completely rebuild front suspension?

-
Got a start. Wheels off, shocks off, adjusters backed off and very loose, clips off back side of t- bars. Now is it possible to loosen the nut that comes through the K-frame into the lower control arm and give that a wack to jar the t-bar loose? Or should I be looking for a way to gently clamp the t-bar and bang on that?
 
The rubber that I can see is ether ripped and squeezing out or dry rotted in place.
 
j par said:
Got a start. Wheels off, shocks off, adjusters backed off and very loose, clips off back side of t- bars. Now is it possible to loosen the nut that comes through the K-frame into the lower control arm and give that a wack to jar the t-bar loose? Or should I be looking for a way to gently clamp the t-bar and bang on that?
Click to expand...

You can loosen nut on LCA stud and push/wack the LCA back, what ever you are comfortable doing.
 
Well I've been looking at different options to get the ball joints and tie rods loose but it looks like the only way of not spending money is to just break out the old pickle fork and start banging or whacking LOL. The lower ball joint on the spindle is so covered in muck that I'm not quite sure where to start LOL or exactly how I want to tackle that one? I know I removed the upper ball joint on the driver side and replaced it a couple years ago and I think I remember using just a big giant set of channel locks or something? Since I don't have the tool or a big set of channel locks idea is to take the upper a arm off and put the ball joint in the vice and twist the arm off of it? Until I check in next I should be wacking on my ball joints:D! LOL
 
Got drivers side spindle off. Happy I'm making progress, but never enough. Can't work on it til the weekend :BangHead:
 
i just use a BFH to whack the spindle right where the ball joint stud goes through, nut backed off but still on and the stuff pops apart.

i use a prybar to push the LCA back.

also, it seems easiest to loosen the strut rod nuts on both ends before the LCA is taken off...and don't forget to install the strut rods into the Kmember as you are puttin the LCA's back in the Kmember...
 
ahh whoops, double post...

I'll fill this with another thought.

be sure to check your control arms closely, looks at the far end just past the strut rod hole make sure it doens't look bent. also check your strut rod mounting location in the kmember. sometimes they are caved in a bit from curb hits or something. i had this problem recently.

i welded a bolt through some .25" plate and used a huge stack of washers and a breaker bar to flatten the strut mount. after wards i used a plumb and string to drop marks from the rear of the torsion bar sockets and from the front ball joint bolt in the spindle. got both sides equal and decent caster numbers during alignment...
 
Last edited:
I did my whole Front suspension. It is time consuming but very doable. Took me 2 days and I changed out drums to disc during my refresh.
 
Mancini racing sells front end tool kits, you will not even need a press with their tools, a huge time and aggravation saver.
 
It was gas or me blowing hot Steam! LOL I'll give another shot tomorrow though!
 
Just a note here, if you are using poly bushings instead of the OE rubber, the metal sleeve in the LCA needs to stay in place, which saves a little time and a lot of aggravation!! Be careful when using a press to push out the bushings in the UCA, you can bend or twist the entire arm!!
 
Gotter ! Not my right foot, the K-frame...
20171104_182212.jpg
 
I got the upper a arms off and all the breaks. I want to take everything off the K frame, clean it, paint, and hopefully inspect and reinstall the steering box and completely paint and restore the engine compartment while it's all cleaned up put the K frame back on and get the motor and transmission in place and then finish the suspension from that point. No problem.
But the question is am I causing myself any major grief? I would like to get the motor and tranny in as it's blocking the use of the other half of my two car garage.
 
Last edited:
Right on man!

I just finished doing exactly what you are... except I did it because I had to replace both front frame rails and figured I'd take care of all the birds with one stone (or as Ricky from Trailer Park Boys once said "Get two birds stoned at once" :D)

:canada:
 
No, I inspected it after 3 bottles of awesome from the dollartree and a lot of elbow grease. It's painted and ready.
I also painted all of the inner Fender Wells around the front by the radiator core. I also put a finish paint job on the upper part of the firewall, the Under the Hood part. So everything I wanted to paint except for the motor compartment it's self is painted. Now I can tape all that off and paint the actual motor compartment then put the header wrap on the headers and get this damn thing back in the car. I'm shooting for next week to have the motor back in. Which I also have to do some touch-up painting on. I forgot to paint the heads when I had the bigger valves put in them last year.

yellow rose said:
Are you going to weld up the K member? It's worth the time.
Click to expand...
 
I realized you asked YR this question but I do believe I may be able to answer it. If you weld it a little here a little there a little over on this side little over on that side (what is called Skip welding) it will be fine. Even if so I just would have a hard time seeing it get Warped or out of condition just going around the rest of the edges. Others will probably chime in. But my experience comes from many many years of structural welding.
Mrpatel said:
If you weld the k from everyone up, do you have worry about heat distortion if its welded out of the card and on the floor?
Click to expand...
 
If mine was going to have any trouble I'm sure it would have been showing signs. I've got a lot of stuff to do without adding anything not necessary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top