Getting ready to redo my front suspension on Friday and am looking for tips, it's my first time. I have a polygraphite bushing kit and will lube properly. I know I'm not supposed to torque everything down until weight is back in the suspension, so do I reassemble, put the wheels on, then lower the car down and torque everything? Does that apply to everything in the suspension, or are there some parts that you do torque down while suspension is hanging?

what's the proper procedure for reinstalling the torsion bars?

What are common mistakes that are made?

Any tricks to removing, reinstalling the ball joints.

I have the Mancini kit for the control arm bushings, anything special here? Any mistakes to avoid so I don't have to replace a bushing that I tear up from improper procedure? I also know that lca bushings have to be pressed in at a machine shop.

Do you guys grease all your joints before assembly or after?

I have a second set of factory lca's off the car already with sway bar tabs. They were painted black to prevent rust while they were sitting. I need to strip all this paint off area that will be inside the hub and bearings right. Is a wire wheel ok, or is it too rough? Should I strip it chemically instead?

Any and all tips are welcome. I really don't want to tear it down and screw up something from not knowing.

Thanks in advance
Roe

Just support the car with jackstands under the control arms and the wheels and brakes off. Makes it a lot easier to access all of the bolts for proper torque vs trying to do it on ramps or something.

If you want to remove your upper ball joints easily and you don't have an impact gun, just get Harbor Freight's biggest possible adjustable wrench (the one that's like two and a half feet long) and unscrew them with the upper arms still on the car. Super easy on the original joints on my Coronet.

Thanks, that's exactly the type of stuff I'm looking for. I have a pair of ramps and probably would have used a bunch of four letter words while trying to snake my arms through the suspension to reach all the bolts. And the big wrench on the UBJ while the UCA is still on the car is a good one too

Anyone else?

Getting the old torsion bar pivot bushings out of the LCA was a learning curve for me. I think someone here told how to do it. Here are some pics of my process in case you are replacing them.

1. Use the Mancini tool to pull out the bushing, usually you only get the inner steel tube and rubber.
2. The difficulty and reason for this advice is: 90% of the time it leaves the outer steel sleeve inside the LCA.
3. Identify the sleeve left in the LCA and cut 4 slots in the walls of the sleeve that project out from the LCA.
4. Use a chisel and hammer to collapse each of the 4 sides inwards. This creates that funny '4-star' shape of the sleeve after removal in the pic below.

The goal as you might imagine from the pics below is to create a condition in which you can use a slide-hammer to hammer the sleeve out from the LCA... (In the pic below, the threaded rod and bolt with giant socket is my home-made slide hammer). The collapsed walls provide something that grabs the slide hammer.

A bit complicated to explain in words, I hope the photos help.... good luck!

Sounds like a good plan and I can vouch for the Mancini kit. I followed the procedures in the factory service manual with the Mancini kit and got my 40 year old suspension apart without problem or drama. A decent service manual, FSM preferred, helps a lot.

Just a couple of suggestions. With poly bushings you will likley need to keep the outer steel sleeve in place for the LCA and UCA - you may not have to fight it out. The instructions with the kit should tell you.

With the Mancini kit, you should have a socket for the upper ball joint. As posted, remove the ball joint with the UCA in the car. You will likley need a stout breaker bar and 3-4' of pipe to get it started. Have good jack stands under it and watch carefully when you are pulling. Needless to say, several shots of penetrating oil hours or days before you disassemble can only help.

Putting the T bars in is straight forward. Just make sure the adjusters are backed off all the way, bump stops removed, shocks removed and they should fit correctly.

Good luck and have fun!

To remove that lower control arm bushing shell, the outer one that is such a pain, try this...Get a 1-3/8" tap (I found one on e-bay for 12 dollars), thread this large tap into the bushing shell, then take it to a press and use the tap to press against or remove the tap and get a 1-3/8" bolt and press against that. This is the easiest way to do this. Good luck.

After you get the rubber out of the LCA, you can weld a washer to the bushing and push the bushing out with a press. (If you have a press)

I was always told it was ok to use poly in everything but not the LCA (use rubber)because of possible squeaks even with lube on them.

Use penatrating fluid up to a week before on the torsion bars and Upper control arm bushing.

Might want to weld in the lower control arm reenforcement plates that mancini sells while you have them out.

Hey guys, a few post back ahy mentions that since I'm using poly bushings that I may not have to remove the outer bushing shells, is this true? If so that would be a major plus.

Thanks
roe

What an easy/cheap way to do this....

seen many posts on this before and never heard of this approach.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Greenfield-Tap-D...=item27c15e8a4b

I may just end up having the LCA bushings pressed in and out at a Machine shop and be done with it. Everything else I can do on my own.

So do you guys grease all of the tie rods and ball joints before or after assembly?

I fought with the 1st LCA inner bushing, chiseling and beating.
Crazy IMO, and you chance damaging the sleeve.

Got this for the 2nd side. Kinda expensive, might be worth it to just pay the machine shop to do both sides, in & out.

http://www.americanmuscle.biz/23501_Lower_Control_Arm_Bushing_Sleeve_Remover_ABE_p/23501.htm

Quote:

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Got this for the 2nd side. Kinda expensive

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I agree. But the expense is worth it. I have seen machine shops [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] up a LCA. Not everyone will treat parts like it's their owm.

Expensive, but a good investment, especially if you hang out with a Mopar bunch.

Good Luck

FRank

Well, I decided to just let the machine shop handle pulling and replacing of the LCA bushings. Ahy was right in that since I was using poly LCA bushings, that the outer bushing shell was not to be removed from the LCA. The inner shell was reused as well. If I had went with rubber they would have come with a new inner/outer shell, already assembled and would have been an easier job for the machine shop, a simple press in and out.

heres a pic of the finished job. Im happy. Paid him $60. Would have been $40 but I gave him an extra $20 for coming in on his day off to knock this out for me, so that I could try and keep my schedule.

Will likely pick up a press from Harbor freight so I can do it myself next time, it wont cost but a couple of bucks more.

Well, I just finished up my suspension rebuild and I am smiling from ear to ear. I used poly everywhere, including the LCA and used plenty of the supplied lube/grease when assembling and no squeaks for me. The steering is much tighter than before, not so loose feeling and sloppy. Its more responsive, and the ride is also so much smoother and tracks so much better. And thats just with an eyeball alignment from me. I tried to make the new tie rod assemblies the same size as the ones that came off. And after reassembly I adjusted the UCA for max caster, set ride height and torqed everything down. Then I just eyeballed the wheels to make sure they were generally pointing in the same direction the same amount with the same amount of "tilt". Then took it for a test drive. All I can say is wow. I cant wait until I get my new tires, toss my rims back on, and get a real alignment. This is so much better.

I always thought that my suspension was not that bad, boy was I wrong. Now, if I were to upgrade to a FirmFeel stage II box, that would be icing on the cake.
roe

What vendor(s) did you use for your rebuild?

Suspension bushings degrade slowly over time. Replacing the components all at once displays immediately what was lost. It often IS dramatic!

ROE

I love your satellite it's my favorite body style

Interesting. I had asked about this company in the past, and did not hear good things. You sound satisfied with the parts. Do you know what brand they were?

Thanks mopork, 71-72 B's are my favorite bodystyle too.

zrxkawboy: I am very satisfied with everything. Parts were a combination of Mccquay Norris (idler arm), energy suspension (bushings), and BAW (ballpoints and tierods). I tried this kit after I started a thread about a different one that I found on Ebay. Another member posted a link to this company and said he had tried it and was happy with the kit.

Also, I kept the stock size tierod ends, but I did get new adjusting sleeves from Autozone, Duralast brand.

I didn't read the whole thread but I did catch some posts. I hope this isn't redundant.

1. Torque everything except the UCA and LCA bushing Nuts when assembling the front end. If the Bushings are Poly torque them also.

2. Ball joints that are round on the side where the grease fitting is they are press in. If it has 4 flats then it is screw in. DO NOT PRESS OUT A SCREW IN BALL JOINT! I have seen this happen too often.

To rough adjust the suspension.

1. Rough in the Tie Rods making sure each side is equal while in the air but pay attention to the centering of the steering wheel.

2. Adjust the rear of the UCA All the way in and the front all the way out. Snug them down.

3. Leave the shocks disconnected and Put the car on the ground. Adjust the T-bars to the correct ride height or so that each side of the car is equal height if you want to alter the ride height. Bounce the car and check.

3. With the car on the ground move the front UCA pivot in until the Sidewall of the tire is perpendicular with a bubble level. If the front is not enough then start moving the back out until you get it as best as possible. Repeat for the other side.

4. Center the steering wheel. Place a Heavy Jack stand behind the rear tire and in front of the front tire then pull a string tight between them. Move the front jack stand out so the string just barely touches the across the front sidewall of the rear tire. Measure the distance from the string to the rear edge of the front tire and repeat for the front edge of the front tire at the same height. Adjust the Tie Rod End on that side to get the distances about equal. Make sure the Steering wheel is centered as you do. repeat for the other side.

If your front and back tires are the same size you can do it by line of sight.

If you want to throw a little tow in then after adjusting the to be perfect you can readjust them equally to add/remove toe.
Tighten the Control arms if you haven't already attach the shocks and drive it around the block.

Check the ride height and adjust as needed.

If it is your first time it will not be perfect but it will get you safely to a shop.

Bryan,
Thanx for that.
I have saved it for futur refernce. It will be invaluable.

IMGTX, thanks for the writeup on the rough alignment, I saved it for future reference. Luckily I was able to get it close enough where I could drive it, drives pretty well in fact. Holds a straight line on acceleration/deceleration, tracks well and doesn't jump or pull at all. Good enough until Wednesday when I can get to the alignment shop. I even drove it to work today.

I had the Mancini kit so bushings and balljoints were easy.

Also, I ended up tourqing the UCA/LCA bolts on a loaded suspension just because of how often it's been reiterated to do it that way. But i've had the car back on Jackstands for a couple of things since then. And as I watched the bushings I noticed that because of the lube they rotate completely in their shells, and thought to myself "well, I guess I could've went ahead and torqued those down during assembly". They don't bind like the rubber ones and therefore can't get that preload which can make rubber bushings fail early. But now I know.

I did have the.shockes connected when I adjusted ride height though. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. Will that hurt anything?

Shocks hooked up are OK but you should bounce it to see that the ride height settles when you do adjust it. Sometimes the friction of suspension movement will not show the true ride height until it is bounced or driven a little but it isn't usually much difference if at all.

Love that car

I'm a pretty big guy to be trying to crank up the torsion bars while the car is on the ground. Is it okay to preload the torsion bar adjustment some before the car hits the ground?