Front suspension

[mikeringland]

My '72 has original saggy front springs and 3 of the 4 ball joints are worn out resulting in an inward camber of both front wheels. I took the car to my local mechanic and he wants $1500 to put in new front springs and all 4 ball joints. I know it's a good amount of work, but I'd rather save some cash.

 

I have never done front springs, so I'm little weary of the job, but I think I can pull it off. I priced out the parts and it's only a couple hundred bucks for basically stock stuff. I have a garage, jacks, tools, etc. It looks like the only other tools I'll need are a spring compressor, ball joint remover kit. Is there anything else I'll need for this job and am I crazy for taking this on or will I be ok? Thanks guys

 

Mike 

[Rock]

All you need is a ball joint separator and a hydraulic jack to do the front springs. I replace both my front springs and shocks with Viking coil overs in less than 3hrs.

[Boots]

so for about 700.00us# you could do your own ball-joints and upgrade to coil-overs...nice..better yet now is the time to go with TALL ball joints and make it even better

[monte70car]

There is a couple things that could be done differently. 1 being since you need a press to put the bushing and ball joints in, you could by arms already done with new bushings and ball joints or spin $495 for all four and tubular style. Little over $550 for coil overs (which is a nice way to go). Or maybe buy a set of like new coils and shocks (have both items that came out of a big block application).

[Leghome]

Boy it sure is fun to spend someone else's money.            

[MCfan]

Mike,

 

I have rebuilt the front suspension on both of my '70's with stock replacement components over the past five years.  If you have the time, inclination and tools, you can probably do it for between $500 and $750.

 

As a minimum, I suggest you borrow, rent or buy  inside and outside spring compressors and ball joint/bushing removal and installation tool kit. Outside spring compressors are useful for removal but not for installation. You can actually borrow any/all of them for free (refundable deposit required) from Advance Auto.  

 

I further suggest you shop for the most complete package of US made front suspension rebuild components you can find.  You can get fairly complete sets for cheap from ebay, but they are made in India, China, Mexico, etc.  I bought one from eBay that was sourced from India and it has worked out okay, but I went with all Federal Mogul components from OPGI (on their 20% off sale) the second time and there seems to be a visible difference in quality.   Even if you get a complete rebuild package, you will still need to add various bearings, seals, bumpers and bushings, shocks and coil springs that are not included.

 

This is obviously a great time to replace the front wheel bearings and seals, the front disc pads (possibly rotors also) and front springs.  Unless you want to go the performance suspension route or have some front suspension damage, you can reuse the spindles, A arms and steering box.

 

I made a photo journal of my first front end build project that you may find useful.  You can access it at this LINK.  There are many ways to do some of these steps so this only shows what worked for me.  Also, there are a lot of "tricks of the trade" that can be used in a project like this so it might be worth doing a few You Tube searches.

 

Good luck!

 

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[mikeringland]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, I really appreciate it.

 

Mike 

[stangeba]

I did mine over 25 years ago. My 2 cents,

I DON'T recommend poly bushings, mine squeak.

You may want to blast and paint the arms while they are out of the vehicle and all apart

Good time to check your calipers, pads and disc rotors

Already mentioned above, use US made products as much as possible.

Good luck!

Bruce