70 Duster Front End Rebuild Help

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gtgto

gtgto

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I've talked to a few Mopar guys and everyone has a different answer. My car is a 70 340 4 speed Duster. Matching engine, trans and 3.91 SG Rear. I plan on driving the car as a weekend cruiser and cruise night type car. All of the rubber in the front is old and dry rotted and needs to be gone through completely. I was going to go to Polyurethane bushings at first but for what I will be doing with the car I'm pretty sure the factory type rubber will suffice. I was told to find older MOOG NOS products as opposed to todays MOOG because the quality is not the same. Is that true? Instead of finding and buying all of the components separately would I be ok just ordering something like a Super Kit from PST and get the FABO discount they offer? I would need a list of all components needed to do a front end rebuild if I bought the parts separately as well.......I know most of the parts but any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
upper control arm bushings: 2 on each arm
lower control arm bushings: 1 in each arm
two upper ball joints
two lower ball joints
two inner tie rods
two outter tie rods
two tie rod adjusting sleeves
idler arm
pitman arm
strut rod bushings
 
Rebuilding a stock a-body front end these days would just suck since there's no quality parts anymore. I wish you the best of luck.
 
Bought allmoog parts from Rick auto for less than the pst kit. 90+% was made in USA
 
abodyjoe said:
upper control arm bushings: 2 on each arm
lower control arm bushings: 1 in each arm
two upper ball joints
two lower ball joints
two inner tie rods
two outter tie rods
two tie rod adjusting sleeves
idler arm
pitman arm
strut rod bushings
Click to expand...
Thanks abodyjoe......I have to say I love your avatar and the list of parts I need too.
 
Moog moved production overseas years ago, back in 2012 if I recall. There's tons of boxes of Moog stuff falsely labeled "Made in USA". Search the forum for faulty Moog parts, both out of the box, and how quickly they wear out.

No one makes front end parts for the stock front ends of these cars like they used to. The quality is garbage. It's a shame.
 
I used PST's super front end kit on my 4sp, 340 '72 Demon and found it to be very good. If I remember right the only thing I needed to add was a Pittman arm.
Yote
 
Great! I was not aware of the fake "Made in USA" boxes. Guess I will find out when I put my jalopy back together.
 
Yote said:
I used PST's super front end kit on my 4sp, 340 '72 Demon and found it to be very good. If I remember right the only thing I needed to add was a Pittman arm.
Yote
Click to expand...
Did you go with the poly kit or rubber?
 
kiss said:
Moog moved production overseas years ago, back in 2012 if I recall. There's tons of boxes of Moog stuff falsely labeled "Made in USA". Search the forum for faulty Moog parts, both out of the box, and how quickly they wear out.

No one makes front end parts for the stock front ends of these cars like they used to. The quality is garbage. It's a shame.
Click to expand...

Another good reason to go with poly.
Going on 4 years now in a daily driver I'm not that easy on.:D
Not to mention the crappy roads around here beat the hell out of things.
 
TrailBeast said:
Another good reason to go with poly.
Going on 4 years now in a daily driver I'm not that easy on.:D
Not to mention the crappy roads around here beat the hell out of things.
Click to expand...
I haven't ordered anything yet but I'm thinking I'm going to go with the Poly graphite PST Super kit. I will be ordering in the next couple of days. Thanks all for your input
 

Poly won't help you with ball joints, idler arm, pitman arm, and tie rod ends, which is the primary concern with aftermarket parts. You get the exact same of all of those in a poly or rubber kit. The only difference is the material used for the dust boot, the joint itself is made in china garbage.
 
Sometimes I think we are all dreaming of suspension parts that will last forever. That's probably due to the labor involved in replacing some of these parts. I remember doing front end work in the 80s. Every daily driver over 7 years old needed some things replaced. The 5 year olds would need 1 of these and/or 2 of these. I can still hear the customers complain, "Every time I get alignment I need to replace something", as if we were running a scam. Sometimes I would walk them to their car to show them, "This and that has been replaced. Today you're needing the other this and that." If there was a benefit, Their money and my labor was spread over time.
Bottom line... Nothing lasts forever. Buy the best parts you can afford today and plan to live long enough to need some of those same parts again someday.
 
RedFish said:
Sometimes I think we are all dreaming of suspension parts that will last forever. That's probably due to the labor involved in replacing some of these parts. I remember doing front end work in the 80s. Every daily driver over 7 years old needed some things replaced. The 5 year olds would need 1 of these and/or 2 of these. I can still hear the customers complain, "Every time I get alignment I need to replace something", as if we were running a scam. Sometimes I would walk them to their car to show them, "This and that has been replaced. Today you're needing the other this and that." If there was a benefit, Their money and my labor was spread over time.
Bottom line... Nothing lasts forever. Buy the best parts you can afford today and plan to live long enough to need some of those same parts again someday.
Click to expand...
Great point RF
 
All of the parts that we offer are made to meet or exceed OEM. In many case we will have our parts reversed engineered and inherent problems corrected using today's technology and modern day materials. We also offer a lifetime limited warranty on all items that we sell for as long as you own your vehicle. Please let me know if you have any questions as I would be more than happy to answer them.

Thanks
James From
 
PST said:
All of the parts that we offer are made to meet or exceed OEM. In many case we will have our parts reversed engineered and inherent problems corrected using today's technology and modern day materials. We also offer a lifetime limited warranty on all items that we sell for as long as you own your vehicle. Please let me know if you have any questions as I would be more than happy to answer them.

Thanks
James From
Click to expand...
James, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Super Polygraphite kit for my 70 340 Duster w/ front disc brakes SKU FEKSPDOD703. My question is is there anything that does not come in the kit I should be purchasing to complete the front end rebuild? My drivers side wheel is tilted pretty noticeably where the top of the tire is much further inside the wheel well than the outside of the tire especially with the steering is turned to the left.
 
The only item that is not in the kit is the pitman arm. So you may want to check yours prior to ordering. We do have it available if you need it. I would also consider upgrading to the c body tie rod ends and solid adjusting sleeves.

Thanks
James
 
Wow I just looked at this thread when I started it.....How sad....Well I am finally on to the next step.....Removal and replacement of all the parts I've been accumulating. What would the game plan be to do things right and do them once?

I'm thinking get the car up in the air.....Loosen torsion bar adjusters so they have no pressure on them at all........Remove front tires and disc brake components on both sides......Remove front shocks and then sway bar......after that what order would be correct and am I good so far up to that point? The upper and lower control arms will have to probably be brought to a shop with a press to install the bushings but other than that I would love to take care of this all myself. Thanks for any/all of your input
 
Sounds like to you are on the right track. The upper cam bolts in the upper control arms can sometimes be a pain as the inner sleeves on the bushing can rust themselves to the bolts. So a good soaking with penetrating oil is in order and in some case may need to be cut. Please keep us up on your progress.

Thanks
James
 
Well I would be broke and probably unemployed if I did this for a living. The deconstruction of my front suspension is moving in the right direction. Between the mess I'm making with tools all over the place and the time its taking me but at least I'm pretty close to having it apart. Ball Joints were busting my balls but got the last 3 broke apart tonight. Control Arm removal is next. I ordered an idler arm and I just found out its on back order. I am not relacing the pitman arm cause that side of my steering felt tight. Should I just bite the bullet and replace it? I really don't see the reason other than the fact thats all going to be apart.
 
I replaced mine even though it seemed okay. Just didn't want to go to all the work only to take it apart not long after to do it. At least then I know it's all new. Good luck on the pitman arm if you do replace it. Even with a good puller I still had to split the connection on mine in THREE places with a cutoff wheel on a 4" angle grinder. It would all depend on the cost you are willing to put into it at this time.
Yote
 
I cannot catch a break with this front end rebuild. Still taking it apart. I am down to the lower control arms and of course they are not cooperating. One of the nuts on the strut rod will not break free.....It has this pin going through it I cannot remove which is a problem but not the biggest problem I have. The nut on the pivot shaft was coming out and about a 1/2 inch away from it coming off and now the pivot shaft is just spinning and the nut is stuck . I can see that the bushing is shot. How the hell do I get the nut completely off and also the torsion bar loose enough to slide it back out of the way?
 
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