Clutch / Front End Suspension Questions...

Nagash01WS6 said:

Also... how can you tell if the rod ends / wheel bearings up front need to be swapped out... and where can you get them, aparantly AZ only sells the complete bearing / hub assembly, but Discount has bearings.

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I bought & installed the Autozone clutch about a year ago. It was 149.99 I believe. The TOB doesn't squeak, and the pedal is a little hard to push. The clutch doesn't grab excessively hard as well, so you can dump the clutch from 2000 rpm's and not spin the tires. But if you want to do some 4k+ launches, then I would suggest a much harder grabing clutch. People have mentioned the Mcleod (sp?) dual disc clutch as a good one for the higher rev launches.

A shop should have no problem aligning your car, if all of the bushings are good. You need to remove the front wheels, and examine the bushings. If they are cracked/broken/gone, then they need to be replaced. (This includes your tie-rod bushings & lower ball joints) Now that I have done a spring install, it would probably take me 2 hours to re-do the front bushings & lower ball joints. So it's something you could definately do within 4-6 hours with no experience. Once the bushings & ball joints are good, then a shop can align the car for the "quoted price" that you usually see advertised. But, sometimes the lowering springs will drop the car too much, and CC plates will be necessary. The alignment shop will tell you when you take it to them.

Like I said before, the tie rod bushings will be cracked or damaged. This is very noticeable when you remove the wheels & clean them off. As far as the wheel bearings are concerned, you need to remove them, clean & examine them to find out.

Have you ever seen someone post a picture of a bearing that had nasty marks on each bearing? I saw it here before, and it's a classic sign of a bad wheel bearing. Also, if any of the bearings are hard to turn, then you need to replace the bearing.

I was browsing through autozone's website, and they don't sell the wheel bearing seperately!!! What a crock! Maybe Ford or Merles sells them seperately.

So maybe it's worth it to remove & inspect the bearings before you replace them. At that price for the kit, that is rediculous!
Scott