Suspension's on in a week - need pointers...

[90MTXSHO]

Alright - on June 3rd, my new suspension's going in. It will consist of the Bondurant Monroe struts, eibachs, new mounts all around, and new bearings. I'm going to tell the mechanic to replace any bad bushings that he encounters as well.

Here's the question - What kind of things should I tell my mechanic to do, like a help list or something. For example - you may need to do this to get the car into alignment, etc.

Or - better yet - is there a website I can refer to (i've checked shotimes already) and just print out for him relating to any kind of problem and a solution he may encounter?

Thanks!

 

[jthomas68]

I don`t remember what stock parts are greasable,but have him grease all the fittings he finds too.It`s simple,easy,and often overlooked.

 

[MeShoHorny]

If your bumper bellow are shot get 4 more to replace them. I would spring for a poly/TPR bushing kit while you are at it. SHOnut makes a nice kit as well as spmotorsports.

Make sure your ball joints are in good shape. If not, replace them with the Moog greasable units (I just did mine today).

When you replace the springs make sure to get new insulators for the front struts....this is often overlooked.

Replace all the pinch bolts and make sure you have washers on hand for the strut assembly....I took mine off the old ones but it would be a cake walk if I didn't have to compress the old struts and take the hardware off them to transfer.

My feelings on suspension work: Do it once, do it right!

FWIW, my car was way out of alingement after I did my full suspension. I had to drill out the 8 (four on each side) spot welds to get it back into spec. You might want to do the same.

Let us know how you like those Bondurant Monroe struts.

 

[90MTXSHO]

Ah - exactly the kind of things I was looking for.

So basically as follows -

* Grease all fittings
* Fix up bushings
* new insulators (this isn't the strut boot, is it?)
* check ball joints (i believe i had these replaced last summer, though...not sure)
...and
* break spot welds for alignment

On that last one - will it be obvious which ones need to be broken? Will he need to reweld them somewhere else, or just break them?

 

[MeShoHorny]

90MTXSHO:
Ah - exactly the kind of things I was looking for.

So basically as follows -

* Grease all fittings
* Fix up bushings
* new insulators (this isn't the strut boot, is it?)
* check ball joints (i believe i had these replaced last summer, though...not sure)
...and
* break spot welds for alignment

On that last one - will it be obvious which ones need to be broken? Will he need to reweld them somewhere else, or just break them?

The insulators are located at the bottom of the strut perch (where the spring sits in the strut)

The strut boot are the bumper bellows I had mentioned earlier.

The spots welds are ez to spot. Just take off the cover and you will see 4 of them on the strut plate. Drill them out so the plates can move when the 3 13mm strut nuts are loosened. Don't re-weld them.

 

[90MTXSHO]

Ah - ok. I have the strut boot kit. The Bumber bellows I'll need to look into. As for the spot welds, this should effectively allow him to get the car into alignment, right? I don't have any correction kits, etc...I'm just gonna be urked if I get a call saying I need something along those lines and it all has to come out again

Thanks!

 

[sprink268]

all of my new suspension parts are being shipped as I write. where can I find the bumper bellows and the front spring insulators? I assume the insulators are available at the Ford dealership, right? thanks--

Clay
'91 59.5K
lite mods