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I'm in the process of swapping out the upper and lower control arms on the front suspension on my '77. Two questions - is there a torque spec for the castle nut for the wheel hubs? I was a little perturbed to find it loose when I took the cap off yesterday. It was so loose that after I took out the cotter pin, I was able to take it off by hand. That normal?
Also, since I'm doing this project, I have to believe my coil springs are original to the car. Since they have to come out, should I replace them with new springs? And if so, recommendations on what I should put in? I don't want to change the ride height on my car but anything I can do to improve the handling I'm all about.
To answer your first question, Yes, its not unusual, especially if it hasn't been done for a while.
Second ,, if you like the ride height NOW, I wouldn't mess with new springs.
No way to tell what height you'll have with new coils till they are installed. Might be same,, might not be same.
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I set the front bearings like I do the rears and it's not loose.
Put the torque wrench away for front bearings.
snug them with a wrench, back off, snug again, back off, snug by hand check pin hole and pin if there back off but less then 1/2 a flat and pin. Check for endplay should be very little. If you have to back off a flat you can change the index by rubbing the nut on a piece of emery or sandpaper. Then go back over and pin it.
I'm in the process of swapping out the upper and lower control arms on the front suspension on my '77. Two questions - is there a torque spec for the castle nut for the wheel hubs? I was a little perturbed to find it loose when I took the cap off yesterday. It was so loose that after I took out the cotter pin, I was able to take it off by hand. That normal?
Perfectly normal. As mentioned the way these were done back in the day is while turning the hub you would tighten the castle nut to approximately what I’m guessing is 20 ft lbs (I’ve always just done them with a large crescent wrench) and back the nut off until you lined up the slot. You usually want to run through the process twice to make sure everything is good and seated particularly with new bearings.
I replaced the entire front suspension and steering on my 79 last spring. I was also worried about ride height changing with new springs, so I went with coil overs to adjust if needed. Much more expensive than springs so it depends on your budget.
Front Suspension Project
