rebuilding my front ens (70 RR)

[tpodwdog]

howdy, greetings and salutations. im in the process of rebuilding my front end. All new bushings, tie rods, ball joints...and the lot. every nut,bolt,cotter pin was almost like they all fell off. no,,,not junky fall off,,,,,not one bolt or nut or torsion bar gave me a lick of trouble. i was amazed. HOWEVER......the upper ball joints gave me a fight. i had to heat em up real good for them to break, but i got it and all is well in road runner land. painted the control arms after bead blasting....came out nice... gloss black !

i do want to mentoin one thing.....WHAT IDIOT-STICK CAME UP WITH THE SCREW IN UPPER BALL JOINTS????? the threads on those things are so fine its sick. i didnt cross-thread them but man,,,i had to pay close attention so i wouldnt !....and whats up with that ball joint socket????????????? DUMBEST THING I EVER SEEN !....no depth on the socket so it'll fit nicely on the ball joint. i think mopar could have come up with something better than that...and THANK YOUUUUUU, to the dude that suggested that i take the upper control arm off to do this!!! thank you thank you. that would have been a NIGHTMARE!!! TOOK THE LOWERS TO A SHOP TO HAVE THE NEW BUSHINGS R&R'ed. no way was i attempting THAT!.

i marked the cam bolts to make sure they went back in the same way they came out. its still gonna need aligned when im done but im sure that;ll get me close enuff to get the car to the alignment shop.

all in all it went easier than i thought it would and thank you all for offering help when i posted that i was going to do this . well,,,i did it and it all goes back together tomorrow bright and early . thanx so much guys!

 

[YY1]

Don't forget shallow, those UBJ threads are fine AND shallow, and kind of round looking.

I had good karma right before doing mine. Actually, the day after I started work, and found the first UBJ difficult as hell to get off.

Walked into a "mom and pop" harbor freight style competitor, and found a used BJ socket sitting on a shelf full of new chinese tools.......for $5

 

[tpodwdog]

I have a socket for it but dam....piss poor design ifya ask me. the torsion bar tool worked great. tap tap tap and she came right out!

i meant to ask you guys this....being that the torsion bars are now loose and completely relaxxed... when i put this back together, should i do anything special,,,or wait a while with the weight of the car back on them before i take it to get aligned? i took height measurements b4 i took it apart and i want to get that height back. i was worried about " memory " in the torsion bars!

 

[67 coronet]

I have a socket for it but dam....piss poor design ifya ask me. the torsion bar tool worked great. tap tap tap and she came right out!

i meant to ask you guys this....being that the torsion bars are now loose and completely relaxxed... when i put this back together, should i do anything special,,,or wait a while with the weight of the car back on them before i take it to get aligned? i took height measurements b4 i took it apart and i want to get that height back. i was worried about " memory " in the torsion bars!

just make sure you dont swap left and right bars.normally they are marked on the end if you are not sure.

 

[tpodwdog]

just make sure you dont swap left and right bars.normally they are marked on the end if you are not sure.

i never removed the bars from the car,,,only from the lower control arm...and left em hangin so i wouldnt switch em by accident


the front end is complete,,,except for alignment. alllllll new bushings,,,alll new ball joints,,,allll new tie rod ends and collars,,,new pitman arm and new idler arm....new torsion bar booties and clips! ALL DONE. i even took it for a ride and the steering wheel is where its supposed to be ( right in the center) ...it dont pull,,,,or wander.....only thing is,,,,the upper control arm bushings must have been worn because,,,,( yes i marked them and put the cam bolts back EXACTLY in the same place)..... there is a noticable positive camber...nothing an alignment wont fix....i know i have plenty of adjustment. all done for the low low price of $289.00 ( rock auto) and 3 days work. i detailed every nut and bolt and painted everything gloss black. it looks great and im happy its over...LMAO

thank you again all that gave me a hand in this...you made it possible and headache free!:headbang:. I thank you and my Road Runner thanks you (BEEP-BEEP) !!

OH...I ALMOST FORGOT.... that annoying rattle i posetd about,,,the one i couldnt find,,,,well,,,,I FOUND IT, and youll never guess in a million years what it was. It was the passenger side shock....not the shock itself. where the stem comes through the top and into the engine compartment.... was not going thru the center of the hole...the stem was hitting on the side of the hole...IT WASNT CENTERED IN THE HOLE...amazing. but its gone now and im a happy camper !

 

[YY1]

Glad to hear it. You are now qualified to help the next guy!

 

[fmontez1]

Oh man, scary. . . I'm about to tackle the Ball Joints, Disc brake conversion (non power), and whatever else I can switch out while I'm under there. Reading this thread, I know I'm asking for it, sounds challenging.

I'm game! 68 Coronet 500. 318/904

 

[tpodwdog]

IT WAS ACTUALLY A BREEEEEEEEZEEEE....the upper ball joints were a little "disgruntled"....but nothing a hot acetylene and oxygen torch didnt fix. just make sure you remove the upper control arm.THENNNNN. take out the ball joint. or you may end up "redecorating" your fenders. get a GOOD ball joint tool also...i got a junk one on ebag and it bent ....a few times......no,,,,many times....but all in all it wasnt that bad.