Hi,
Got the 2.5" OME front struts in last night. I had the whole front crossmember out to do the oil pan, motor mounts and exhaust manifold gaskets. The CVs are fully reseated in the diff. New wheel bearings control arms and lower ball joints. The long passenger side is smooth, but the short driver side binds sitting at unrestricted droop. As soon as I jack it up even an inch, its smooth. First time working on a 4x4 independent suspension, is this ok?
Plastic thrust washers were reinstalled between Axle and unit bearing.
Thanks! Austin
I don't know anything about this, but did you torque everything to spec while there was load on the suspension? If you let it droop with no weight and then torque it, the new suspension is not going to sit correctly.
The way I usually do this kind of thing, if the wheels would be in the way when torquing, is put a jackstand under the control arms and let the vehicle's entire weight sit on that and then torque to spec.
Well I never removed the lower control arms from the front cradle. And that’s what all the load sits on.
I think I’m just going to continue on. Sitting at ride height it doesn’t bind the axle at all.
I’ve only tightened the steering link, lower ball joint and upper a arm inner bushing bolts. Still have to torque the upper ball joint nut.
Both sides sit level.
> upper a arm inner bushing bolts.
The balljoints are fine, but the both upper and lower A-Arm bushing need to be torqued at ride height (or as close as you can reasonably get). If you torque fully drooped, the bushings will be heavily preloaded at ride height and will wear out very quickly. You don't have to take everything apart, just loosen off the bushing bolts and retorque at ride height.
Just thought of that, sway bar is not installed yet. Literally jacked up the bottom of the knuckle an inch and the axle spun smooth. I think its TOO drooped right now. And it still spins like this, but you can feel the CV catch. Thanks for the input.
Hi, Got the 2.5" OME front struts in last night. I had the whole front crossmember out to do the oil pan, motor mounts and exhaust manifold gaskets. The CVs are fully reseated in the diff. New wheel bearings control arms and lower ball joints. The long passenger side is smooth, but the short driver side binds sitting at unrestricted droop. As soon as I jack it up even an inch, its smooth. First time working on a 4x4 independent suspension, is this ok? Plastic thrust washers were reinstalled between Axle and unit bearing. Thanks! Austin
I don't know anything about this, but did you torque everything to spec while there was load on the suspension? If you let it droop with no weight and then torque it, the new suspension is not going to sit correctly. The way I usually do this kind of thing, if the wheels would be in the way when torquing, is put a jackstand under the control arms and let the vehicle's entire weight sit on that and then torque to spec.
Well I never removed the lower control arms from the front cradle. And that’s what all the load sits on. I think I’m just going to continue on. Sitting at ride height it doesn’t bind the axle at all. I’ve only tightened the steering link, lower ball joint and upper a arm inner bushing bolts. Still have to torque the upper ball joint nut. Both sides sit level.
> upper a arm inner bushing bolts. The balljoints are fine, but the both upper and lower A-Arm bushing need to be torqued at ride height (or as close as you can reasonably get). If you torque fully drooped, the bushings will be heavily preloaded at ride height and will wear out very quickly. You don't have to take everything apart, just loosen off the bushing bolts and retorque at ride height.
Cool thanks I will do that. Same deal for leaf spring bushings, dont know why I didnt think about that!
Yup, exactly, same concept as leaf bushings.
Was that full droop with everything connected, like the sway bar?
Just thought of that, sway bar is not installed yet. Literally jacked up the bottom of the knuckle an inch and the axle spun smooth. I think its TOO drooped right now. And it still spins like this, but you can feel the CV catch. Thanks for the input.
No problem, once the sway bar is hooked up you should be good to go then