cut in a pattern) is the same on the GMT 800 series trucks; the larger head is the only difference. I think GM changed it because the key head and cylinder ears are larger and easier to hold, for someone with large fingers or wearing gloves. In the winter this can be an issue with the 400 lock cylinder ears and the smaller key head.