I have a 70 Valiant and was thinking about replacing all the rubber in my front suspension with a kit from ESPO Spring. Are there any special tools required to do this job? I'm definitely not a suspension tech.

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70 Valiant Super Six

If you want to do the whole suspension, you'll need at least an upper ball joint socket (with a big breaker bar), a large hammer (4 to 7lb), and a pickle fork set (if you are changing all of the seals anyway, this is the way to go).

For doing the upper and lower control arm bushings you need a large clamp and vice or a press to press the bushings out. This is usually the hardest part, to me at least, of the whole rebuild. And when you change the LCA bushings, you will need a cold chisel to cut the bushing sleeve off the lower control arm shafts and to knock the other half out of the LCA. If you have access to a press, it will make the whole process a lot easier.

Pat

Easiest and quickest way to remove the LCA bushings is to weld a large washer or scrap sheet metal on the metal bushing that remains in the LCA after the pivot and rubber bushing is pressed out. Press the bushing out and you will save yourself tons of time and effort and swearing if you used the cold chisel method (per FSM)

Actually the easiest way is to take them to a machine shop and let them do the cussing and swearing. I paid $40 to have mine done, money well spent.

When I was changing all that out in my dart I had a hell of a time getting the LCA bushings out and asked my neighbor what he could do. He pressed them in and out with his log splitter(20 ton) and a couple home made arbors. Worked really well. For the rest of the lower bushing he cut it out with a cutting torch. Just another way to do it.

Here's how I did the LCA bushings. It wasn't easy or fun, but I got it done. I pulled the LCA out and set it on a cinder block in the driveway( no garage ) Then I dug the rubber part out with a wide selection of tools... Needle nose pliers, ice pick, hammer, pocket knife, etc... I didn't get it all out, but just enough to relieve the pressure. Then I turned the LCA over on the cinder block, so the shaft fit in the open part of the block. Then I hammered it out from the back. That was the easy part.

Once the shaft is out you still have a metal cylinder pressed on the end of it. With a Dremel tool I cut the cylinder top to bottom, very carefully! This cut will relieve some of the pressure. Then I twisted the cylinder off with a pipe wrench.

There is also a metal cylinder on the inside of the LCA. I used the Dremel again to make a vertical cut in the cylinder. I couldn't get all the way down, but far enough to relieve some of the pressure. Then I used a hammer and a screwdriver to bend the edges of the cut inward. From there I wrestled if out with vise-grips.

Then I put the nut upside down on the shaft and hammered it into the new bushing sleeve. The nut is to keep from marring the threads. Then I took an old piece of fence post, the kind used for chain link fences, and cut it to length. Just a little longer than the shaft and the bushing. Then I sat the LCA on the cinder block again, set the new bushing and shaft in place. The piece of fence post fit over the shaft and rode on the outer metal sleeve. Then I pounded it with a five pound sledge till it fit in place.

I don't recommend this method, but it does work. It is just another alternative. If I had to do it again, I would spend the $40. Good Luck!!!

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'71 Dart Swinger