I finished up doing the trailing arm bushings this weekend. Almost all of the thunks and rattles are gone and it doesn't wander all over the highway any more; you guys were spot on, thanks!

I bought the OEM bushings, pulled the arms last weekend (after a liberal application of penetrating oil a week or two earlier) and took them to the machine shop during the week to have the old pressed out and the new pressed in. Putting the arms back on proved to be interesting. I had to get creative; let's just say that two 12-foot racheting tie-down straps figured prominently in pulling the axle far enough forward to re-attach the front nuts on the arms.

Anyway, as always, thanks for the advice. Guess I might need to look at the front suspension now, but the rear seems to be nice and solid. I've been living with those thunks for several years, so I'll have to get used to not having them any more now ;-) I guess that re-doing things once every 20 years or so shouldn't be a surprise.

thanks,
steve