Advice on suspension.

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Gyro

Gyro

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I've got to replace the upper and lower ball joints on my '65 Belvedere. What would you guys recommend that I replace along with the ball joints? And do you know if it is possible to purchase it all as a set? I'm new at all of this as you may can tell :) Thanks for any advice you can give me!
 
If it was me,I would replace the upper and lower bushings. Lot of good info on how to do on here.
Go to search and type in....
 
How are your 54 year old UCA and LCA bushings? I would suspect they’re not in good condition! If you going to replace the ball joints,I’d do the bushings as well. You may well find your other 54 year old wear items - tie rod ends, idler and pitman arms - might need replacing as well. Do it all at the same time and it’ll be good for another 50 plus years!
 
Gyro said:
I've got to replace the upper and lower ball joints on my '65 Belvedere. What would you guys recommend that I replace along with the ball joints? And do you know if it is possible to purchase it all as a set? I'm new at all of this as you may can tell :) Thanks for any advice you can give me!
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How do you drive it? What are your expectations? There's going to be the cheap parts the expensive parts and the in-between parts LOL finding the best bang for your buck in all three categories is what we seem to all be after...
 
65 Dartman said:
How are your 54 year old UCA and LCA bushings? I would suspect they’re not in good condition! If you going to replace the ball joints,I’d do the bushings as well. You may well find your other 54 year old wear items - tie rod ends, idler and pitman arms - might need replacing as well. Do it all at the same time and it’ll be good for another 50 plus years!
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That's exactly what I was needing. A detailed list of other items to order and replace. Thanks Dartman!
 
Dartwizer said:
If it was me,I would replace the upper and lower bushings. Lot of good info on how to do on here.
Go to search and type in....
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Indeed! There is a ton of information. I am still finding my way around the site lol
 
j par said:
How do you drive it? What are your expectations? There's going to be the cheap parts the expensive parts and the in-between parts LOL finding the best bang for your buck in all three categories is what we seem to all be after...
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Honestly, it will be a weekend driving sort of car. Definitely not an ever day driven car. With the research that I have done I have found a very WIDE range of prices, depending the brand or type of part purchased. Guess this is why I started this thread...to see where to begin LOL
 
Gyro said:
Honestly, it will be a weekend driving sort of car. Definitely not an ever day driven car. With the research that I have done I have found a very WIDE range of prices, depending the brand or type of part purchased. Guess this is why I started this thread...to see where to begin LOL
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This is the way I approached it. Just giving you my experience and my thoughts and not suggesting anything to do.
I didn't get any high-end stuff because I'm not driving it everyday and definitely not trying to put it on two wheels going around corners. I have more of a inline drag car kind of vibe. Where I did put the medium Quality Parts was in the bushings that have to be pressed in and pressed out. They're hard to get to and even harder to replace. Not impossible mind you but just much more difficult so I didn't want to go there again if possible. As far as the tie rod ends and the things that just screwed and popped on I just got the lower grade stuff. I figured I could replace tie rod ends and stuff like that in four or five or ten years lol if need be....
My-2...
Edit: after I did that and got the alignment done and drove and still drives great, a big Improvement....
 
Here’s my 2 cents - i’m Doing a complete front end tear down on my 65 Dart wagon - well, not a wagon anymore but a conversion to a 2 door sedan delivery. Anyway, i’m using 73-76 UCAs with new ball joints and the Moog offset bushings. The LCA is getting new bushings. It already had the sway bar tab so I’ll be using the Helwig 1 & 1/4 sway bar. I have a set of NOS idler and pitman arms. For the tie rods I have the larger C Body tie rods with the solid tie rod sleeve.for torsion bars I have a brand new set of PST’s 1.03’s.

Here’s a couple of tips for you - should you decide you want disc brakes up front, all you need is the 73-76 A Body disc brake spindles from the junkyard or another member. The associated calipers, pads etc. are available at pretty much any parts store. The spindle is the same dimensionally as your drum brake spindle and will bolt right in. I did this conversion on both a 65 Coronet and 69 Charger I used to have.

No sway bar? Locate one off a 65/66 B Body. No messing around with any LCA sway bar tabs as they are not needed. Again this is a bolt in to your 65. I also did this to my 65 Coronet.
 
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I just did mine. Replaced everything. Also used offset ica bushings to gain caster. I stayed with rubber because poly while good for road racing will knock your teeth out on bumps.

Heres a look at 52yo bushings
 
fklskv said:
View attachment 1715402787 View attachment 1715402788 View attachment 1715402789 I just did mine. Replaced everything. Also used offset ica bushings to gain caster. I stayed with rubber because poly while good for road racing will knock your teeth out on bumps.

Heres a look at 52yo bushings
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Yep, that's pretty much what mine are looking like. Thanks for sharing the pictures. The information regarding the rubber/poly choice was helpful as well. Like I had mentioned earlier, this isn't an every day driving vehicle. And I do want some comfort LOL
 
I forgot to mention i’ll Also be using the 73-76 disc brake spindle, a worthwhile upgrade if you don’t already have disc brakes.
 
At the beginning of the year I did the suspension on my 66 Barracuda.

Leaf springs
Torsion bars
Upper and lower control arm bushings
Strut rod bushings
Upper and lower ball joints
Tie rod ends
Front end alignment

That all made a difference...but, believe it or not, what made driving much more pleasant was rebuilding the steering coupler.

The car rides better than new now!
 
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66fyssh said:
At the beginning of the year I did the suspension on my 66 Barracuda.

Leaf springs
Torsion bars
Upper and lower control arm bushings
Strut rod bushings
Tie rod ends
Front end alignment

That all made a difference...but, believe it or not, what made driving much more pleasant was rebuilding the steering coupler.

The car rides better than new now![/QUOTE
Steering coupler? Never thought about that. Makes sense though.
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Been reading a lot about the trouble and issues people go through when replacing the ball joints in these old cars. There are a few thread on here that talk about many issues. I spoke with a neighbor of mine who does some auto repair, but not ball joint replacement. He said that the average someone would charge to replace ball joints would be around $400.00, depending on whether they run into any problems. Does that sound about right?
 
Ask around about lower ball joints because a few years ago there was a recall on some of them. Naturally, I had them. Already had the front end back together and lined up.

I don't remember all the details but IIRC it was a big recall and covered more than one brand. There may be some of that junk floating around out there still.

Just an FYI. They may have it all cleaned up by now, but it's worth asking. Not fun to have it back together and done and then rip it all apart, send the junk back and wait until they get said junk before they send the new stuff.
 
Lower ball joints are easy.

Uppers are a pain. I got my old ones off with a long pipe on a breaker bar. They screw out and in.

Look around for an old school garage. They are the best bet for stuff like this. And they are usually reasonable in cost.
 
66fyssh said:
Lower ball joints are easy.

Uppers are a pain. I got my old ones off with a long pipe on a breaker bar. They screw out and in.

Look around for an old school garage. They are the best bet for stuff like this. And they are usually reasonable in cost.
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I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure it will be a job, especially they have been on the car for over 50 years. I will take your advice and shop around before making a decision. Thanks!
 
With the UCA out of the car it can be held in a vise really easily. I used an impact gun and they came right out, no issues. Because im anal, I used locktite on the ones i installed, by hand with a cheater pipe on a ratchet.
 
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