The front suspension in my '74 dart is really worn out. I've never messed with the suspension on these old cars, so I don't know what all is involved. I don't know what all special tools I might need to get the job done. I'll be replacing:
-both upper ball joints
-both lower ball joints
-both front wheel bearings
-both upper conrol arm bushings

I'm mainly looking for advice on any tips and tricks to make this job easier, and any specialty tools that I will need to buy/rent.

I have read that I need a socket for the upper ball joint, but there are different sizes and I don't know which size I need. I have also read that I need a ball joint stud puller for the ball joints. Will I need a press for the wheel bearings? I know I'll need a press for the bushings.

Anyone out there got any advice for me before I try and tackle this job?

Espo's carries the tools you need. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page with your car's front end parts:

http://www.espo.com/

I'm sure there are other places to find the tools, though.

I bought a kit several years ago, but the only tools I ended up using was the one for removing/installing the upper control arm bushings and the upper ball joint socket. For the lower control arm bushing and spindle, I took them to a local machine shop and had the old bushings pressed out and new ones pressed in. It was well worth the $10-15 each.

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vm

In my experience (with rusted New England Darts & Valiants) you'll find the upper A-arm bolts to be a challenge. Start soaking with PB Blaster ASAP, at least a week before attempting to remove.

Support the car really well, as you'll be pulling quite a bit to remove those upper ball joints.

Upper Ball joint socket is a must have tool, but see if you can borrow one from your friendly Chrysler dealer, which will save you some dough.
At this point you might even find a dealer willing to sell you theirs, given the current situation with Chrysler.

A torch for heating things might help, just be careful with flammable undercoating. Torch work is best done in the driveway, rather than your garage.

A kit from PST, or one of their competitors, will get you all the parts you need in one big box. Sometimes you can do a bit better on price by buying all the pieces indivdually from Rockauto.com.


Lastly, take apart only one side at a time, so you'll have a model of how it all goes back together!

-Mac

You can remove and install the upper control arm bushings with a special tool instead of a press. The tool can be purchased, I bought this one for about $30. The ease and convenience is well worth the price. I regret that I didn't buy these tools sooner. See instructions here to make your own. You will want this tool for the lower ball joint stud.

I have all the tools you would need to do what you want to do. If you were closer to me i'de lend them to you

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-- Mister Perkins --

Pictures of my truck
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3257131p

Thanks everyone! Do you think the parts stores will have these specialty tools for rent? I honestly can't ever see myself using them more than right now on this car.

I'm prepping the car to make its 500 mile journey home where I'm giving it to my dad once it's home because he wants it as a commuter to/from work.

So basically, the upper ball joint just screws in/out? No pressing at all? I assume the lower one is pressed in to the lower control arm?

What I plan on doing is just knocking the tie rod ends off, unbolting the upper control arm, taking the lower ball joint loose from the spindle, and then taking the parts in to the shop so I can put them in a vise and do all of the work on a bench.

Does anyone have any tips on removing/installing the races in the spindles for the wheel bearings?

Not likely. These are considered specialty tools. You might be able to unload them on the 'bay or Craigslist when you're done with them, though. In fact, you might be able to buy them from an auction site...
Yep, upper BJ's screw in/out. The lowers are cast into an arm that bolts to the spindle/lower control arm.
Almost. I'd remove the upper ball joint from the upper control arm while it's still bolted to the car. And get a good-sized breaker bar for the task — it's TIGHT.
I'll leave that for others. I've got the KH disks, and don't remember having any issues with the bearings/races.

vm

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vm

Well, I have all of my parts and I have only encountered a few unknowns...

-What size is the wheel bearing nut?

-Are there any tips for re-indexing the torsion bars when I put the lower control arms back on?

Can I just mark the torsion bar adjuster bolt on the control arm, and just count how many revolutions it takes to un-thread it... and stick it back in the same number of threads as i did taking it off?

I read somewhere that you want to adjust the torsion bars so that the lower control arm sits perfectly level at ride height.. Is that true?
Figuring out the torsion bars is the only thing that's hanging me up right now..
The plan is to take the retainer clip out from the rear torsion bar mount, loosen the adjuster bolt on the control arm, and then whack the front of the control arm back enough to slip the torsion bar out of the big nut..

Not a good idea. It might get you in the ballpark, but time, miles, new bushings, reassembly, et cetera have changed the geometry from whenever it was last aligned.
You really should use the procedure in the factory service manual for your car to set ride height. It isn't that hard, just takes a couple of measurements. Adjust and repeat.

Tom Condran's book, "Performance Handling for Vintage Mopars", has some tips on suspension work that are worthwhile.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

I wish I had enough extra $ and extra time right now to get a service manual, but this suspension has to get done by Sunday.. I should have it covered on the labor/tools side, but I just need to find out how to set the ride height.

I don't have the procedure handy for your car, which is I believe is different from '64's.
On mine, them measurements if I recall correctly are from the floor to the adjuster blade and to the lower ball joint. The difference is the "ride height". Obviously, it's just an expression of the angle (rise/run) than height, but it works.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

Got the driver's side all taken apart in like 8 minutes.. everything came apart like butter, didn't even have to PB blaster anything. Only thing I'm stuck on now is getting that ball joint out of the upper control arm, and the upper/lower arm bushings. Stopped by the parts store today and bought some new strut rod bushings cause mine were pretty worn.

should be done tomorrow if I can get into the shop early enough and get the bushings/upper ball joints done. Then the tranny and engine mounts get changed.

These images are scanned from the service manual for a '71 Dart:

Thanks!


How on earth are you guys changing out the passenger side motor mounts? The slant engine IDEA sounds good and looks good on paper until you have to do ANYTHING on the passenger side of the motor, which is a PITA!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm stuck on getting the passenger side engine mount out, and I'm so mad at the damn car that I could set the motherfucker on fire (excuse my french). It took me about an hour just to get the damn bolts out of the passenger mount bracket that bolt it to the block, there isn't even enough room to get your fingers in there!!!

Do you have to pull the engine to change the passenger side mount? If so, SCREW that I'll leave the old mount in it and just live with the vibration.

I change it from the bottom. With a Jack and a board. I think its easyer.
Frank

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered