Step-by-step process for putting front suspension back together

[OldGuy]

We got the front suspension back together with little or no problems.  We followed the reverse order that we took it apart and worked in the same order from the passenger side to driver's side.  I know this is pretty long winded but when we started the process of changing out the front suspension there wasn't a thread that included the step-by-step process – I had to cut and paste from a bunch of other threads and even some of those didn't have a lot of detail.  So, I thought I would put a thread together to maybe help someone else out who is putting the front end back together for the first time.

So, here we go -

We were able to press the shaft bushing into the LCA using a homemade setup.  Greased the outside of the bushing, Put the LCA on its side and placed bushing on top of the bushing slot.  We then put a wrench socket (don't remember the size – one big enough to stabilize the underside of the slot) and then used a flat piece of metal on top of the bushing to pound it down in.  We just sat it all on the driveway to provide a solid base so it wouldn't bounce.  Don't use 2x4's since the wood is too flexible.  It went in straight with no problems.

There is a left side LCA and a right side LCA – it is marked on the arm.  Left side is driver's side – right side is passenger side.

Next, put the strut into the LCA and hand tightened the end that goes into the LCA. 

Put the shaft through the cross member and tighten the washer and nut onto the shaft.  You can put the shaft into the LCA first, but putting it into the cross member and then sliding the LCA onto the shaft worked for us.

Put the LCA with strut into position by sliding the assembly (LCA and strut) onto the shaft and the front end of the strut up into the cross member.  Remember to put the rear retainer, bushing and sleeve onto the strut before you put it up into the cross member. 

The LCA is now in position to put the torsion bar in. 

Slide the T-bar through the rear anchor then slide the balloon seal over the T-bar. 

Now slide the T-bar up into the hex opening on the LCA.  Since the LCA is loose because the strut has not been tightened on the cross member – (as Chryco has advised in a previous post) drop the LCA down as far as you can go to help slide the T-bar into the hex opening. 

Once the T-bar is in, pull the LCA up to where everything is level and in place and put the front bushing and retainer on the front end of strut and tighten to hold everything in place. 

Put the lock into the retainer on the back of T-bar, slide the balloon seal into place at the rear of the T-bar and put the anchor and adjusting bolt into the LCA. 

Turn the adjusting bolt to put a load on the T-bar and everything is pretty much done at this stage.  We tightened everything up but did not torque to specs just yet.

We then moved onto the UCA.  We had the UCA bushings pressed in at a local shop.  One thing the guy did that pressed the UCA bushing in, was he zip-tied the individual bushings since the metal ends can fall away from the poly/rubber inserts.  He also installed the ball joints into the UCA.  We had to pound the UCA's a little into position since the new bushings make it kind of tight fitting it up into the support brackets on the frame.  Remember that there is a left and right side to the UCA's.  There is a wide side towards the front where the UCA is stopped by the bumper.  Once into position, we inserted the cam bolts – front and back.  When we took those bolts out, we marked them in the position they were in so when we re-installed them, the alignment would be closer than trying to eye-ball it.  We packed the cam bolts in four separate bags, one for each side – passenger and driver – and one bag each for front and rear bolts.  Remember that the washers and nuts go on the inside of the UCA.  Tightened the cam bolts – but not to torque specs, yet.

Next came the shock absorbers.  Put the bottom end of the shock into the LCA first.  That again was a little tight due to the newness of the bushing in the shock.  As Shakey reminded us all in a previous post, save the bolt that goes through the LCA.  We installed KYB shocks that came with our rebuild package.  Put the LCA bolt through the lower end of the shock and hand tighten.  Put the lower retainer and bushing onto the tower end of the shock.  Now comes the reason why we didn't torque everything to specs – that is getting the tower end of the shock up through the UCA and into position.  Even though you can torque the LCA and UCA bolts before installing the shocks, that little bit of flex helps getting the tower end of the shock seated.  At this point the LCA is pretty rigid, so push the UCA up as far as you can, suppress the shock and put the tower end up through the UCA and into the hole in the body.  Once in place, put the retainer, bushing and two nuts on the tower end.   

Now torque everything to specs that you have installed so far and - olla – the LCA, UCA, strut, torsion bar and shock are all installed.  You could probably do all of that up to this point on one side and then move to the other; however, we found it easier to do one side and then the other as we installed each component.

Next came the steering linkage.  We put the linkage all together in one piece on the garage floor all the way out to include both knuckle arms/lower ball joints.  We then hooked up the idler arm and the pitman (steering gear) arm to stabilize the linkage and just let the tie rod ends and knuckle arms with the lower ball joints hang down at that point. 

We then moved on to the steering knuckle (or spindle).  First, we attached the knuckle arm/lower ball joints at the end of the steering linkage to the LCA.  We then attached the spindle to the upper ball joint in the UCA and dropped the UCA down as far as it would go.  Next, we put a floor jack under the LCA and lifted the LCA up to align it with the spindle.  Using a floor jack under the LCA makes is easy to raise or lower the LCA to align the knuckle arm on the LCA with the spindle.  Once the LCA/knuckle arm/lower ball joint unit and spindle are aligned, put the backing plate to the brakes in place so all of the holes match up.  We stayed with the stock drum brakes until we get the moola to replace with discs.  This is where it all comes together.  The steering knuckle or spindle ties the UCA, LCA and steering linkage and brakes altogether.  You then slide the two (2) big lower bolts of the spindle through the brake back plate, through the spindle and on through the knuckle arm that is attached to the LCA.  Then you slide the smaller upper bolts through the back plate of the brake and through the spindle. 

Before you torque everything, eyeball the front end, especially the position of the brake drums to see if they are somewhere near alignment.  Before the sleeves are torqued down, you can make some adjustments to toe-in or toe-out.  Let the front-end guys do the camber adjustments and fine tune the toe adjustments later.  Now torque all bolts, including the steering linkage bolts to specs.

Next is pretty elementary to everyone, but I am including it to finish the process up.  Put the brake drums on, grease up the spindle and the front wheel bearings.  Push the bearing in around the spindle with the washer, put the adjusting/crown nut on and tighten.  Back the adjusting/crown nut off about a ¼ turn and aligned with the cotter pin hole in the spindle.  Put the nut lock on, put the cotter pin in and tap on the grease cap.  Done!! – Except for the sway bar.

We went with the Performance Suspension "G" Machine Stage I Package http://www.performancesuspension.com/ .  That package included both front and rear powder coated sway bars.  The sway bars came from Hellwig Suspension.  I put PST heavy duty sway bars on my 1969 Charger a few years back and I can tell you, the Hellwig bars put the PST stuff to shame.  The Hellwig bars are heavier, the hardware and brackets are beefier, and best of all – the front poly bushings are split so you all you have to do is just snap them around the bar rather than trying to press them on from the ends.  The front sway bar went on in less than an hour.  We still have to put the rear sway bar on.

It all really came together easier than I thought it would.  We started about 8:00am – took an hour for lunch to run down a couple of things and finished up by 4:30pm.  It goes a lot smoother if two guys are working together on it.  My son did most of the wrenching and crawling under the car.  Primarily, because I am getting to old and fat to do that, but better yet, it has given him some valuable experience for when he starts restoring his 1968 Charger R/T.  I know this is pretty long – but maybe someone else will benefit from my experience doing it for the first time.    If terms and component parts don't sound right – feel free to correct me. 

I will post a few pics of work in process - Good Luck!!

[OldGuy]

Pics of rebuild:
1.  Lower Control Arm (LCA), strut and Torsion Bar in place
2.  LCA & Upper Control Arm (UCA) in place
3.  LCA, UCA and shock absorber installed

[OldGuy]

More pics:

1.  Brake drum and linkage hooked up to LCA & UCA
2.  All done except for front sway bar

[OttawaCharger]

Old Guy,
Nicely done write up.  I've saved this one to my favourites for future reference.  Thanks for taking the time to put it up here for us! 

[OldGuy]

Old Guy,
Nicely done write up.  I've saved this one to my favourites for future reference.  Thanks for taking the time to put it up here for us! 

Thanks,

I exceeded the word limitations on the initial post, so I couldn't include this - the service manual was invaluable as an aide.  If you don't have one, either buy or borrow one.  It gives good detail about removal and installation of all components.  However, it only treats each component separately and doesn't provide a good sequence of putting more than one part back together.

[pullrock]

I am in the process of doing the same to my 68 Charger R/T.  I am currently having problem getting the Idler arm off the center link.  I cannot get it to break loose.  Also, I tried to take the idler arm off the K member but the bolt will not come out as it is hitting the motor mount bracket.  I can provide pics if you think that would help...

Eric

68 R/T

[pullrock]

Here is pic, hope that helps to explain it better.

[OldGuy]

Pullrock,

Are you going the take the entire front suspension out for a total re-build or just the steering linkage? (I assume it is a total re-build)  It looks like your picture was taken from the engine bay shooting outward from the back of the LCA.  It also looks like you have taken the brake drum and backing plate off as well as the sleeve and tie rod end/knuckle arm off of the LCA (can't see for sure from this angle).    In any event, if you have done that, the steering linkage should now be disconnected from the LCA.  The easiest thing to do now is to take off the LCA so you have easier access to the idler arm bolt in the frame.   Also, try moving the steering wheel to the right or left and see if it gives you more room or access to the idler arm.  (When we took the idler arm bolt out of the frame there was enough clearance to get the bolt all the way out).  Since you almost have the bolt out, it looks like if you pull down on the idler arm, that should push the bottom end backward a little bit into the frame support and move the top of the bolt forward away from the frame.  Or just push and pull on the arm to see if you can get the bolt into a position to take it out. If not, you can let the steering linkage hang from the frame while you take the LCA, strut, T-bar, shock and UCA out - that will give you maximum access to the steering linkage. Once you get the steering linkage out (either all together or in pieces), you can use a pickle fork to break the idler arm loose from the center link or you can use the fork to break the idler arm loose from the center link while the idler arm is still hooked to the frame.  One way or the other, you still need to get the idler arm off the frame (keep the frame bolt and crown nut for the idler arm).  We weren't too concerned about damaging the sleeves, idler arm or tie rods, since those were going to be replaced.  About the only thing you are really going to keep from the steering linkage if you use a rebuilt kit, is the center link and maybe the pitman arm.

[pullrock]

This is a top view with the engine taken out of the car.  Like you said, I do have most of front end parts removed from the car but I will not be doing the T bars as I am not comfortable taking then off.  I am also going to be replacing the drum brakes with 76 Duster spindles and disc brake setup.  The only thing left on the car is the center link and idler arm.  I have removed the steering box, steering column and A arms.  I do have a complete super front end kit form PST and in the middle of installing that.   Any help would be great. 

Thanks

Eric

[OldGuy]

If you have the engine out, you should have pretty good access to the idler arm.  Has the frame bracket been bent so it is binding the idler arm bolt?  If you have been down in the engine bay and pulled or pushed on the idler arm and still can't get it out - about the only thing I can suggest is to cut the bolt off - making sure that you have a replacement.  However, cutting the bolt off to get the arm out doesn't assure you that you can get a new one back in.  Have you tried using a small crowbar to pry the bolt away from the frame?  From the pic - it looks like you are almost there getting it out.

The service manual instructions for order of removal is to:
1.  remove idler arm stud from the center link
2.  remove  idler arm stud from crossmember
3.  remove steering gear arm (pitman arm) from center link
4.  remove steering gear arm (pitman arm)

Is the weight of the center link hanging on the idler arm causing the idler arm to bind in the bracket?  Try taking the center link off of the idler arm and see if that will loosen the arm up in the bracket.  Again, you can use a pickle fork to break the arm loose from the center link.  Don't be shy about giving it a good whacking to loosen it up!

I'm sure the steering linkage and brackets were designed so you could get the arm out without too much trouble - something isn't right - maybe 39 years of old
Good Luck!!

[pullrock]

Is the bolt upside down?  Should the nut be on top?  Opposite from what mine is in the pic.

[8WHEELER]

The nut should be on the bottom, so if it happens to come loose, the hole bolt will not fall out
of the bottom and send you all over the road.

Dan

[OldGuy]

The nut should be on the bottom, so if it happens to come loose, the hole bolt will not fall out
of the bottom and send you all over the road.

Dan

Dan,
You know Chargers better than anybody else - any idea how he can get the bolt out?

Pullrock - maybe you could get someone to help you.  Try using a punch on the bottom of the bolt and hammering up on it while someone pushes down on the arm.

Carl

[8WHEELER]

Hi Carl

I Agree with you, if you push the arm up and down he should be able to get that bolt out, always
works for me, but I have never had one that was that close I don't think. He may have to put the
bolt back down, and put some torque on that arm and maybe move the brackets just that little
bit down that he needs to get that out. It could have been hit in the past pushing it up, causing this
difficulty.

Dan

[OldGuy]

Pullrock -
As 8wheeler said, the bolt definitely goes down through the bracket and idler arm from the top.  I took a picture of my son's 68 R/T and I can assure you, as you can see, it came from the factory that way since his has never been out.

The first picture is taken from the top down.  The motor mount is on the right and LCA with the torsion bar in place on the left.  The idler arm bolt is in between the two with the idler arm extending upward (in the picture) into the center link.

The second picture is from underneath, showing the crown nut and cotter pin on the bolt at the bottom. 

As Dan said, something must have gotten bent.  I wonder if your motor mount has been bent or if it has been broken off and replaced since the bolt is getting bound up against the motor mount?  That looks like either a fresh weld on the motor mount or you really cleaned it up good.

Maybe you could push the bolt back down in and see how the top of the bolt lines up with the motor mount and LCA like in my first picture.  That might tell you if something has been done to the motor mount or if the bracket has been bent.  I'm thinking it probably has something to do with the motor mount.

[8WHEELER]

Now that I took a better look, I agree, that K-Frame looks like it got bent backwards, and
that's not easy to do. That motor mount area in supposed to be very close to level and
flat, yours is leaning to far back, probably have a lower control arm problem as well, but
hopefully its just the motor mount area.

Dan

[pullrock]

Dan and OldGuy,

Thanks Guys for all the good information.  This really concerns me as this car doesn't appear to ever have been wrecked.  Further evidence of this is the radiator support number match the Vin Plate.  Also, this was a driving running car before I removed the number matching engine to have it rebuilt.  The car drove fine and drives somewhat straight down the road.  I guess what is my next step?  Should I start looking for a new K member?  Could this been done wrong at the factory?  I will get a little more physical with the idler Arm tomorrow and see it I can get it out of there.  I have included another pic to see if that helps with the angle?

Thanks again all for the responses and help!   You guys rock.
Eric
San Jose, CA

[pullrock]

All,

I was finally able to get out and check the idler arm.  I turned it the all the way to the left and tried to pull the bolt while pulling the idler arm at the same time.  Yep, It came out!  All is good!  Thanks for everyone's in put!  Love this website!

Thanks again

Eric

[CB]

Old Guy,
Nicely done write up.  I've saved this one to my favourites for future reference.  Thanks for taking the time to put it up here for us! 

That's what I did and now comes in handy
CB

[Foreman72]

Old Guy,
Nicely done write up.  I've saved this one to my favourites for future reference.  Thanks for taking the time to put it up here for us! 

That's what I did and now comes in handy
CB

this will be helpful