Almost ready to roll! Got to grab some grease to get them lubed up. After that I am having the truck towed to the shop for an alignment.
$17 ball joint press from Harbor Freight made the job minutes instead of hours. Once the initial explosive pop of the joint separating from the knuckle came the rest was a cake walk. I went with Moog joints with zerk fittings. Looking forward to driving it again, so excited to experience what the suspension will feel be like now that everything is new and poly. I have also decided to go with the Monomax shocks. Should have those sometime this week.
Even turning the wheel while the truck is on jack stands feels tighter.
Front End Complete!!!! (pics of complete)
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BronkStang
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:04 pm
- Car: 06 commander,94 HB Freddie,97 HB autox, 89 Bronco-stang
Re: Upper Ball Joints In! (Reverend D)
awesome. i have heard good things about the monomax shocks in other applications
and damn that balljoint press was cheeeeaaaaaaaaaaap! is it like a big c clamp? i rented one at autozone for $100 bucks deposit it worked great...
and damn that balljoint press was cheeeeaaaaaaaaaaap! is it like a big c clamp? i rented one at autozone for $100 bucks deposit it worked great...
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BronkStang
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:04 pm
- Car: 06 commander,94 HB Freddie,97 HB autox, 89 Bronco-stang
Re: Upper Ball Joints In! (BronkStang)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZoL1gaWedA
do it the way auto x-ers do! do it yourself! on my car i use a relatively flat driveway 4 jackstands to make a rectangle around your car that is perfectly square, and a level, and a carpenter's square, sometimes even a sheetrock 24" by 48" square for big tires... just watch the vid. i didnt follow his method i followed grassroots motorsports method but its basically the same and his water siphon trick is awesome!
do it the way auto x-ers do! do it yourself! on my car i use a relatively flat driveway 4 jackstands to make a rectangle around your car that is perfectly square, and a level, and a carpenter's square, sometimes even a sheetrock 24" by 48" square for big tires... just watch the vid. i didnt follow his method i followed grassroots motorsports method but its basically the same and his water siphon trick is awesome!
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BronkStang
- Posts: 71
- Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:04 pm
- Car: 06 commander,94 HB Freddie,97 HB autox, 89 Bronco-stang
Re: Upper Ball Joints In! (Reverend D)
btw instead of measuring from the center of the rim, measure from the stringline on one side to the other side and divide the difference in track width from side to side, our front track width is a bit wider IIRC
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Rev_D21
- Posts: 5946
- Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2003 9:49 pm
- Car: 1986.5 D21 LB HD 2WD V6 5Speed
1991 D21 Reg 2WD Auto
1995 D21 Reg 2WD 5Spd
1996 D21 Reg 4WD 5Spd
2012 Versa 1.6S 5-Speed - Location: Somwhere in Western NY
- Contact:
This is what I used to pop out the ball joints. Worth its weight in gold.
http://www.harborfreight.com/c...99849
http://www.harborfreight.com/c...99849
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Rev_D21
- Posts: 5946
- Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2003 9:49 pm
- Car: 1986.5 D21 LB HD 2WD V6 5Speed
1991 D21 Reg 2WD Auto
1995 D21 Reg 2WD 5Spd
1996 D21 Reg 4WD 5Spd
2012 Versa 1.6S 5-Speed - Location: Somwhere in Western NY
- Contact:
I can now rest for a few. The front end project is now complete...for now.
Tonight I pre-loaded the front bearings because they had minor play. I also installed my KYB monotube shocks and torqued the tension rod bushings.
I took her for a small 1 miles test drive (don't want to tear up the new tires) and I must say it handles like a completely different vehicle. It's stable and reacts a little faster than before.
The monotube shocks are awesome! I have read they can give a vehicle harshness but that was not the case here. In fact they did an outstanding job smoothing out the ride. Still have to put the rears on, looking forward to that!
Turning around in the parking lot up the street there was no body roll to speak of. The truck just did the turn and that was that.
So here's a quick run down of the project.
Moog Upper Ball JointsQSTEN CenterlinkQSTEN Tie Rod EndsRamcoa Tension Rod BushingsEnergy Suspension Sway Bar Bushing KitKYB Monotube Front Shocks
Going to have the truck towed to the alignment shop sometime this week.
Seeing how the bushings looked on my truck with only 100k on them makes me question the condition of your front suspension. The rubber at 13 years old just did not hold up. So far I am impressed with the poly parts I installed. Perhaps in a few weeks I will do a follow-up to see if I still feel the same way. I drive the truck 80 miles a day during the summer so poly was the obvious choice for me in this situation.
Carquest supplied all the parts since they are a direct distributor of Moog, Ramcoa and KYB components. The boys at the Henrietta, NY Carquest did me right and I thank them big time.
If anyone has any questions or are thinking about this and want a few pointers let me know.
Tonight I pre-loaded the front bearings because they had minor play. I also installed my KYB monotube shocks and torqued the tension rod bushings.
I took her for a small 1 miles test drive (don't want to tear up the new tires) and I must say it handles like a completely different vehicle. It's stable and reacts a little faster than before.
The monotube shocks are awesome! I have read they can give a vehicle harshness but that was not the case here. In fact they did an outstanding job smoothing out the ride. Still have to put the rears on, looking forward to that!
Turning around in the parking lot up the street there was no body roll to speak of. The truck just did the turn and that was that.
So here's a quick run down of the project.
Moog Upper Ball JointsQSTEN CenterlinkQSTEN Tie Rod EndsRamcoa Tension Rod BushingsEnergy Suspension Sway Bar Bushing KitKYB Monotube Front Shocks
Going to have the truck towed to the alignment shop sometime this week.
Seeing how the bushings looked on my truck with only 100k on them makes me question the condition of your front suspension. The rubber at 13 years old just did not hold up. So far I am impressed with the poly parts I installed. Perhaps in a few weeks I will do a follow-up to see if I still feel the same way. I drive the truck 80 miles a day during the summer so poly was the obvious choice for me in this situation.
Carquest supplied all the parts since they are a direct distributor of Moog, Ramcoa and KYB components. The boys at the Henrietta, NY Carquest did me right and I thank them big time.
If anyone has any questions or are thinking about this and want a few pointers let me know.