How long to rebuild front suspension?

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rms492

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Hello, I'm trying to plan on how many days/hours it will take me to rebuild the front suspension on my Dart. I have all ball joints, all the bumpers, all the bushings, etc., but no torsion bars.

I'm planning on 4 hours two or three weekends a month. Approx how long can I expect this project to take? I am not super experienced mechanic, but know just enough and with the right tools, I think I can do it.

Thanks for any input.
 
You can definitely do it , I did. It depends on a lot of factors. How rusted are the parts? How large array of tools you have available? How meticulous are you. I didn't track my time but spent a couple hours to remove a bolt that twisted off only to repeat it on the opposite side. I would plan on double the time you expect.
Yote
 
depends on your skill level and confidence. If you doubt yourself then take your time !
 
I'm working on one now. But this is cheating because it's not in the vehicle.

20170429_160434.jpg
 
Took me a month or so worth of weekends. Most of the time was spent scrubbing, bead blasting, wire brushing, and painting.

If you plan to just replace parts, it's an 8 hour day, max.
 
Took me about 12 but I did torsion bars and swapped in disc brakes as well
 
72Dart6pack said:
4 or 5 hrs max.
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Maybe if you are 30 years old and have every single tool you need.

In the 70's before the dubya dubya dubya, I rebuild a 70 Plymouth in a weekend, as I recall, had most of it done in one day. The alignment guy was PISSED LMAO
 
I agreed with 72Dart 6pac, but
it's like Del said;
Except I was in my 50s, had all the tools, and a hoist, and a torch, for those pesky bushings. Those alone can chew up 2 or 3 hours if you're a newbe. And what do you do if the upper BJs are frozen in their sockets? There you are with a 5 ft pipe on your 18" breaker bar, with the 3/4 drive to 1/2 drive adapter and the specialty socket, putting 800ft lbs into that stupid thing, and it won't budge! You gotta torch? Then when you finally get them out, will there be any threads left for the new BJs to grab ahold of?
Do yourself a favor; and start with the upper BJs. Or better still, order up a couple of good UCA cores, that somebody else worked over, and get them set up prior. Get some new bolts too and the problem solvers bushings correctly installed. This is like 50% of the time into the job or more. The rest is just wrenching, well except for the LCA bushings. But those ain't half as bad.At least you can take the arm outside and polute the atmosphere with burning rubber, instead of filling up your shop with those acrid,life-shortening,super-noxious, fumes.
Now let me tell you about the alignment!. On second thought NO! I can't tell you that it took me all day with computerized equipment to get rid of the bump-steer.You might think me incompetent.
 
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Go ahead and spray every single fastener you can see with GOOD penetrant oil right now, and every day until you start working.

I like the Mopar brand with moly in it.

You might even hit the nuts with a propane torch first, then spray 'em. Rinse/repeat.

If you're pulling the K frame (if the car is high mileage, I bet the LCA holes are toast), drill a 1/8" hole over the K frame bolts so that you can blast penetrant in there too.
 
I haven't done a complete front end IN THE CAR since the 1980s. I do a few parts (mostly control arms and k-members) from time to time, but if they aren't clean they go in my hot tank and I prefer the k-member go in, too. The length of time it takes depends on how deep you go into it and what mods you might be doing.
 
AJ has it right . The UCA 's can be the single most difficult part . Remember , you will need a press to r&r the bushings . Be careful here and don't bend the UCA like I did . Torque the bolts to spec except the LCA nut (the big one) and the UCA cam bolts . Those are torqued when alignment is done . I use a paint stick to mark the ones I have torqued . Be safe , this is serious stuff . Good luck , Tom
 
383Scampman said:
AJ has it right . The UCA 's can be the single most difficult part . Remember , you will need a press to r&r the bushings . Be careful here and don't bend the UCA like I did . Torque the bolts to spec except the LCA nut (the big one) and the UCA cam bolts . Those are torqued when alignment is done . I use a paint stick to mark the ones I have torqued . Be safe , this is serious stuff . Good luck , Tom
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when I did the uca bushing , I used the bench vise and 3/4 inch drive sockets to push the old ones out, piece of cake ! note , that if your going to put bigger tires or wheels on you might want to install the offset uca bushing to get the camber /caster setting right. this last winter ,I pulled the new ones (regular ,centered holes ) and went with offset holes. So if you need them I got 2 sets of regular UCA bushings for sale !
 
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