Tire wear, what's causing this! ? ?

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

Okay take a look, I fixed her up my self.... The sway bar any how... I'll be posting photos of my bushings shortly.
My upper ball joint bushing is visible what do you guys think replace upper bushing only? I'm thinking replace entire ball joint. These control arms had over 40 years of Gunk... Inch thick

 

[abodyjoe]

make sure that brake caliper doesn't hit the sway bar now.. may have to shorten the end links for clearance..

 

[abodyjoe]

those are not bushings.. they are dust covers for the ball joint and tie rod ends... from the looks of them they don't look to have any grease int hem at all.. i'd replace all 4 ball joints and tie rod ends.. along with the upper and lower control arm bushings and idler,pitman arms. this way everything is new and yuo know its all good.. won't be cheap but it will be right...

Okay take a look, I fixed her up my self.... The sway bar any how... I'll be posting photos of my bushings shortly.
My upper ball joint bushing is visible what do you guys think replace upper bushing only? I'm thinking replace entire ball joint. These control arms had over 40 years of Gunk... Inch thick

 

[abodyjoe]

circled are the upper control arm bushings we are talking about....

 

[AJ/FormS]

DO NOT buy cheap balljoints.Back when I was doing alignments, I used to take out the cheap stuff almost as fast as I was putting it in.On some brands the BJ pins are swedged in so tight, the steering wont return, and driving in a straight line is nearly impossible, being a constant battle.On others,the pins loosen up so fast,theyre practically worn out after the roadtest.It seems theyre designed to hold the front end up just long enough to pass a safety inspection or sell the car.
-The cheap stuff used to cost about half of what the good stuff did.Then as more brands of cheap stuff showed up the cost halved again. Eventually the price disparity grew even larger.
-Some customers demanded the cheap ones, despite my warnings, then complained when a short time later I had to replace them with quality pieces.
-The small used-car dealers were the worst.

 

[nm9stheham]

^^^ Good story! Hope it convinces some folks.

 

[abodyjoe]

^^^ Good story! Hope it convinces some folks.

problem is it won't.... ya see it time and time again.. save a buck here pay more to do it a second time..

 

[moparlover]

those UCA bushings that Abodyjoe circled for you are pressed in if i remember right. i still recommend that you get the full rebuild kit from pst or someplace else. onsie twosie piecing it all together will cost you more. get the full kit that i posted the link to before. have a shop put it all in at once and align.

if you want to do the work yourself, that's cool but you will need some tools. pitman arm puller big *** pickle forks and you will have to take the control arms to a shop with a press so they can press the old bushings out new ones in

it will be 100 times better after you renew the ball joints & bushings

 

[abodyjoe]

here ya go.. the parts for your front end.. looking at $300 +shipping from rockauto..

just did the front end in our dart.. went with all moog parts because of the good reputation. i just don't trust a just suspension or pst type of kit.

 

[abodyjoe]

whatever you decide make sure you by upper and lower ball joints for a 73-up disc brake abody.

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

whatever you decide make sure you by upper and lower ball joints for a 73-up disc brake abody.

So I am buyin front end suspension parts for a 73+ a body?

What are a few Abody 73+ cars? So I can reference them at a later time

Thank much appreciate the list too.

 

[abodyjoe]

Yes. Those are 73-up disc brakes it looks in your pics.

Dart or duster. If you look at my parts list above that's everything us need.

 

[Saverio]

all the moog part numbers so you can just order from rock auto.. http://www.bigblockdart.com/techpages/moognumbers.shtml

Thanks for posting this Joe!

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

Yes. Those are 73-up disc brakes it looks in your pics.

Dart or duster. If you look at my parts list above that's everything us need.

do the boots come when i purchase the ball joints or is that separate?
i was setting everything up but three things got me a little lost when ordering. the control arm bushings :cheers:2+1 and the LCA 4 on your list there.

 

[abodyjoe]

yes the boots come with the ball joints, tir rod ends, pitman arm and idler arm..

 

[abodyjoe]

i was setting everything up but three things got me a little lost when ordering. the control arm bushings 2+1 and the LCA 4 on your list there.

yes. looks like you need 2 lower bushings because they look to be packaged with only 1 in each box

the uppers look to come with all 4 together so you only need 1 of those..

 

[Saverio]

here ya go.. the parts for your front end.. looking at $300 +shipping from rockauto..

Joe, again thanks for going through the trouble with this.

I just ordered a complete front end rebuild for my 74 Scamp with all MOOG parts like you suggested - minus the lower/upper arm bushings and upper ball joints (I'm converting to the tubular type, so they're not needed), from Summit for $237.65 w/free shipping.

And that total included the upper ball joint socket.

I don't know what i'd do without the helpful people on this board.

Is that picture on the left of your signature in Wildwood????


ciao - Saverio

 

[abodyjoe]

sweet.. you'll love the results once the front end is done..


the pic of the dart is on the boardwalk in ocean city md.

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

A quick update guys... Nothing to do with the front end...
I recently purchased super stock leaf springs and drag shocks and I have a few questions....

It's so stiff and bouncy- is this normal?
The height on super stock leafs- 4 inches in this normal? Seems high....
Installing these absolutely made my steering worse I could hear the tires feathering and it's so sensitive if I speed up it feels like I will crash off to the side. -

The bolt under the bottom control arm the controls the height of the car I tightened it to highest option is this adding on messing with my steering? Does this bolt mess with the feathering?

I recently replaced front shocks as well.

 

[abodyjoe]

Ss springs do sit high and do t have a great ride in my opinion. If you raised the rear a good amount it will throw your alignment off.

Cranking g the torsion bars up can also throw the alignment off.

What bars are in the car? If the bolts are all the way in it may be time for larger bars.

 

[AJ/FormS]

You cannot/must not arbitrarily crank up the T-bars, without a corresponding re-alignment. The factory specifys a front ride height that puts all the relavent parts in working harmony. Changing the ride height affects the harmony, requiring a new alignment; every time.
-Bear in mind that there is only a small amount of suspension travel available between the oem bump-stops. So if you crank it to the top, you will have zero rebound travel.And,This pulls the top of the tires in, creating mucho negative camber. And mucho toe-in.
-Also bear in mind, that as the rear goes up, you lose caster in the front. If you start at/near zero( as the factory did) the caster goes negative;great for slow speed maneuvers,but lousy for higher speeds. And thats where the offset UCA bushings can help.
-If you are unhappy with the elevated rear, a better idea is to lower the rear,and restore the front to be in its proper working range.
-And "stiff and bouncy" has got me puzzled.Yeah those springs are stiff, thats why theyre not on my street car. But bouncy? Are the shocks ok? I bet your shocks are not matched to those springs.
-I installed a set of re-arched HD318 car rear springs to which I had the spring-shop add 1 main leaf, eye-to-eye.Subtle stance,and I can hammer over speed-bumps without banging my head on the headliner.Then I installed 1.03 T-bars,dropped my front-end a tad, and re-aligned.Nice stance, nice ride, nice handling, great tire life, Not so good 60fts; but hey, its a daily-driver.Worked out excellent for me.If it was a weekend bomber, different set-up. Or track-car,different again.
-What are you focusing on?

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

You cannot/must not arbitrarily crank up the T-bars, without a corresponding re-alignment. The factory specifys a front ride height that puts all the relavent parts in working harmony. Changing the ride height affects the harmony, requiring a new alignment; every time.
-Bear in mind that there is only a small amount of suspension travel available between the oem bump-stops. So if you crank it to the top, you will have zero rebound travel.And,This pulls the top of the tires in, creating mucho negative camber. And mucho toe-in.
-Also bear in mind, that as the rear goes up, you lose caster in the front. If you start at/near zero( as the factory did) the caster goes negative;great for slow speed maneuvers,but lousy for higher speeds. And thats where the offset UCA bushings can help.
-If you are unhappy with the elevated rear, a better idea is to lower the rear,and restore the front to be in its proper working range.
-And "stiff and bouncy" has got me puzzled.Yeah those springs are stiff, thats why theyre not on my street car. But bouncy? Are the shocks ok? I bet your shocks are not matched to those springs.
-I installed a set of re-arched HD318 car rear springs to which I had the spring-shop add 1 main leaf, eye-to-eye.Subtle stance,and I can hammer over speed-bumps without banging my head on the headliner.Then I installed 1.03 T-bars,dropped my front-end a tad, and re-aligned.Nice stance, nice ride, nice handling, great tire life, Not so good 60fts; but hey, its a daily-driver.Worked out excellent for me.If it was a weekend bomber, different set-up. Or track-car,different again.
-What are you focusing on?

Yes I am working on getting the shopping list AnodyJoe provided, :burnout:
Not bouncy but stiff to the point that there's about an inch reaction time on bumps that it's constant :blob: hard up and downs.. Maybe the front susp. Is in my head... Let me fix the front first. I was aiming for a stock looking ride feel with abouta two inch lift in rear . weekend ride/daily if anything. Ideas on how lowering rear with these springs ..? something about lowering blocks? (photos)?????

Thanks. . :banghead:

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

Ss springs do sit high and do t have a great ride in my opinion. If you raised the rear a good amount it will throw your alignment off.

Cranking g the torsion bars up can also throw the alignment off.

What bars are in the car? If the bolts are all the way in it may be time for larger bars.

Stock. :violent2:


What's recomended when adjusting the bars?
At what adjustment.?

 

[BIG-B-Barracuda]

Ss springs do sit high and do t have a great ride in my opinion. If you raised the rear a good amount it will throw your alignment off.

Cranking g the torsion bars up can also throw the alignment off.

What bars are in the car? If the bolts are all the way in it may be time for larger bars.

okay i am working on getting the shopping list you provided. with my current situation of installing the SS springs and shocks last night and finding out that my steering is extremly out of it. would you say i need that set up you have with the control arms and rods?:happy1: