How do I rebuild the front end? (order of operation?)

[redfishsc]

Well I'm part way into this and headed to bed for the night. Got rained out part of the day, said the hell with the other part and just got rained on lol.

Got one wheel, passengers side, disassembled. Lower ball joint swapped, upper control arm removed and ball joint cussed out. Just need to clean up the old rivets. Need to get new bushings, they gave me the wrong ones at the parts store. Got the new shock in also.

Haven't touch a single part of the steering yet, that will be for tomorrow maybe.

I tell ya, this is a lot harder than I imagined. Hats off to you guys that do this for a living and blow through a ball joint job in a couple hours. I know having all the better tools, and vehicle lift, make it easier, but not THAT much easier.

Either way, the only surprise I've found is a burnt wire behind the brake rotor splash plate. I think that's the wheel speed sensor wire. The outer (black) insulation has literally melted, likely from brake rotor heat I suppose. The inner two wires have good insulation on them still.


I think I'm going to try to protect those wires with some black tubing, like vacuum tube hose. Split it longways and wrap it around the wire. Not sure that's the best idea but the only other thing I can think of is heat resistant tape maybe?

 

[shorepatrol]

Well I'm part way into this and headed to bed for the night. Got rained out part of the day, said the hell with the other part and just got rained on lol.

Got one wheel, passengers side, disassembled. Lower ball joint swapped, upper control arm removed and ball joint cussed out. Just need to clean up the old rivets. Need to get new bushings, they gave me the wrong ones at the parts store. Got the new shock in also.

Haven't touch a single part of the steering yet, that will be for tomorrow maybe.

I tell ya, this is a lot harder than I imagined. Hats off to you guys that do this for a living and blow through a ball joint job in a couple hours. I know having all the better tools, and vehicle lift, make it easier, but not THAT much easier.

Either way, the only surprise I've found is a burnt wire behind the brake rotor splash plate. I think that's the wheel speed sensor wire. The outer (black) insulation has literally melted, likely from brake rotor heat I suppose. The inner two wires have good insulation on them still.


I think I'm going to try to protect those wires with some black tubing, like vacuum tube hose. Split it longways and wrap it around the wire. Not sure that's the best idea but the only other thing I can think of is heat resistant tape maybe?

Why didn't you get the complete upper a arm with bushings and ball joint from moog? Made it easy for me.

 

[454cid]

Either way, the only surprise I've found is a burnt wire behind the brake rotor splash plate. I think that's the wheel speed sensor wire. The outer (black) insulation has literally melted, likely from brake rotor heat I suppose. The inner two wires have good insulation on them still.

Yes, that's the speed sensor for the ABS. My passenger side was damaged too. The driver's side was fine. Theoretically they're removable, and replaceable, but when I tried doing it on my OEM hubs they broke. When I did it on my Timken hub, I was able to get it out. Some hubs come with them and some don't.

I think I'm going to try to protect those wires with some black tubing, like vacuum tube hose. Split it longways and wrap it around the wire. Not sure that's the best idea but the only other thing I can think of is heat resistant tape maybe?

I think you probably need abrasion protection more than anything. Tubing might work, but if it's that fat stuff it might not fit. You might need to try a few things before you find something that looks like it will work long term. You could always spend a few more dollars and replace the sensor, but be very careful removing the old one so it doesn't break off.

 

[redfishsc]

Why didn't you get the complete upper a arm with bushings and ball joint from moog? Made it easy for me.

Because saving a few dollars is apparently a good reason to suffer more.

Honestly i didn't expect the bushings to be as difficult. All the ones i see for sale have an outer metal sleeve, so it seems like I have to grind the spot weld off the current sleeve and remove it to press in the new sleeve..

Any ideas?

 

[Schurkey]

it seems like I have to grind the spot weld off the current sleeve and remove it to press in the new sleeve..

Any ideas?

Poly bushings are much easier for the D-I-Y installer, as no press is needed. The only "special tool" is the propane torch. The rubber will spit, smoke, and burn. Do this outside, with a garden hose near by.

 

[redfishsc]

I do realize that. Nobody locally has them, that I can find. Otherwise I would have gone that route.

 

[Schurkey]

UPS, USPS, FedEx can deliver them.

 

[Awest623]

1. Pickle forks are NOT the proper tools for separating joints. Yes, they work. Yes, you're ****-canning the old parts anyway so it doesn't matter that they're damaged. I've used pickle-forks, but I quit when I found a KD (now Gearwrench) puller set. I've watched guys knock the pickle fork into the brake rotor when separating lower ball joints. I've seen the damage to the steering knuckle when the pickle fork distorts the iron the joint is taper-fitted to.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images

https://www.amazon.com/GearWrench-4...CCHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538067557&sr=8-1

2. Air hammers can be wonderful tools. You want one that hits HARD, and most of them hit FAST. Lightweight, inexpensive air hammers are useless for suspension work. They can be OK for cutting exhaust pipes, or beating panels. I hope you bought a hard-hitter.

3. I agree about the Polyurethane control arm bushings. Great upgrade. Poly bushings are much easier for the D-I-Y installer, as no press is needed. The only "special tool" is the propane torch. The rubber will spit, smoke, and burn. Do this outside, with a garden hose near by.

4. I need to stuff a rag joint into my truck--or replace the rag joint with a U-joint. Common problem.

Best way to remove ball joints from the sumbitch it's stuck in. Wack whatever it's stuck in with a bfh. It'll come right out after that

 

[Garrett Fulton]

I did the suspension on my '93 C2500 a while back. All of it, including the rear spring bushings and the cab to frame mounts. Just my .02, but I would_not_use any polyurethane bushings anywhere. My truck rode so stiffly that I had to finally remove the cab to frame poly bushings and put in rubber OEM's. I've been told there are different hardness levels to polyurethane bushings and my experience was not typical. These were a kit from PST, Performance Systems Technology, so it's a warning. It is much easier to get new control arms, but I took mine to a shop with an arbor press for those bushings. It's a lot of work, though.

 

[redfishsc]

Got everything done finally. I'm fairly sure I'm the lousiest mechanic on this site at this point lol. I've done head gasket swaps and rear-end rebuilds quite successfully on these same trucks but for some reason this front end rebuild just flat kicked my ass. Definitely not one of my best efforts.

Took her out for a drive, I can tell the steering is going to be a bit more responsive (a bit more feel of the road) but I definitely need to get this thing aligned.

Oh, and I don't think I mentioned earlier, it started misfiring for some reason before I started all this. But not enough that I could easily diagnose it.

Well when I took her out for a test run, my data logger pulled 1400 misfires from cyl #5 which is the same one that I had misfires on back in June.

I think I must have the cam retard set wrong or something, because it seems to screw up about 6 months after putting in new distributor caps.