well here is how I spent my morning... dont know if it'll ever go back together,,, but here it is... now what? I obviously need to wire wheel and primer/paint all the undercarriage,etc. but on the bushing replacements...Whats the best price/quality/value kit? (hope this doesnt open a pandoras box of debate)... I would like to get a complete kit, so I dont have to order individual pieces. Obviously I want quality ball joints,etc. Anyway thanks thus far to all you have given me advise. by the way... I just wrapped a chain through the spring and around the frame...jacked up the lower arm and out it came....cool!

 

I ordered the front end rebuild kit from MidAmerica - at the time it was the best offer: all 4 ball joints, tie rod ends, lower and upper CA bushings, sway bar bushings and so on ... they also had the front springs on sale...

You'll have enough time to look for good offers while you wire brush and clean the frame.... take your time looking around for specials, however I think MidAmerica still has the best deal and is not too expensive on shipping....

602512 - front springs - $80
603119 - 4 KYB shocks - $150
602518 - front rebuild kit poly bushings and ball joints, tie rods -- $159

"Upgrading" to new 'heavy duty' adjustable tie rods is a pretty good idea, these are only $40 ...

 

It's an extreamly tough and long job. My hubby replaced my front suspension in about 13 hours. Replaced all the bushing and tie rod ends and all that good stuff.




had to burn out the old bushings!

 

here is what was left of one

we replaced these nasty things too


here is the new ones

we bought the parts as a total kit!!!

 

It's off to the catalogs, then to the garage again to start cleaning up the old arms, burning out the bushings, etc. Folks if this comes together it is gonna be a true testimony to the power of this forums "teamwork"... cause I dont know squat about what I'm doing, but I'll be back to pick the combined "brains" of this forum.

as Gomer would say, "Thank ya, Thank ya, Thank ya"!

Tim

I'll post back in a few days with status and I'm sure more questions.

to be continue....

 

A $10 propane "torch in a bottle" from ACE Hardware did the trick on mine.....worked great...

I uploaded 20 front suspension related photos to my gallery, have a look and feel free to email if you have any questions...

Keep us updated on your progress...

 

Dont tell me the school of hard knocks isnt a good teacher! After completely beating my left hand knuckles off trying to cold chisel out the little sleeves the rubber bushings are attached to...it dawned on me (Duh!) that rather than just burn the exposed portions of the rubber bushings off of my A arms, to heat the metal and let the heated metal melt the rubber enough to loosen the bushing. Wala! grabbed the sleeve with vice grips and pulled it right off. Actually the worse part is my wife suggested it! ok though, now she thinks its cool to work on the Vette. Now its off the local sandblaster to clean 'em up and apply primer/paint then gonna wait on my new bushings.... yeehaaa..something actually accomplished! Did I mention I broke on of the sway bar bracket bolts off in the frame and stripped the corners off of the other one? another challenge. u gotta love it.

thanks again for all your advise!
Tim

 

Now that you're an expert you probably don't need this but I found the Lars method in this thread.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ars+suspension
I'm going to dive in myself this week so I hope it works.

 

I dont think a sore left hand and a pile of parts makes me an expert.... getting this stuff put back together is a whole new deal! thanks for the "how to" list... now I can see what all I did wrong in taking this thing apart!

Tim

 

While you have it apart.... put all the bolts, nuts and other pieces in Ziplock bags or small boxes and label everything.... it becomes a mess after a while....

 

Tim - did my front rebuild this past fall. I had never done it before either but used this forum and Haynes manual as a good guide. Some suggestions -

By far the hardest part for me was reinstalling the coil springs. I tried 3 different kinds of spring compressors and a floor jack and got the thing in but it was a PITA. Wish I could be more helpful here but clearly others can give better advise in this area.

Looks like it might be too late but the very best suggestion I got from anyone for a first timer like me was to do only one side at a time so as to have the other side available as a reference. It was great to use the unassembled side to check hardware locations and in some cases measurements when putting the one side back together. It took me several weeks of nights and weekends between shop visits and soccer games and work and sandblasting/wirewheeling/priming/painting etc. to get it all back together and you would be suprised what you can forget in that amount of time. I was able by the way to do the second side in 1/4 the amount of time - first time the hardest for sure.

In an effort to save time (wife wanted the garage back) going to the shop (my machine shops turn around time was 2 weeks everytime I took something in. They did great work but really slow- busy i guess), after painting I figured out a way to install the A arm bushings myself without a press. Bought a 1 1/4 inch diameter 4 inch long galvanized pipe and threaded end cap from Home Depot plumbing section. The pipe will just exactly fit over the outside rubber flange. Insert the crossmember thru one side of the a-arm hole into the middle of the bushing and hand press it in. Open the vise up just enough to slide in one side of the A arm bushing. Do not clamp the a-arm, just support the underside with the spindle(crossshaft?) hanging down thru the vise jaws. Now you push the capped pipe over the upward facing bushing and hit it sharply with a small sledge hammer. 3 good pops and mine was in. Lubricating the bushing prior to insert may also help. A picture wud be great I know but cant do it. Just buy the pipe and see how it fits over the end of bushing and you will figure the rest out. Its cheap ($5 total for all 8 bushings) and fast.

A-arm bushing bolts must be torqued after the car is off jacks (weight on the wheels).

Also remember when bolting the A-arm crosshaft back on to frame that it is not reversable. One side is slightly different than the other and it must be installed proper side up or it will mess up other stuff (I did it).

I bought all my stuff (rubber) as a kit from Wilcox.

After both sides were done got the front end aligned and now it drives like a new car. Rear end next.

Good luck
Neil

 

Nice thread!

 

Thanks for the tips man! I knew I wouldnt remember where stuff went, so I took a bunch of digital pics prior to, and as I was taking stuff off. I wasnt smart enough to do just one side at a time.

Tim

 

get the Van Steel video. did mine on a gravel drive as a total newbie, got halfway into it when i watched the video. it saved SOOOO much time . . .

 

Nice pictures of your front suspension rebuild Red. I am doing the exact same rebuild. I drilled out the rubber bushings in the A-frames but could not get the steel sleeves out. How did you get yours out? I am tempted to leave the sleeves in place and just slip in the poly bushing. The only reason that I am hesitant to do that is because the drill bit left grooves in the sleeve during the rubber removal. Did you use an air chisel to remove the sleeves or did you have them pressed out? Appreciate the feedback JD

 

I'll answer this instead, took the bushings out yesterday, had a thread about that here on the forum, you can look that one up through my name.

All my inner sleeves gave up after one zap on the right place with the air chisel! I put the chisel between the shaft and the inner sleeve and zapped one time just to loosen the rust and start to push it off. So the first zap had a 90 degree angel to the shaft right in between the sleeve and the shaft. From there it was easy!

 

Once the rubber bushing and the shaft is out you can cut the sleeve with either a saw-blade (wrap ducttape around the teeth to grab it) or use a Dremel... once it's cut you can deform it and get it out....

 

Here at Muskegon Brake we can happily supply you with great prices on kits for your suspension rebuild project. Our frontend KIT-4 includes all ball joints, tie rods, upper ctrl arm bushings, lower ctrl arm bushings, stabilizer end links, and the tie rod adjusting tubes. This kit costs $164.95 in rubber and $229 in poly. Coils run $69.50pr. and full car set of monroe shocks run $60 or $30pr.

Vettedesk
Muskegon Brake
848 E. Broadway Ave.
Muskegon, MI 49444
(800)442-0335
http://www.muskegonbrake.com
jcutler@muskegonbrake.com

 

Here at Muskegon Brake we can happily supply you with great prices on kits for your suspension rebuild project. Our frontend KIT-4 includes all ball joints, tie rods, upper ctrl arm bushings, lower ctrl arm bushings, stabilizer end links, and the tie rod adjusting tubes. This kit costs $164.95 in rubber and $229 in poly. Coils run $69.50pr. and full car set of monroe shocks run $60 or $30pr.

Vettedesk
Muskegon Brake
848 E. Broadway Ave.
Muskegon, MI 49444
(800)442-0335
http://www.muskegonbrake.com
jcutler@muskegonbrake.com

 

Jason who makes the kits you selling now? I think in the past you used TRW? Are these Moog parts?
Thanks
Gary