Pics of suspension, brake lines, ball joints oh my...

[CanuckQx4]

Basically I have a bunch of pictures and a bunch of questions lol. I have 3 things on my to do list that Ive never done before and dont quite feel comfortable tackling and I didnt wanna make 3 seperate threads and clog the forum

- new front shocks
- 2 front lower ball joints
- stainless brake lines

I just put my winter tires on today and got a decent look at what was going to be involved in these 3 jobs but I have no parts infront of me and Ive just never done them before so please bare with me and I can explain with pics

#1, front shocks

Mine are pretty beat lol



To me, I think I have to remove the stabilizer link, take the brake line off the bracket on the shock. Remove the 3 bolts on the shock tower, remove the huge 2 bolts that I pictured, then compress the spring and out it comes?? People made it sound very hard job in the searches I did



#2, ball joints

Ive never had them done, Ive got some clunking in the front and they came with a set of end links I orderred so I figured I may aswell install them if it isnt much trouble. I have a tie rod remover tool that I think may come in useful for this. Do you simply have to remove the 3 nuts on the bottom and them pry loose the ball joint from the knuckle with a pickle fork?? I dont know if taking off the 3 nuts and the castle nut would free it from its home and give room to install the new one. Need an alignment afterwards??



#3 brake lines

I orderred a 3 piece set of brake lines from goodridge, I dont quite get how th kit would installl though, these pictures are of my front drivers side, assuming the passenger is the same. Anyways I get how to disconnect the line at the caliper, simply nuts and banjo. But the other 2 connections Im unsure of.



Where it connects to the shock, is this just placed on the bracket and with some wd-40 and a flat head would just pop off or is that connected somehow??



And where the line meets the body, do you just spin that nut counterclockwise and the fitting would disconnect??



They all looked like regular 0mm nuts to me, do you really need to buy the brke line flare wrenches??

[m0nkeyprince]

to answer your last question, yes yu do, the brake line fittings are really soft metal, and a regular wrench might round it ( at least thats what everybody says) so as cehap insurance i got a set of flare nut wrenches for less then 20. Be advised though because the goodridge line fittings a not 10mm like the stck ones

[CanuckQx4]

I did some more searching and aparently we have a strut mount and a strut bearing intop of our struts?? Do you have to buy them seperate or is there a best one to buy?? If I went to the dealer would they list them together or apart?? I wish a company made the monroe all in one unit for our cars with better quality then monroe parts.... would be so easy

Need some help with the strut bearing / mount to I suppose if anyone has suggestions

[Chuck Tribolet]

The flare nuts ARE soft brass, and an open-end wrench WILL round them off (the voice of experience). Get the right flare nut
wrenches. You can measure the nuts with with an open-end wrench. They are probably 10mm. Get a GOOD flare nut wrench.
No made in China cheapies. Craftsman is good, Snap-On is better. Here's a comparison picture:

Snap-On on top, Craftsman on the bottom. Note how the Snap-On is beefier, and contacts parts of all six sides of the nut.

Almost all my tools are Craftsman. This is a case where I want Snap-On.

M0nkeyprince: the nut is on the hard line and doesn't change if replace the flexible line.


Chuck

[CanuckQx4]

advice on how to remove the brake line from the side of the shock and how to undo that fitting on the fenderwall without rounding anything??

[01silvapathy]

I just used a set of vise grips to grab my rear brake line nuts and break them loose and then just a 10mm regular box wrench to get em off after that. Worked like a charm...but took forever to bleed in the new line which is 13inches longer

[CanuckQx4]

I'll buy the 10mm wrench to get the old ones loose no big deal. Im more worried about how you get that connection off the shock, and how you disconnect the one in the fender.

I already have the balljoints in hand though so I would love to change those out today if possible if anyone can tell me the quickest best way to do it. Do you need an alignment after balljoints??

[CanuckQx4]

little help on how to change the ball joints?? There just prety and waiting to go on!!

[m0nkeyprince]

for me, i had to remove the inner side of the control arm, then with that dropped down, remove the cv axle, that way when you remove the 3 ball joint nuts, they can be removed by pushing them up out of the control arm, without removeing the cv axle however, the outer joint would be blocking the ball joint from coming out enough for the studs to clear the control arm holes.

[CanuckQx4]

mine is 2wd

[m0nkeyprince]

LOL okay, then i think, you are gonna have it wayy easier, im not sure if the set up is different, but unbolt the three nuts, then use a screwdriver to take the three stud triangle assembly out, take out the cotter pin, unbolt the nut, then while lifting up on the control arm, pull the ball joint out

[CanuckQx4]

Anyone else done balljoint?? On balljoints that are on my car now, it almost looks like the top of the bolt heads are pressed into the control arm, there is no "head" of the bolts ontop of the control arms for the 3 bolts. Is that oem?? Can that be removed or does the whole control arm have to be rep[laced??

Would love some help on how to disconnect those brake lines, especially the shock connection point there

[fleurys]

the bolts are not pressed in the control arm. Just use a good ratchet and remove the 3 bolts of the balljoint. you will understand when you remove them (unless someone did a real shi*ty job on your truck before). As for the brake line, have a look here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXmGEM5fSgQ

At one point, you're not going to be able to predict everything.... but if you must know what's involve in repairing stuff on your truck, I would strongly suggest you get the fsm (factory service manual) and give it a good look... You will get the answers you're looking for and if they are not in there it means the job is so easy or evident that it does not need to be explained...

Put pictures for the others that will be doing the same work and have the same questions you have :-)

S.

[CanuckQx4]

ya so if I remove the castle nut, then remove those 3 bolts, can I use a pickly fork to split the balljoint form the knuckle and pull it out that easy??

Then put the new ball joints taper in the knuckle, tighten the castle nut a bit, then the 3 ball joint bolts. Torque everything on the ground (I cant find the torque specs in the fsm, how do you guys find some of this stuff??) and thats it??

Or do more pieces have to come off in order to change the balljoint...

and do I need an alignment after doing this lol

[fleurys]

ya so if I remove the castle nut, then remove those 3 bolts, can I use a pickly fork to split the balljoint form the knuckle and pull it out that easy??

Then put the new ball joints taper in the knuckle, tighten the castle nut a bit, then the 3 ball joint bolts. Torque everything on the ground (I cant find the torque specs in the fsm, how do you guys find some of this stuff??) and thats it??

Or do more pieces have to come off in order to change the balljoint...

and do I need an alignment after doing this lol

-yes

-yes (see the graph for the torque numbers-- check the numbers in parenthesis)
on a 4wd you might need to remove the half-shaft.. on 2wd no

-no

[CanuckQx4]

Is the last 2 numbers to each nut/bolt its pointing to the tolerance "spec" for tightening??

Like the main castle nut bolt would be 87 to 123 ft lbs and the 3 holding it to the control amr would be 76 to 94 ft lbs?? Doesnt that seem like a big tolerance difference??

Or am I not reading the legend on the numbers right...

[fleurys]

Is the last 2 numbers to each nut/bolt its pointing to the tolerance "spec" for tightening??

Like the main castle nut bolt would be 87 to 123 ft lbs and the 3 holding it to the control amr would be 76 to 94 ft lbs?? Doesnt that seem like a big tolerance difference??

Or am I not reading the legend on the numbers right...

You are reading correctly...

[CanuckQx4]

Cool thanks I appreciate the help. I would definetely benefit from learning how to properly read and follow the FSM which almost seems written in a different language on some pages...

[CanuckQx4]

any advice on the front stock removal??

And will I need an alignement after doing balljoints??

[01silvapathy]

Dude really?????? 4 posts up you asked if you needed an alignment after, 3 posts up the post by fleurys answered your question......NO. But hey I guess we are lucky that you didnt go starting another thread asking the same question. Do you have like a memory problem?

[CanuckQx4]

sorry but his "no" is kinda hard to see I didnt notice it

Does it feel good to be an e-thug??

oh so Sorry I dont have master eyes like you oh master pathfinder driver

and no offence or anything 01silvapathy but after reading some advice that you give, and even the horrible advice you gave in this thread(vice grip on brake lines ), I dont really care for your opinion but I do appreciate the free bump

[01silvapathy]

Some of the advice I give? Really? What I did worked without damaging the lines, so where is the issue with that? Sure you can screw it up with vice grips...if you are retarded. You may as well take it to a shop if you are so concerned with everything.

Maybe you should make notecards for peoples replies to you, or even print out the page and use a hi lighter

[CanuckQx4]

Finished the balljoint job this afternoon, lubed up all the brake line connections hoping the kit comes in sometime this week. Need to buy that flare wrench kit still though

[m0nkeyprince]

yeah dude, good lusck with the brake lines man, i have to wait 1 or 2 more weeks until my replacement brakelines, with the transparent red pvc covering comes. You can run it fine bare no problem though, no safety concerns, i talked to a goodridge rep. plus it would look insanely sick

[CanuckQx4]

You just wanted a coating on them??

[m0nkeyprince]

You just wanted a coating on them??

haha yeah, it was only like 5-10 more bucks, and i wanted to be safe. i know they are safe right now, but extra insurance plus the red transparent cover looks sick haha

[nico911411]

Just got Sankei 555 BallJoints for my QX4, but they don't include the other 3 bolts/nuts. Am I suppposed to re-use the OEM 3-Bolt Bracket??? or where can I buy one? Thanks guys/gals





I think I will also need to remove the Half Shaft to have room to remove the Ball Joint

[nico911411]

Are Roca bushings for the lower control arm any good?

http://www.roca-usa.com/product.php?cPa ... ucts_id=89

[m0nkeyprince]

Are Roca bushings for the lower control arm any good?

http://www.roca-usa.com/product.php?cPa ... ucts_id=89

are those roca ones made out of urethane? I rec the polyurethane ones, theyre stiffer and out last the regular ones