Front end rebuild 1972 Duster
Today I was heading back home and remembered that I took almost everything off the front end yesterday.
The sway bar is still in place. That there is a modified 1 1/4” solid bar originally from a 1973-87 Chevy/GMC 2 wheel drive 1 ton C-30 truck.
In 2000 when I bought my Charger, I was looking at ways to improve handling with junkyard parts. I found that the front sway bar in those trucks had a similar shape once you cut the ends down a bit. Nobody makes an 1 1/4” front bar for an A body but a few vendors make them for B body cars. For under $50, I modified one of these for my Charger. I’ve made 5 of these. I’ll go into detail on what is required to do it closer to the end of this thread.
I forgot about how hard it can be to crank the upper ball joints out with the arms out of the car.
Chevy guys have theirs pressed in. Ignorant repair shop guys have been known to try to press them in the Mopars! They screw in and out, which confuses the other guys. The top of the ball joint uses a strange pattern.
Many of the sockets that were used to service these ball joints use a 3/4”drive.
I’ve tried cranking these out with them in a vice with mixed results.
The more stubborn they are, the higher risk of deforming them when in a vice.
I don’t know if I read or heard but the best way seems to be to loosely set them back in the car.
Now the car anchors the UCA in place so you can screw them out.
I used a 30” cheater bar but was careful to not let it slip. One wrong move and you can have bodywork and paint in the future.
The parts aren’t due until next week. Until then I have some cleaning and refinishing to do.
Today I was heading back home and remembered that I took almost everything off the front end yesterday.
The sway bar is still in place. That there is a modified 1 1/4” solid bar originally from a 1973-87 Chevy/GMC 2 wheel drive 1 ton C-30 truck.
In 2000 when I bought my Charger, I was looking at ways to improve handling with junkyard parts. I found that the front sway bar in those trucks had a similar shape once you cut the ends down a bit. Nobody makes an 1 1/4” front bar for an A body but a few vendors make them for B body cars. For under $50, I modified one of these for my Charger. I’ve made 5 of these. I’ll go into detail on what is required to do it closer to the end of this thread.
I forgot about how hard it can be to crank the upper ball joints out with the arms out of the car.
Chevy guys have theirs pressed in. Ignorant repair shop guys have been known to try to press them in the Mopars! They screw in and out, which confuses the other guys. The top of the ball joint uses a strange pattern.
Many of the sockets that were used to service these ball joints use a 3/4”drive.
I’ve tried cranking these out with them in a vice with mixed results.
The more stubborn they are, the higher risk of deforming them when in a vice.
I don’t know if I read or heard but the best way seems to be to loosely set them back in the car.
Now the car anchors the UCA in place so you can screw them out.
I used a 30” cheater bar but was careful to not let it slip. One wrong move and you can have bodywork and paint in the future.
The parts aren’t due until next week. Until then I have some cleaning and refinishing to do.