I am thinking about rebuilding my front end. I found a rebuild kit in the Mid-America catalog, kit includes: Full set of stock style upper and lower A-arm bushings, upper and lower ball joints, all 4 tie rod ends and front sway bar end-link bushing and bolt kit. The kit sells for $129.99.
Is this a very hard job to do? I have already replaced the body mounts and valve stem seals on my 81 with the help of all you great guys and gals on this forum, so I thought I would try the front end rebuild.
Thanks for any comments.

 

not a hard job do a forum search on front end rebuilt there is documentation that takes you thru step by step check out the kit that is one step up you get a idler arm if your going to be in there might as well change that bushings will have to be pressed in and out the have to aline the car if shocks are old might as well do that and check brake pads and bearings go luck just did mine front end is great

 

Not too terribly painful. I have a 79 so some of this should be ~similar~
Since I have all the emission stuff - I had to remove everything from the block forward to get out the upper A arms-bushings were a challenge, but local shops can take care of that, or use an air hammer to "push" them out and in. I do NOT recommend a press as if it is not stable, it will pop at you or bend your A arms. Ball joints weren't too bad, unfortunately I marked up my A arms a bit though trying to get the rivets out. A little sanding and a little paint helps that :) Other than those, everything else was fairly easy and typical. HTH

 

richard
it's a dirty job(if the underside of your car is as dirty as mine was when i did it :smash: )
otherwise just take your time and be very careful when removing the springs, i used chains to secure them.
good luck

 

Theres a article on how to do this in the tech tips link on this site. I m just not sure exactly how your supposed to use the chain to prevent the spring from jumping out. Everyone one says to do it, but i need a pic or more details on how to do that. tom75 :chevy

 

Richie, if you have any problems or questions when doing it, I'm only a phone call and 20 minutes away to help you out.

Also, keep in mind that while you have it apart you're gonna wanna check and if necessary replace:

Brake Pads
Calipers if leaking
Brake lines
Power Steering Lines and/or Control Unit
Tranny Cooling lines while under there

Hopefully you won't have to, but if you are down there and have it all apart, you may have to consider it.

Also, if needed, I can take your control arms over to my friends machine shop and press out the bushings for you. I got mine out by drilling a bunch of holes in them and then pulling them out in pieces. Either way.

Joe..

 

Just a comment... not a flame...

A press will work fine as long as you use the correct tools along with it. These include spacers to keep the A Arms from bending during the process. If you bend 'em, you messed 'em. The cross shaft should turn freely in the new bushings after you install them... if not, you bent the A Arms. Check out a GM service manual... they show the correct spacers which can be home made.

(1) for the upper A Arm
(3) for the lower A Arm (one for the center with a slot for the bolt tabs, and two for the ends)
(1) stand or support to aid in assembly.
Been doing them for over 25 years with the correct tools and a press... no problemo, and no "hack jobs".

 

Good point on the press and spacers. My friends shop ha all the goodies and we were very careful when I did mine.

You're absolutely correct though, you bend it, you broke it!

 

Richard,
I have an 81 and I'm right in the middle of doing mine now, so if you have any problems I just might be able to give you a few of the solutions that I received from this great site (the only reason I did my own was because of the awesome members here that a such a vast knowledge of know how and always willing to help out). One thing I would suggest is while you are at it go ahead and replace your coil springs, (I just received mine yesterday from VB, and for the price you can't afford not to).
If you decide to do it yourself here are just a few of the things you may run into along your journey.
If you are going to press you own bushing in and out Harbor Freight has an excellent price on a press that will do the job ($119). One front end job (shop here wanted $20 an arm to do it) and U-joint job (shop wanted $10 a joint) and it is paid for. Before pressing the control arm bushing out, go ahead and get you an 1" hole saw and drill the rubber out of the old bushing, this was a lesson I learned the hard way and a fellow forum member told me about this when mine wouldn't come out. After drilling them they will press right out. The new ones will press right in with the correct pipe used (from Home Depot) and I have pictures of my set up if you decide to go this route just let me know. In all this is not that difficult a job with the right tools and the forum to help out. Hope this gives you some insight to the job and feel free to ask questions, everyone here is more than willing to help out, that is what I have found.

Good Luck :smash:
YBnormal..Drive a Vette, at least own one to work on anyway

 

Does anyone have the dimensions for the arms? I want to check if mine are bent from all the pressing activity. Mainly want to know the distance between the ends and on the lower the distance between the sides on each end.

 

Richard,
I got my kit from Zip at the restoration shop. You get a 5% dicount for being a Forum member :yesnod:. I haven't installed it yet but the quality looks good, all the parts have USA on them :flag . Can't go wrong there IMO.

Ybnormal -
You got pictures??? I would love them. E-mail them to me please or post them here. I am waiting on my idler arm from Zip and as soon as it comes in I am starting my front end rebuild. Did you chain your spring? I thought the spring compressor took the place of the chain, or do you have to use both?
John

 

rich it isn't that hard of a job and you don't really need special tools to do it.That sounds like a good price for the parts in kit.

 

I didn't need a press when I did my front end rebuild.

 

True statement... as long as you don't bend the A Arms when you do the work... you don't need a press or the special tools. The job can be done without them.

However, most people who don't use the recommended tools do end up damaging the A arms.. they just don't admit it to anyone.
They end up hacking up the bushing holes pretty bad, and bending the arms. Then they post on here saying how easy the job was. I have had to toss many a arms in the trash that Bubba messed up.

I'm sure all smiles 81 didn't do any damage. He's not a Bubba.

 

damn and you saw I am from Texas and you didn't think I was a BUBBA?

 

Yeh... I noticed you was from Texas.

Texas A arms don't get rusty like they do in the northern states.

I've worked on a lot of PA, NY, and NJ A arms and they can be quite "challenging."

The flip side, is that since relocating to NC, I have worked on a arms here that come apart (and go together) so easy I could do them all day long.

Salt corroded, rusty a arms are a female dog in heat to work on.

Sometimes, a press doesn't even work.... you have to use a torch.

So... I figgered your Texas parts didn't need a press... and you wasn't a Bubba.

 

That's true about here in texas.My arms were not rusted up and had no problem getting the bushings out or back in.I can sure see how the eyes of a arm could be bent out of place very easy though.

 

Greetings,

It's not that bad of a job...took me a day...I didn't use a press on my nasty gummed up bushings...an air chisel and lots of lithium grease did the job very efficently. Just be sure to replace the front shocks as well and take it to an alignment shop just to be on the safe side!

Good luck!

 

John,

Send me a email to swhite7@bellsouth.net and I will send you some pics. I didn't use a spring compressor for my coil springs, only used a large chain run into the back side of the spring, down a couple of coils and out the back side and around the upper arm and bolted together. Remember to leave enough slack in the chain for the spring to uncompress. In hindsight I don't think it was necessary but better safe than sorry :cry
Even after I got the spring uncompressed and the lower arm pushed down I couldn't get it out until I completely removed the lower arm, so it was semi-captured anyway. The new 460lb. springs I just received from VBP are 2 1/2" shorter than the original in the free state, so they shouldn't be a problem getting back in. :smash:

YBnormal..Drive a Vette

 

"It's not that bad of a job...took me a day...I didn't use a press on my nasty gummed up bushings.."

Dirty & gummed up is not the same as rusted.

It can be a very easy job... and it can be a very difficult job.
Depends on the condition of the parts. If you have never worked on a car that is from the "salt belt" , then you will have no concept of how difficult rust can make the job.

Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not.
Richard is in New York... he may have a tough time with the bushings.
Depends on how much exposure the car has had to the salt, and if it sat in a barn or garage with no dehumidifier for any length of time.

I grew up in New York, and I have a lot of experience working on rusted cars. Unless you've been there/done that, you won't comprehend.
Friends & customers that I have here in NC are amazed when I show them "rust belt" or "salt belt" parts.
I have actually had to use an oxy-acytelene torch to heat the metal bores in the a-frame red hot in order to remove the bushing outer shells (not the rubber). Using a press was just deforming the a frames.
Saying the job "is easy" can give a false sense of security. Richard may have a problem, he may not. He will have to make the judgement call based on how his own a frames look.

Since I have been a professional mechanic and engine builder for over 30 years (owned & operated my own 7 bay facility), this job is easy for me. But for someone who doesn't have the skills or tools, it can be just a little challenging. I have done clinics on these, and have walked people through the job on their own cars.

Just remember to verify that you didn't "Bubba" your a frames by turning the shafts by hand when you are done. If the shafts bind at all, then you "Bubba'd" it.