Assistance needed with final suspension rebuild steps

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equium

equium

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Shingle Springs, CA
1970 Plymouth Valiant. 318
I'm following the steps in the Moparmax article and I'm a bit confused with the final steps.
I have the spindles installed (Scarebird conversion occurring too)
I have torqued to spec the inner and outer tie rods, upper and lower ball joint studs, Idler arm, Pitman arm, and the lower strut rod where it passes though the LCA.
I think I understand the final steps, but I want to be sure. Here is what I'm thinking:
1. Install torsion bar and re tighten the adjuster screw the same number of turns as removal.
2. Install tires and lower vehicle.
3. Torque to spec the UCA cam bolts, matching as close the position they were before.
3. Torque to spec the LCA pivot bolt and finally the upper strut rod bushing.
4. Adjust ride height (as it says in my chassis service manual)

I'm a bit confused, also, about step 4. It says that a few times in my chassis service manual, but I could have sworn I read not to adjust the torsion bar under load. Did I mis-read that?

Thanks for reading. This is my first mopar suspension experience and it's been interesting so far.
 
You can adjust the t bar under load

You should not tighten the lac pin nut until in the loaded position when using rubber oem type bushings
 
So, here I am one year later and being told my LCA bushings are shredded and need replacing. I'm confident I followed the steps I laid out in my original post. I'm not sure where I went wrong. My alignment guy says I probably tightened the LCA nuts before lowering and that is a common mistake. I could have sworn I didn't tighten the LCA nut before lowering; but could I have caused this failure by adjusting the adjuster screws BEFORE I lowered it? (as I mentioned in my step 1 above)
The UCA bushings are fine, per my alignment guy.
The original alignment (a year ago) was done by Big O using the Skosh chart numbers I gave them. I also had them adjust the ride height while they were at it (I was off a bit).
Not wanting to point fingers, but could they have done something to cause the premature failure of my LCA bushings? (I have since found a new alignment expert familiar with older cars)
Thanks for reading
Danny
 
Part of it might be poor quality modern replacement parts. I don't know.
 
Be careful on the re-torque of the lca bolt. I basically couldn't get to mine with my v8 installed, I had to bend an old extension to get to them. Even then I was *kinda* able to put some torque behind it while tightening. Forget about it if you have the radiator in.

Edit: I'm pretty sure my 2 year old moog lower balljoints are bad. My next venture into the front suspension I'll probably be putting summit racing lower balljoints in
 
I was reading this article "How To Build In A Suspension Kit In A Dart Swinger 340 - Rebuild it! Mopar Suspension" and found the answer to my most recent question. Here it is:
The pivot shaft can be fully torqued on the bench when using poly bushings, since the bushings allow rotation even fully torqued. If rubber is used, reserve the final torquing of the bushings until the static ride height is set and the suspension is in the final ride position.
 
equium said:
So, here I am one year later and being told my LCA bushings are shredded and need replacing. I'm confident I followed the steps I laid out in my original post. I'm not sure where I went wrong. My alignment guy says I probably tightened the LCA nuts before lowering and that is a common mistake. I could have sworn I didn't tighten the LCA nut before lowering; but could I have caused this failure by adjusting the adjuster screws BEFORE I lowered it? If you are referring to the T-bar adjusters, then no. The ride height is set with those, and it's easier on the adjusters to do the preliminary adjustment on those with the wheels hanging. Then drop her down, finalize the ride height, and the very last thing is to tighten the LCA pins. (as I mentioned in my step 1 above)
The UCA bushings are fine, per my alignment guy.
The original alignment (a year ago) was done by Big O using the Skosh chart numbers I gave them. I also had them adjust the ride height while they were at it (I was off a bit).
Not wanting to point fingers, but could they have done something to cause the premature failure of my LCA bushings? Probably not. (I have since found a new alignment expert familiar with older cars)
Thanks for reading
Danny
Click to expand...

Driving style,shocks, and terrain play a big part, as well as quality of the manufacturer, and the method of installation.The OEM stuff lasted at least a decade. Maybe two.Many went 150,000 miles. But they do not last long if running pre-stressed or out of alignment, as in broken pin-tubes, or perhaps with bad shocks, as the constant flexing might contribute to early demise.They're just a rubber compound, and like tires run low on air, build heat, and then fail.. Did you get eyes on them? If not, I'd get a second opinion.One year is just a very short time for them to last, and I just can't see it since you have not mentioned any other complaints.
My poly bushings are 16 years old and have run more than 125,000 miles.Since they pivot on the pins, I was skeptical about installing them, back in 99. But it seems I worried for nothing.
 
My alignment guy brought me into the shop and showed me the bushings with the car on the lift. I'm pretty sure I had purchased the front end kit from PST, so I'm confident the LCA bushings were good quality. Yeah, I'm thinking I may have torqued the LCA before I dropped the front end.
 
That will do it pretty much every time....the rubber is pretty thin in these particular LCA bushings, compared to other designs.
 
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