How many people here have seen 80s GMs with bad body bushings?

"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
05/15/2014 at 14:44 • Filed to: None

I ask, because I've seen this malady a half-dozen times - in which an 80s GM truck, usually a Blazer/Jimmy or Suburban, looks like it is going down the road in a constant skid. The body literally slumps to one side in the back and misaligns on the frame. Usually, the owner is driving as if nothing is wrong... I didn't find much on the Googles, so I don't know how common it actually is. It's horrifying to watch, though.

DISCUSSION (6)

briannutter1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
05/15/2014 at 14:46

Just pull up next to them and yell "STEER INTO THE SKID BOY!!!!"

505Turbeaux > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
05/15/2014 at 14:49

have seen it a few times for sure. always on the trucks

OPPOsaurus WRX > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
05/15/2014 at 15:03

I see quite a few work vans, like Econolines, that looks like it is going down the street at an angle. Like if it was driving straight through snow there would be four track lines instead of 2. I always thought it was something like he backed into a curb and really thew off the rear axel alignment or something. Is this what your talking about?

Ark > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
05/15/2014 at 15:05

Is it body bushings? I always figured rust or frame damage. But yes, every coal-rolling POS truck from the 80s around here goes down the road like a drunken dog that can't keep it's rear legs in line with the front.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > OPPOsaurus WRX
05/15/2014 at 15:07

I've seen Econolines with what I've thought are rear suspension issues causing that, but what I'm talking about is seeing a 70s-80s GM truck going down the road and having the wheels straight to one another, but the body *off center*. It looks like it's crabbing sideways when you see it at a distance, and then when you're close, you can usually see it's a little off-balance as well, and the wheel is further into the wheel well on one side than the other. Usually a Blazer or Suburban, but can probably be a Vandura/whatever as well. It's freaky.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Ark
05/15/2014 at 15:10

I think it's a wide variety of factors that can cause drunk-dog-ism, but the weirdness in specific I'm talking about is body bushings - pretty much cleanly severed or collapsed in back, and the whole body crooked in such a way that its offcenter but the wheels still track straight. I think it's only possible with the narrow frame they discontinued in the early 90s, and it's easiest to see on a common body like the 'Burb or a Blazer, because the whole body moves together off-center, rather than, say, the bed just being a little crooked.