Suspension Rebuild Tips Please

kylehamilton79 · Dec 23, 2009

I should receive my new suspension parts on December 29th and I'm looking for a little help removing everything and installing the new parts. I purchased a basic rebuild kit with new upper and lower control arms plus all the rubber bushings. I'm having trouble finding many instructions on the correct way to do this. I have looked through my Haynes manual but it just lists the steps with no pictures. Anyone have a website that shows pictures step-by-step of how to do this? Also, I bought the Eccetric Eliminator Kit from TCP and just wondering how I should set that up. Thanks for all the help.

Kyle

2+2GT · Dec 23, 2009

Haynes, Chiltons, etc are crap. Get the Factory Service Manual. It'll pay for itself the first time you use it.

If the TCP kit doesn't include excellent instructions, send it back.

j69302 · Dec 23, 2009

what i did with the eccentric eliminator kit was hold it in place before i removed my original suspension. Found the set of holes that fit best, marked them and installed the new suspension through those holes. camber was good to go, didnt need to adjust it.

When you go to install them, make sure you keep the eliminator plates in the same orientation as when you mocked them up.

JonK · Dec 23, 2009

Agreed, the shop manual for your year is the way to go, they're usually <$50 and have wealth of info. in them on rebuilding most of the car along with torque values, capacities, etc. I keep all my notes of things I've changed, settings, mods, casting numbers, etc. so it's all in one place. I use mine weekly at least.
I think you're going to have to put a guess eccentric in from the kit (I just used the centered ones to start with) and bring the rest of them with you when you get your alignment done so they can set it with the correct set for each side. Changing all of the suspension components to new should change your alignment even if it was right with the old worn out parts it'll be different once the new parts are on.
Jon

Rusty67 · Dec 24, 2009

Toss that fake service manual in the garbage. If you want to get some use out of it then use the pages for kindling the next time you light a fire. Those manuals have cost me so much money from wrong information that I only recommend them to people I don't like.

As for tips on the suspension....
Do 1 side at a time (sway bar is an exception to this).
Pull the shock first.
Get one of these type of spring compressors:
DazeCars, Home Made Bolt in Spring Compressor
You can make a tool to separate the upper and lower control arms from the spindle using 2 large bolts and a coupler which will act as a press. If you read further down on that link you will see what I'm talking about.

As far as the cam eccentric eliminators for the lower arms you bought, I'd return them. I don't think they are worth the time unless you have a serious race car. Even then I doubt they are that useful.

tx65coupe · Dec 24, 2009

I can't tell from your avatar what year your car is, but if it is a 65-66 make sure you keep track of the alignment shims. I believe that in 67 they stopped using them.

2+2GT · Dec 24, 2009

Rusty67 said:
You can make a tool to separate the upper and lower control arms from the spindle using 2 large bolts and a coupler which will act as a press. If you read further down on that link you will see what I'm talking about.

As far as the cam eccentric eliminators for the lower arms you bought, I'd return them. I don't think they are worth the time unless you have a serious race car. Even then I doubt they are that useful.

You'll see the factory ball joint tool in the Manual, the link tells you how to simulate it.

My Explorer came from the factory with the eccentric eliminators, I had to pay for eccentrics. Funny, huh? If you're driving hard enough on the street to need the eliminators, please don't drive around here. They're just another item pushed by magazine articles because they're really cool, except you don't need them.

A lot of stuff in magazines is like that. 90% of the ignition equipment sold today are the least cost-effective money you can spend on a car, takes a very sensitive dyno to detect a difference over well-tuned stock ignition, if then. Looks really groovy in the magazine, though, and they have to push their advertisers' stuff.

kylehamilton79 · Dec 25, 2009

My car is a '67. The main reason I bought the eccentric eliminator is because I read that these cars can lose alignment with the factory eccentric after a hard bump or pothole. I've heard good things about Total Control Products on here before, so I decided it would be worth it to spend $59 to keep my car in alignment. I don't plan on driving the car very hard, unless it's in a straight line.

By the way, I downloaded the service manual and have started reading through it. I've also seen the ball joint tool with the coupler before, and I plan on going through the bolt bin and finding some bolts or all-thread to work. I am also going to do the UCA Shelby drop and hopefully the zerks will clear after lowering the control arm.

For the coil spring compressor I plan on renting one from Advance, Autozone, or O'Reilly. That's really the only thing I'm worried about, making sure I have a quality compressor so I keep my fingers intact. I appreciate all the good advice and help.

S-Car-Go · Dec 25, 2009

One tip that is left out of many manuals is after everything is back together, keep the LCA bolt loose until the weight of the car is back on it. Then torque it. Same holds true with the leaf spring shackles.

If you tighten everything up when the car is in the air, the suspension won't compress and the car will sit high.

Take your time, be safe, and you will be very rewarded with the improvement in handling and ride quality. Don't forget to have it aligned for radials and not biased tires (don't let your shop use the factory specs).

rebel65 · Dec 26, 2009

S-Car-Go said:
(don't let your shop use the factory specs).

i think this is one of the most important things to remember about your alignment.

2bav8 said:
Caster: +1.5° to +2.5°

Camber: 0 to -.5°

Toe: 1/8" in

Nice specs for street use.

2+2GT · Dec 26, 2009

That's a good tip about the inner bolt on the lower arm.

One thing we have all neglected in our zeal to dis the cheap manuals is lowering the upper control arms 1". This is probably the single most effective modification that can be done to any part of the suspension, and since the suspension will be apart, it will cost nothing to do.

"During hard cornering the Mustang body had a tendency to lift a wheel off the pavement and to plow in to the turn. Klaus Arning, Ford's own suspension engineer, redesigned the front end of the car by lowering the inner pivot of the upper control arms exactly one inch. Lowering the body resulted in greater changes in the wheel camber during cornering, keeping the wheels vertical to the ground. It also increased the front end's roll center of gravity and reduced the body's plowing." - Dennis Begley

Complete instructions here:
http://site.cobranda.com/tech/aarms.pdf

kylehamilton79 · Dec 30, 2009

This week I have taken all of the suspension pieces off while I was waiting on the kit to arrive. Everything went as planned and I didn't have any major obstacles. I finished drilling the holes for the Shelby drop this afternoon and test fit the UCA. Everything looks good and I'm ready and waiting on strut rods to get here so I can install everything. Thanks for the help.

And I got to thinking about what S-Car-Go said about waiting to torque down the LCA until the weight of the car is on it. Could I do this using ramps and set the car down on the ramps to tighten the LCA bolt? My car sits too low to do it any other way. I'll update my progress the rest of this week and after alignment next week.

S-Car-Go · Dec 31, 2009

Ramps are fine. In the back I've put a jack under the rear end until it just barely comes off the jack stands, then tighten the leafs.

One other thing in case no one told you. When you set the car on the ground, that will NOT be the height it will sit at. You have to roll it around a little for the suspension to compress to it's natural height (back and forth in a driveway is fine)

65FBE2 · Dec 31, 2009

I'm to late for this thread but someone reading and planning to do the same work, this may help. Tony Brand Inc. catalog has ton's of suspension tips and the templates for the shelby UCA drop. I also found that Mustangs Plus Inc has a tech tip for seperating ball joints and tie rod ends with just a hammer and it works perfectly.

kylehamilton79 · Dec 31, 2009

I'm still waiting on back-ordered strut rods, so today I just did some cleaning up and undercoating. I also painted my spindles to look good with all the new parts. Tomorrow I'm going to start putting new parts on and when I get the new strut rods I will tighten everything down and have it aligned. Dazecars included the new specs for alignment when they shipped my Shelby drop template and drill bit. I will post pics once everything is back together.

2+2GT · Jan 1, 2010

kylehamilton79 said:
I'm still waiting on back-ordered strut rods, so today I just did some cleaning up and undercoating. I also painted my spindles to look good with all the new parts. Tomorrow I'm going to start putting new parts on and when I get the new strut rods I will tighten everything down and have it aligned. Dazecars included the new specs for alignment when they shipped my Shelby drop template and drill bit. I will post pics once everything is back together.

Did you drill the new holes for the upper arms yet?

kylehamilton79 · Jan 1, 2010

Yes, I drilled the new upper control arm holes already and today I put the UCAs back on along with tie rods and LCAs. Just waiting on my new strut rods so I can finish putting everything back together.

Suspension Rebuild Tips Please

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