finally...and end to our headlight bushing headaches!!!
 

Well after much night driving and hard seeing, ive decided to finally get my headlights to go up ALL the way. My plastic bushing had all broken which gave a lot of lee-way in the linkage, keeping my lights from going FULLY up, hence pointing my beams downwards.

Since the plastic bushings cannot be purchased individually, you have to get them from the dealer for an arm and a leg, i decided to go the rubber grommet route. Unfortunately this topic has only been vaguely discussed here on the forum, so i was on my own.

Luckily...it wasnt that difficult, so here we go

Materials:
Hole grommets 3/4 ID (purchased these at homedepot, part # 74134 buchanan hole grommet)
They come in packs of three, so id buy two packs
Scissors
Rubber Grease (in my case lithium grease)

Directions:
1. take your grommets, and cut about a 1/4in out of the grommet (see pic 2) shows how much I cut out.
2. slip your grommets into the holes of the linkage arms. (see pics 3 & 4)
3. grease up the insides of the grommets and the ball on the motor and second linkage.
4. Slip on the linkage arm and pop up your lights!

I know this is really easy....but upon searching there is very little info on grommet size and results.
This "mod" actually quieted my headlights down ALOT, and had them pointed in the right direction.
If anyone can find a grommet that fits without cutting, then post it up!
Also note that the newly grommet fitted arm slip on somewhat easily to the balls of the linkages, but after opening and closing my headlights hundreds of times they have yet to slip off.

Thanks all,
Happy rotoring!

didn't even know about a mod for these things, but this would be great and cheap. Thanks for posting !

Good stuff, thanks!

The stock bushing on mine keeps popping out.

Interesting. Keep us posted on long term results for wear.

gotta love cheap mods haha

i'm also interested in the long term use of the rubber grommets as opposed to the plastic bushings.. is there any binding as the grease wears or and deforming of the rubber from the grease?

Excellent work around. I'm a bit confused on what you cut on the grommet. Did you just cut out of the raduis about 1/4" so it would slip inside the arm holes or did you carve out the inner diameter so the ball would fit?

I think this is archive material once it settles down.

brilliant. Might have to try this out asap.

Good write up and mod, mazdaverx713b: there will be no damage to the grommets if you use the right grease, you have use a rubber/plastic safe grease such as white lithium or silicone grease.

he cut 1/4" from the grommet, in other words, it looks like pacman lol

Yeah ive only had it going for about a week...but no problems so far. Ill keep posting on long term results.

I like your title. Kinda induces a bit of Deja Vu

:)

great idea! with silicone grease these should last a long time!

Nice job! Been looking for a solution to this...

this should be archived

Headlight arm rubber grommet size
 

1 1/8" outside diameter, 5/8" inside diameter. You should be able to find these at OSH, Home Depot or Lowes. These will not need to be cut.
It looks too large but fits perfectly once you get it in there.
It's much easier to install with the arm off.
(your other plastic grommet is about to break anyway).
4 grommets per headlight or 8 total.

Bah! Rubber!

Go Poly Urethethane!

LoL, Great write up though. Might do this when my own headlight bushings bite the dust

Very good cheap trick. Even if they don't last that long, who cares? Cheap enough to replace.

nice idea. i have a different idea in mind but i have to source a spare setup to mod and then swap out. it will be alittle more involved tho, require some drilling and tapping.

Clever. I'm getting sick of one of my headlights being lower than the other. I'll have to try it.

wow this is very nice, ill be doing this with mine :-) i agree it should be in the faq or something....

interest in reproduction poly headlight bushings?
 

How much interest would there be in replacement bushings for the popup headlight linkage?
I talked with Johnny Spiva of www.polybushings.com about this issue and he thought it might be possible to make replacements. The problem is he would need to know how much of a market there is before he designs a bushing. As you can tell from his web site he serves the FWD Dodge community with high quality parts that the big guys do not bother with.
Would it be possible to start a poll to determine interest in replacement bushings?

I would be very very interested.

Wecycle, I would definitely be interested in some polybushings. Just for something a little permanent than my "rig"

By the way, update.
Its been 2 weeks on the car and no trouble. I've encountered varying weather and the headlights operated normally through it all....even in a texas ice storm.

I need to do this soon.. I would love if my headlights went up and down quiet and didn't just fall down. Right now I'm missing a few bushings and just using zip ties to keep them working. Especially if it makes them point the right way!