Front suspension removal 68RR

[1968RRTEXAS]

Good evening, I am trying to figure out the order of disassembly on the front suspension. I have a PST rebuild kit and a service manual. So far I have the vehicle on jack stands, tire and drum removed. torsion bar adjusters backed all the way out, rear torsion bar snap rings removed. Sway bar is completely removed.

TIA

 

[Beekeeper]

First remove the roll pin and nut from the front end of both stabilizer bars and remove the bars. Unhook the brake lines and shockes and separate the upper and lower ball joints and remove spindles. Next remove the torsion bars from the lower arms this
will most always be a pain but they will come out. There is a removal tool that clamps around the bar that can't be hit with a hammer to drive the bars out of their sockets in the loner control arms. It's bad practice to use vise grips as they will nick the bars and cause stress points that could lead to torsion bar failure. Once the bars are out next remove the upper a arms and lower control arms. One note is to remove the lower bump stops to allow the lower control arms to be pushed down as far as possible to help with torsion bar removal.

 

[WileE]

Suggest removal of the bump stops first to get full drop

 

[1968RRTEXAS]

Thanks beekeeper that's exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Best investment you can make, especially if you are teaching yourself mechanics, is to buy a shop manual for your particular car. you can usually find them on E-bay or search the web,...............................MO

 

[66 Sat]

There's a Hot Rod article on the internet that shows each step for a 68 Barracuda with photos. It's the same front end setup, I used this article when doing my 66 Satellite. I haven't got the link sorry.

 

[lynchroad]

You will find good info at Mopar Max / Tech....

 

[mmissile]

Disconnect steering coupler, remove torsion-bars, separate upper ball joints from the spindles, support engine, unbolt k-frame...and have at disassembly on the ground. While it's all apart, refinish all pieces.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Here's the easy way:

1. Remove top shock nuts.
2. Remove upper control arm bolts.
3. Cut brake lines.
4. Cut torsion bars in half and remove with band saw (you'll want to upgrade to Hemi bars anyway).
5. take roll pin out of steering coupling and separate from gear box.
6. Put dolly under K-frame & remove all 4 bolts.

Not take all that crap apart, clean it, blast it & paint it.

 

[Beekeeper]

Here's the easy way:

1. Remove top shock nuts.
2. Remove upper control arm bolts.
3. Cut brake lines.
4. Cut torsion bars in half and remove with band saw (you'll want to upgrade to Hemi bars anyway).
5. take roll pin out of steering coupling and separate from gear box.
6. Put dolly under K-frame & remove all 4 bolts.

Not take all that crap apart, clean it, blast it & paint it.

Heck with the sawzall use a torch on it:headbang:

 

[AR67GTX]

I just finished rebuilding my front and rear suspensions. Couple things I learned. Remove the upper ball joints before removing the upper a-arm. If you have one, try an impact gun and ball joint socket. I used a break over bar with extender on the first one and thought I was going to pull the car off the jackstands. Put an impact gun on the other one and it zipped it right off. Remove the upper bump stops before trying to pull the torsion bars. Also loosen the strut rod bolts until the LCA has some wiggle to it. That way any alignment difference between the LCA and the torsion bar is relieved before you try to slide it out. Mine slid out pretty easily but I did use one of the bolt on brackets and hit it a couple times with a hammer. One of my LCA shafts was so worn it turned in the bushing when I tried to unbolt it. Also the end where it runs through the front of the cross member had a groove worn in it. I bought new shafts from PST which I think was a major improvement when I bolted it all back together.

 

[Speedbird]

About the torsion bars.
You let the adjusters on the lower control arms down, right?
I've found if you take the nut off the lower control arm bushing pin, the one through the K frame, and the upper control arm is off the car frame, you can whack the lower control arm rearward with a BFBH.
That gets the torsion bar rearward out of the cross member.
Then whack the LCA forward off the torsion bar.
Junk yard tricks.
If you do it right, you should have the spindle, upper control arm and LCA in your lap as one assembly.
With out the torsion bar on it.