poisonbl
Member
So for a little while now, my front end's been squeaking something terrible under any motion at all (assuming ball joints), my shocks have been pretty well shot since I got the car, and since I'm taking apart the front for that much, I've decided it's a good time to do springs, shocks, bushings, ball joints, and some good cleaning while I'm under there... as well as another to-do list I've been sitting on. It's my DD, so I want to have as much ready to install as I can get away with, though I can walk to the office for a week or so if needed. I did it plenty when I had the top end torn apart last winter and it was too cold to put it all back together ('cause I'm a pansy, not 'cause it would've been a problem for the car, it was in a nice cozy-enough garage all winter while I hiked to/from work on foot 
). As it stands, my LMR cart's sitting with
Suspension side:
Prothane bushing kit w/ trans mount (pt-62006bl) (because 20 y/o rubber doesn't hold up well, replacing anything and everything I can reach under there)
2x Ball joints (lrs-3049bb)
Koni yellow shock and strut kit, adjustable (kon-9404ad) (mostly 'cause they're on sale for only slightly more than the AGX's)
Ford Racing lowering springs (Bs, but contemplating the 1.2in drop of the Gs) (M5300B) (because more of a drop than these and I get to spend a LOT more on other pieces and parts, as well as the nightmare of that as a DD in a town that thinks hot-patch actually does any good rather than really fixing the issues with the roads)
And for my drivetrain (addressing a shake it's had a while, some 'while I have it apart' pieces + a somewhat needed clutch):
2x U-joints (lrs-j5213)
tailshaft bushing (lrs-7034a)
tailshaft seal, T-5/AOD (lrs-7052A)
royal purple synchromax (rp-scm-k) (draining the trans, since I have no idea the abuse it took before me, and I haven't yet)
driveshaft bolt kit (hdw-4602) (because if I don't have them, the originals will all shear off)
Ram HDX clutch master kit (lrs-7560b-k)
Anything I should be adding/avoiding, given the above? With the FR springs I should be able to escape jumping to CC plates for now, and shouldn't need to be too concerned about bumpsteer, and shouldn't have too drastic of a shift in geometry that it eats my tires (should be better than the mess I have right now anyhow). With the adjustable dampers, I should be able to avoid the mess of overly mismatched spring rate vs dampers. The Gs are probably too much drop to get away with that, so I might have to stick to Bs.
As for the drivetrain side (only included here 'cause it's all in my cart already), there's a noticeable 'thunk' and movement of the shifter when I get on/off the throttle in gear, and a severe (i.e. terrifying :nightmare: ) vibration at 100mph that's not there at 90mph, so u-joints at the least (seriously contemplating a whole driveshaft just because I can, and because it's almost no effort to replace compared to actually doing u-joints on a 20 y/o steel driveshaft). Since I'm going to have it up for that, I'm finally going to address the "sounds like a stuck engine valve chirp" clutch (either pilot or release bearing, and probably clutch cable slack making it worse) and, to avoid having to find out I need a flywheel, etc, at the point at which I can't just drive to the store to get one, I'll get and replace everything in one go there. While the trans is dropped, a bit of fluid maintenance, a just-in-case tailshaft seal and bushing, and the transmission mount, since the whole thing seems to feel a bit too free to move about right now.
...
So, the real questions are...
1) Can I get away with FR's "G" springs (about 1.2in front and back) without CC plates/bumpsteer adjustment?
2) Is there anything other than bushing, shocks, and ball joints I should expect to need to replace while I have it apart? Inner/outer tie-rod ends?
3) While they're overkill on a nearly-stock/daily street setup, are the koni yellows still reasonable given they're adjustable? Will they be fine with *not* being lowered much?
4) Is there anything I should expect to see snap in two when I disassemble things (note, I plan on having a spring compressor handy, 'cause I rather like living), any magical tools (i.e. a ball joint press) I should be preparing for?
Oh, and... anyone that's experienced in ball joint therapy feel like dropping by and being terribly underpaid for helping? :angel:
). As it stands, my LMR cart's sitting withSuspension side:
Prothane bushing kit w/ trans mount (pt-62006bl) (because 20 y/o rubber doesn't hold up well, replacing anything and everything I can reach under there)
2x Ball joints (lrs-3049bb)
Koni yellow shock and strut kit, adjustable (kon-9404ad) (mostly 'cause they're on sale for only slightly more than the AGX's)
Ford Racing lowering springs (Bs, but contemplating the 1.2in drop of the Gs) (M5300B) (because more of a drop than these and I get to spend a LOT more on other pieces and parts, as well as the nightmare of that as a DD in a town that thinks hot-patch actually does any good rather than really fixing the issues with the roads)
And for my drivetrain (addressing a shake it's had a while, some 'while I have it apart' pieces + a somewhat needed clutch):
2x U-joints (lrs-j5213)
tailshaft bushing (lrs-7034a)
tailshaft seal, T-5/AOD (lrs-7052A)
royal purple synchromax (rp-scm-k) (draining the trans, since I have no idea the abuse it took before me, and I haven't yet)
driveshaft bolt kit (hdw-4602) (because if I don't have them, the originals will all shear off)
Ram HDX clutch master kit (lrs-7560b-k)
Anything I should be adding/avoiding, given the above? With the FR springs I should be able to escape jumping to CC plates for now, and shouldn't need to be too concerned about bumpsteer, and shouldn't have too drastic of a shift in geometry that it eats my tires (should be better than the mess I have right now anyhow). With the adjustable dampers, I should be able to avoid the mess of overly mismatched spring rate vs dampers. The Gs are probably too much drop to get away with that, so I might have to stick to Bs.
As for the drivetrain side (only included here 'cause it's all in my cart already), there's a noticeable 'thunk' and movement of the shifter when I get on/off the throttle in gear, and a severe (i.e. terrifying :nightmare: ) vibration at 100mph that's not there at 90mph, so u-joints at the least (seriously contemplating a whole driveshaft just because I can, and because it's almost no effort to replace compared to actually doing u-joints on a 20 y/o steel driveshaft). Since I'm going to have it up for that, I'm finally going to address the "sounds like a stuck engine valve chirp" clutch (either pilot or release bearing, and probably clutch cable slack making it worse) and, to avoid having to find out I need a flywheel, etc, at the point at which I can't just drive to the store to get one, I'll get and replace everything in one go there. While the trans is dropped, a bit of fluid maintenance, a just-in-case tailshaft seal and bushing, and the transmission mount, since the whole thing seems to feel a bit too free to move about right now.
...
So, the real questions are...
1) Can I get away with FR's "G" springs (about 1.2in front and back) without CC plates/bumpsteer adjustment?
2) Is there anything other than bushing, shocks, and ball joints I should expect to need to replace while I have it apart? Inner/outer tie-rod ends?
3) While they're overkill on a nearly-stock/daily street setup, are the koni yellows still reasonable given they're adjustable? Will they be fine with *not* being lowered much?
4) Is there anything I should expect to see snap in two when I disassemble things (note, I plan on having a spring compressor handy, 'cause I rather like living), any magical tools (i.e. a ball joint press) I should be preparing for?
Oh, and... anyone that's experienced in ball joint therapy feel like dropping by and being terribly underpaid for helping? :angel:
