Andy L
Newbie
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2015
- Messages
- 40
- Reaction score
- 70
The tear down was pretty straight forward. No real surprises. When removing the springs, I put a length of chain around it to make sure it behaved when removing pressure. No drama..Here putting in the new parts. One thing to note if you ever do this, the upper control arm mounting points have knock outs which will allow the camber to be adjusted. I didn't do that. Ugh! More work later on. Do it before installing the uppers and life will be easier.
Ok, spindle is installed. I made sure to remount the abs line correctly and the brake lines (not in yet, but used braided lines front and rear). Note, I hope I didn't screw up. When installing the spring, I literally spent hours putting this one in. I could not get it to sear properly with its full length. I ended up cutting 1/2 coil AND used a spring compressor to install it. It was still a ***** to put in. I hate springs!
Here is the complete steering system. Also, no magazine or internet article I have seen tells you how much of the installers blood was spent working on the vehicle. Their clothes are usually clean etc. Not me, when this is done, I will have to toss my clothes and buy more band-aids! I removed the original parts from end to end and assembled the new to match up as much as possible. While in position under the front end and tired, I looked away for about 4 seconds...2 seconds too long. The whole assembly fell out and the center link got me on the forehead then chin. Luckily it did not knock out any teeth, and only had a goose egg on my forehead and a bloody lip. Could have been worse. Does that stuff happen to you guys too?
Torq specs called for Pitman arm to be 175 ft lbs...and I don't have a 34mm socket. Sorry, my harbor freight torq wrench does not go that high. So, I put it on as tight as possible with this....
More ingenuity needed. The end links supplied with the sway bar were way to long. The ones supplied with the control arms were about 1/2" to short. So, a trip to Fastenal scored me a grade 8 bolt that was just right. I did have similar issues with the rear bar as well. Great that manufacturers provide parts to install, but cannot anticipate all the other parts you might have...
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Ok, spindle is installed. I made sure to remount the abs line correctly and the brake lines (not in yet, but used braided lines front and rear). Note, I hope I didn't screw up. When installing the spring, I literally spent hours putting this one in. I could not get it to sear properly with its full length. I ended up cutting 1/2 coil AND used a spring compressor to install it. It was still a ***** to put in. I hate springs!
You must be registered for see images attach
Here is the complete steering system. Also, no magazine or internet article I have seen tells you how much of the installers blood was spent working on the vehicle. Their clothes are usually clean etc. Not me, when this is done, I will have to toss my clothes and buy more band-aids! I removed the original parts from end to end and assembled the new to match up as much as possible. While in position under the front end and tired, I looked away for about 4 seconds...2 seconds too long. The whole assembly fell out and the center link got me on the forehead then chin. Luckily it did not knock out any teeth, and only had a goose egg on my forehead and a bloody lip. Could have been worse. Does that stuff happen to you guys too?
You must be registered for see images attach
Torq specs called for Pitman arm to be 175 ft lbs...and I don't have a 34mm socket. Sorry, my harbor freight torq wrench does not go that high. So, I put it on as tight as possible with this....
You must be registered for see images attach
More ingenuity needed. The end links supplied with the sway bar were way to long. The ones supplied with the control arms were about 1/2" to short. So, a trip to Fastenal scored me a grade 8 bolt that was just right. I did have similar issues with the rear bar as well. Great that manufacturers provide parts to install, but cannot anticipate all the other parts you might have...
You must be registered for see images attach