Rebuild or hire out front suspension?

[Brad Bartilson]

My front end has worn out bushings all around and worn shocks. I like to do my own work (mostly engine and body) but never tacked suspension before. My questions:
-Is this a real xxx without a torch? (thinking of large stuck nuts)
-Do you need a press? (I hear that you can use a hammer, but is this going to end in frustration)

-Brad

 

[turbot2112]

i just dropped my car off last week for complete suspension overhaul.i bought all the parts and thought about doing it myself. i got a price from a well known guy around my area and had him do it. i walked in his shop while he was under my car cursing. he told me every stinkin nut and bolt was rusted solid. he said he normally wouldnt take on a job like this until the fall but he was ropped into it cause he does a lot of work for my buddy. bottom line is im glad i did not attempt it in my garage. but if you do good luck.

 

[GN ERGY]

We did Bandits car just 2 weeks ago. If you have bolts that are rusted to the inner sleeves you can sawzall them out, we did. Just get new bolts from the local truck spring shop. Jeremy rented the ball joint press from Autozone and we used it for the bushings also. You will need a ball joint spreading tool or a pickle fork to get them loose from the spindle. Job turned out great and he saved some $$$$$. You will need an 18mm ratchiting box wrench, it was a lifesaver on getting the nuts off on the top A arms. Any more questions just ask. Jeremy bought the PST kit for his car, it came with everything.

Tarey D.
Make sure you anti-seize everything when you put it back together.

 

[fc227]

I had my done at a garage about seven years ago. He ran into the same problem. Every bolt was rusted in place. It took him over 16 hours (2 day’s) I was having everything replaced, bushing, ball joints, etc. He was happy when my car left his shop. It was one of biggest pains. He had ever worked on.

I went with the poly bushing, they do squeak, and to this day, they still do. I grown use to it.

IMO, unless you have the patients of a saint have it done by a garage that has all the proper tools, and they still have a hard time.

 

[GN ERGY]

For the $$$$ you save doing it yourself, you could more than buy the tools you would need to do it.
Thats how I look at the job.
Tarey D.

 

[Brad Bartilson]

suspension rework

Got a quote of 9.5 hours, $750 to do the work. Looks like its a tough job, but adding the $330 for the parts, and I'll have a total bill of $1100. Looks like I'll learn how to do this (and teach my son). Thanks for all the advice.

-Brad 87TR

 

[GN ERGY]

Get you a Chiltons repair book, it has directions and all the bolt torque specs. Jeremy had one and it was helpful. You'll feel better saying you did it ALL yourself.
Tarey D.

 

[T-top87GN]

Originally posted by GN ERGY
Get you a Chiltons repair book, it has directions and all the bolt torque specs. Jeremy had one and it was helpful. You'll feel better saying you did it ALL yourself.
Tarey D.

I'm just happy saying I did it all myself and thankfully none of it got damaged when the car smacked the wall.

Oh yeah, and it was a Haynes manual. I like them waaaaay better than Chilton's.

 

[Glen]

The hours you were quoted is good. They at least gave credit for overlapping work, Mitchell On Demand lists the work individually @ 12.13 hours and that includes the alignment. But either your area has a high per hour rate or he listed the reduced hours but charged for full rate, or, he shot you a high price because he didn't want to do it, and if you did, he would make good money.

Down here in 'gods waiting room' at his hours, you would be looking @ $572 @ his hours. That included upper BJ, CA bushings, lower BJ and bushings, and steering linkage from spindle to spindle and Idler Arm w/alignment.

Have fun with the front springs <- U gonna look like him
Rebuilding front ends is gravy work with the right tools

 

[Matt Weiser]

You might check out the current issue of Car Craft. They have a long step-by-step article that aims to coach you through rebuilding a front end on any car. It's the issue that has a picture of a girl with giant jugs on the cover. (Hopefully your son's old enough for that!) Funny how I don't even remember what kinda car she's standing next to!

I agree the Haynes manuals are much better, but still can't touch a factory repair manual.

You'll also need a big hammer, a big breaker bar, a pickle fork, quality jackstands and a spring compressor. It'll help to soak all the bolts in penetrating oil (Knock 'er Loose, Break Free or the like) for several days before you start. You can probably do it without air tools this way. If you run into trouble, you could use a cheap propane torch to heat things up. Once you get the control arms off, just take 'em down to a local front-end shop to press in/out the bushings.

It's really not a complicated job. But wear gloves, have some Band-Aids handy, and be careful around those coil springs!

 

[Brad Bartilson]

Any opinions on buying PST's std front end kit (poly) or their "super kit". Super kit has the inner tie rods, an idler arm and 2 upper inner shafts. Its $360 vs $219 for the standard kit. I'm not rich, but don't want to be penny-wise, pound foolish with this either.

-Brad 87TR

 

[turbot2112]

brad, i just got my car back yesterday with the super front end kit installed.ill tell ya, its like night and day. people on the board claim that there gonna eventually squeak so i guess ill have to wait and see. i dont know how bad a shape your suspension is in but youll probably need a center link too. i also had the rear bushings and all coils replaced and then finished it off with bilisten shocks. the car dont handle like a vette but im not shaking while going into turns anymore. it actually feels like a new car.

 

[85GNMIKE]

Front end

I just got done doing one side of the front end. It was a pain, but worth. It looks good. Hawkins 1" lower springs, PST bushings, Raybestos slotted drilled rotors and new calibers - I'll shoot you some pics as soon as I can.

 

[Brad Bartilson]

Time to do one side

Mike,

Interested in how long it took you to do the one side of your front end.

thanx,

Brad 87TR

 

[1985BuickGN]

I just got done doing front and rear springs and shocks (eibach and bilsteins) and it took about an hour per side for the fronts. I didn't do the control arm bushings, cause I'm gonna replace them with tubular A-arms, so I would imagine it will take you at least 2 hours per side. I would NOT use a coil spring compressor, it's not worth the risk. Just separate the lower a-arm ball joint (with a pickle fork and an air-hammer or a sledge hammer) and use a jack to let down the a-arm, when it's all the way down, you should be able to wiggle out the spring, with a little help from a pry-bar. After reading about the coil spring tragedies on here there was no way I was going to even attempt to use a spring compressor. Even if it would have taken an extra hour or so, it's worth it to me. Just have a couple of jacks and several jack stands. Would probably be a good idea to soak the hell out of all bolts well in advance with a good rust buster (PB Blaster works pretty good). Just my $.02's worth.

Paul.

 

[85GNMIKE]

It's really hard to say how long it took me to do it. I work alittle bit on it usually every night or so. It really wasn't that bad. Just make sure you have all the right tools handy and everything ready to go. I suppose it might have taken a couple of nights to do. I am doing this right now by myself with very little help. I get most of my info from this board and some books that I have.

Mike

 

[1985BuickGN]

Yeah, I second that GNMike, without this board my car wouldn't be anywhere near where it is now. None of the shops in this area have a clue what they are, let alone how to work on one. If you have the time and the tools, then it's defenitely worth it to do it yourself. Too many places have people that just don't give a damn, their only goal is to get it out the door as fast as possible and make as much money as possible, mostly the larger chains, not the little guys, too few of those places left. For me, there's almost no better feeling than when someone is admiring your car and they ask who did the work, and you can say, I did.

 

[Chris A]

Originally posted by Glen
Rebuilding front ends is gravy work with the right tools

If you say so.

What do you normally use to get the springs back in? Most of the other things i have figured out pretty well, but always have a b- of a time with the stock springs.

 

[Glen]

Well....... when I was young and dumb I installed springs by hand. Now I'm older and wiser and alittle richer and use a spring compressor. For the rest I use ball joint presses, though I still prefer to knock the f&^%k out of the lowers to remove them, kinda like anger management, bushing drivers, a wizzer or cut off wheel if you prefer, a BFH and a pickle fork for the upper BJ and tie rod ends, to name just afew

 

[Chris A]

Originally posted by Glen
Well....... when I was young and dumb I installed springs by hand. Now I'm older and wiser and alittle richer and use a spring compressor. For the rest I use ball joint presses, though I still prefer to knock the f&^%k out of the lowers to remove them, kinda like anger management, bushing drivers, a wizzer or cut off wheel if you prefer, a BFH and a pickle fork for the upper BJ and tie rod ends, to name just afew

What kind of compressor do you use?

The clamshell type won't fit in there and the one that goes inside doesn't seem very safe. Neither does using a couple of large prybars though.