Rebuild front suspension 1978 Dodge

[Rodney]

It is past time to rebuild the front suspension on my Clipper. I was out for a short trip last weekend and the drive home was well scary to say the least. The wind was blowing a steady 20 - 35 mph which made the wore out front end feel worse than ever. That's it I pulled it in the shop and tore down the front to replace ball joints upper and lower and upper control arm bushings. The tie rod ends all looked good as did the pitman arm and idler. The lower A arm bushing wasn't avaliable from my parts store so guess i won't go there this time. The upper ball joints are screwed in the a arms so you need a special socket to fit the ball joint. after the a arm is clamped in the vise I gave it a shot of WD 40 and went at it with my 1/2 impact wrench. Then they went to the machine shop for a dip in the hot tank and I let them press the busings in for me. the lower ball joints are pressed in so since I didn't remove them I placed a floor jack under the a arm for solid support and used my big hammer to remove the ball joints being careful not to hit the a arm. I then cleaned the arms up and with the help of the correct adaptors I used this installation tool.. they pressed in with some effort. Next I will install new rotors and calipers pack the wheel brearing and install the rest and off to the alignment shop. Oh this is going to be nice to have this done. I am also shopping for Anti sway bars to install on the front and rear. i think I found a good deal so will give them a call in the morning.

[Rodney]

Ordered the front sway bar this am $ 191.16 delivered
1 inch diamiter with poly bushings shipped from CA. Very Good thing.
may go with the safe steer next. Thanks for the call on that Travis.

[Rodney]

Got er put back together and off to the alignment shop this after noon.
the specs look great lots of caster 2.0+ degrees, this will help keep her going down the road streight.
total cost of parts for this so far 365 and 60 for the alignment.
new calipers premium pads calipers brake hoses, upper and lower ball jounts and upper contol arm bushings The new calipers came with all of the hardware which made for a very nice installation.
yeep eee
I did learn something from the alignment guy.
I still wasn't real happy with how the brakes felt even with all the new parts. he drove the clipper and I think found my problem,
I mentioned how the rear adjusters were out quite a ways. as he explained it to me that I am only using the bottom maybe 10% of the shoes since the adjuster are so far out so not really getting the full use of the rears at all. This is proabably one of the things I have been fighting all along. I ordered the drums this afternoon @ 80 $ apiece... can't quit now I feel I am very close..

[Rodney]

Got her back on the road again really pleased with the fix and the new sway bar was the best part to improve the handling.
the rear brake drums checked out ok just .030 oversized. but the new brake shoes I installed last year was the problem the amount of lining on them was about half of the premium set I got this time around. by replacing the shoes and new self adjuster screws on the rear got brakes now.
very pleased with everything finally.

[JerryT]

Hey Rodney,
I have a spring or strut creak/pop when I turn hard left or right, it feels like it's right under my feet. We put in new moog strut bushings  when we put in the new front springs, it did it before too, also we put in new upper ball joints and shocks, everything else looks good. I have read about this in the old clipper newsletters but not an anwser why, any insight? has anybody else out there had or have this? mine is a 78 with 6 dual wheels.
Jerry

[Rodney]

Hey Rodney,
I have a spring or strut creak/pop when I turn hard left or right, it feels like it's right under my feet. We put in new moog strut bushings  when we put in the new front springs, it did it before too, also we put in new upper ball joints and shocks, everything else looks good. I have read about this in the old clipper newsletters but not an answer why, any insight? has anybody else out there had or have this? mine is a 78 with 6 dual wheels.
Jerry

Hi Jerry, sorry for not replying sooner.
My Dodge does the same thing but not quite as bad since the front end rebuild. What I found were a coupe of things that were causing the noise.
the first there is really not much that can be done. the design of the wheel stop lock to lock are metal to metal--- steering knuckle to a bracket on the lower control arm. So if you are against the stop and hit a bump it's going to make a noise. {just had a thought!! maybe a little grease on that area}. another remedy don't turn the wheels firm against the wheel stops.

another problem my clipper had which was making a noise under there was a bent cross member where the lower control arm mounts in the cross member. looked like at one time it was hit and bent the metal back just enough to rub the lower control arm. I had to get right under there and look in to the pocket to see where it was rubbing. with a stout pry bar I was able to get enough clearance for it not to rub. I then gave it a shot of liquid grease. This helped a lot.

also check to see that all of the bushings and joints are in good condition.
since I changed to a larger tire size before the front end rebuild the tires would just rub the rear fender on a turn if I hit a bump. after the new parts were installed no more of that rubbing.

hope this helps you
Rodney

[tomfridley]

i lubed the wheel turn lock stops and also tightened the nut on the end of the lower control arm strut rod where it fastens at the crossmember.
it took a lot of torque to turn the nut just a little bit, but the pop/creek noise is history on mine now.

[JerryT]

Thanks Rodney and Tom, I will check and try those things. Something is moving around too much for sure. I thought it might be coil bind at first but not now.
Jerry