Where are the best body mount rubber and linkage grommets for 48 DeSoto?

[MarcDeSoto]

I've noticed that the body mount rubber kits sold on Ebay give you almost twice as much as you need.  And who sells the linkage grommets for a 1948 DeSoto?  

[Andydodge]

Have you tried Andy Bernbaums? for both the body mounts and the firewall grommets.............generally the same body mount rubbers and things like the firewall grommets  were pretty much a standardised part used on the various mopar brands within the same year.........have you checked whether other Mopars use the similar/same parts?.........andyd 

[MarcDeSoto]

I already have the firewall grommets for Bernbaum.  I'm talking about the linkages that go to the clutch, the transmission, etc.  and of course the body mounts.  When i looked at Bernbaums, he didn't seem to sell the kind of grommet with the part that sticks up.  

[Andydodge]

Marc........have you spoken to Bernbaums?.......I'd give them a call, I'd be surprised if they didn't have the body mounts at least.........andyd 

[MarcDeSoto]

this is a sweet illusration.  It was not in the S-11 DeSoto Parts book.  It was not in the P-15 Plymouth Parts book.  I don't have the Chrysler Parts book, but it was in the D-24 Dodge Parts book!  I scanned it so all of you who have 1940s MoPars can use it.  Note that they only use one illustration for brackets 3 and 4, so be sure to add that to your rubber mount count.  Note that you will need 8 special insulators for the 8 sleeve assemblies.  But on the mount kits on Ebay, they include 12 rubber mounts with sleeves when you only need 8, and they include 12 donut shaped rubber mounts when you need 16.  I've emailed them to see if they could adjust the order, but they don't reply.  Andy Bernbaum sells the donut rubbers mounts, upper and lower for $9 a set, but he doesn't show the sleeved type insulators.  So I assume he doesn't have them.  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173267739279?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Dde43c65143fb400391b8c47959ca9e25%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D173311799766%26itm%3D173267739279%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A36a14408-1337-11ec-a3a0-328b3e11e722|parentrq%3Ad65a30e917b0a7647d10d780fffc31e2|iid%3A1

 

 

[Andydodge]

Marc.........you are certainly right re that being a sweet pic..just got to work out how I can print it, then take it and do a comparission with my 1940 Oz Dodge..........I certainly recognise most if not all of these, tho' I have never taken the body off the chassis............thanks, andyd 

[MarcDeSoto]

I wasn't able to get a response from Andy Bernbaum by email or phone.  So I called MoparPro and got him to change the order to 8 sleeved mounts and 16 round mounts.  Cost was $159.99.  

[James_Douglas]

All of these parts are made by Steele Rubber. Everyone just re-sells his parts. I purchase from them.

 

Also, if you replace the steering isolaters ask them to make them up using the "NASCAR" blend as it has a higher durometer value. The stock blend does not hold up.

 

James

[MarcDeSoto]

But Steele is outrageously expensive.  After adding up the 24 parts on Steele, the price came to $435.76 with a 7.5% sales tax.  I paid 159.99 total including shipping from MoparPro!  

[MarcDeSoto]

Steele doesn't sell anything called steering isolators, but think you mean insulators.  They don't sell that either, at least in the catalog.  Is that the rubber that goes next to the frame with three bolt holes in it?

[Eneto-55]

Has anyone ever seen any information regarding the OEM durameter ratings for the different rubber parts?

[Andydodge]

The triangular things with the 3 holes are "Steering Isolators" as far as I know........as far as a NASCAR blend I think JD was possibly being a little humorous.........lol.........andyd

[MarcDeSoto]

The Dodge D-24 Parts book calls them steering insulators, same as they call the body mounts insulators.  

[James_Douglas]

I am talking about the little things that sort of look like a shock rubber that goes into the steering arm that comes off of the steering box. It uses four of them. Go back and look over my old posts and I go into it at length...

 

James

[Dodgeb4ya]

On 9/15/2021 at 5:33 AM, Eneto-55 said:

Has anyone ever seen any information regarding the OEM durameter ratings for the different rubber parts?

A very important question.

I know from installing a lot of rubber aftermarket parts like motor mounts ect. They do not act and last like the factory parts.

The rubber is softer..cracks, tears ...a lot of it looks the same as the original but fails way too soon.

Any oil leaking on those four steering arm insulator bushings will soften them up within a few month's and steering will be dangerous....been there.

No oil leaks when replacing any rubber suspension or steering parts...really critical with this new chinese dissolving rubber.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Dodgeb4ya

[DonaldSmith]

Years ago, I sent away for replacement steering arm bushings and installed them. They soon turned into virtual mush, like the previous ones.   I went for a hard solution, and cobbled together pipe, washers, etc., to take the place of the rubber bushings.  I don't notice any feel at the wheel, and the fix has lasted.   

 

The weird casting has two studs that go into the steering arm (pitman arm), and each tie rod end goes into one of the remaining holes.  As I remember, the sleeves for the tie rod ends consist of plastic pipefitting in brass sleeve.  Not much give, but no rot.  And then I had to clip some large washers to complete the assembly.  

 

  

Edited September 16, 2021 by DonaldSmith
typos

[James_Douglas]

I machined Delrin and they cold flowed. I then machined bronze and they cold flowed.  The pressure on this part is very high. I went through a NOS set and a "normal" steele set and they lasted 24 months.

 

Once I had them make a set with the NASCAR blend they have held up for years.

 

James

[Andydodge]

Well, I stand corrected........good to learn something new...........those "steering insulators" were not used here in Oz as far as I know as our Mopars, ie, Plymouth/Dodge & DeSoto were all based on the Plymouth chassis, steering & suspension so that part was not used, nor seen.......andyd

[Eneto-55]

I had the body off of my 46 Plymouth in 1980.  I cleaned up and reused the original body mounts.  As I recall, I ran them over the wire wheel, to remove road dirt, etc. - basically to make them look nice again.  Then the car sat inside ever since.  I moved it from Oklahoma where it was in hibernation about 2 1/2 years ago, to here in Ohio.  We used a flat bed trailer, and since the windows were out, we wrapped it in that wide "saran wrap" people use in shipping pallets of stuff.  So anyway, I was under the car, passing the roll back out for my son-in-law to go over the top (again & again).  Long story to say I had a good look at the body mount rubber biscuits, and they are all cracked, and some look like they have oozed out.  I don't remember, but the only thing I can think of is whether I might have cleaned them with gasoline to get old grease off.   (It DID sit there for 35 years, so maybe that's the only cause - age.)

Edited September 16, 2021 by Eneto-55

[Dodgeb4ya]

Original "good used" Mopar rubber parts are way better than todays who knows the quality of it replacement rubber parts IMO.

I put a set of NOS MoPar steering pitman arm insulators in my 1948 eight cylinder Chrysler at least 20 years ago and still in good safe condition.

But ya know .... sometimes ya got to use what you can get to keep on motoring!?

 

[MarcDeSoto]

True!  I saw Rock Auto had some DeSoto rear motor mounts selling for a about $2.  I bought them just to see what they had.  It said made in India.  They may have got the dimensions right, but if the idea of motor mounts was to isolate the body from the vibration of the motor, they utterly failed.  The Indian motor mounts had about as much give as steel!  

[MarcDeSoto]

I got my body mount kit from MoparPro that I had adjusted to get the correct parts.  Turns out the 8 sleeved mounts were correct, but my car only needs two of the "donuts" with the big hole.  I have 16 in the kit, so 14 of them don't fit.  I need 14 of the smaller lower rubber mounts with the small hole that the body mount long bolt goes through.   That is because the big hole is where the sleeved part fits through on the middle bracket that extends out from the frame.  It's obvious that MoparPro has no idea what to include in these kits and someone who has never worked on a car like mine put these kits together.  So now I have to call MoparPro to get the right parts or return the wrong parts and get a partial refund.  I'll call Bernbaum tomorrow and see if he will answer this time.  

[Dodgeb4ya]

Moparnopro usually does not have a clue.

[MarcDeSoto]

They sure don't.  I called them back and I asked why the kits don't fit the car, and he just said there's a lot of variation on the cars.  But he said I could return the whole kit, or return what doesn't fit, so that's what I'll do.  I found that Steele Rubber sells the right part with the dimensions 1 13/16" diameter, 1/2" hole, and 3/8" thick, but will cost another $200 for the 14 I need.  Some of the lower rubber mounts still look good enough to reuse, but they do have some age cracks on the edges.  

Edited September 17, 2021 by MarcDeSoto

[Sniper]

Not all that hard to make your own from two part polyurethane.  Lots of videos out there on how to do it.