New lower ball joint and strut...My current obstacle.




Old strut coming out.




Passenger side of engine bay.




Got the engine bay cleaning completed. Drivers



Well I started to tackle the passenger side suspension issues on the truck today. I did find where all the brake fluid was going. The caliper seals are shot. Removed flexible brake hose also. Found out the hose is 40 dollars. Ouch... Things went well after that till I got to the point of installing the quick strut.. I spent 4 hours trying to get the lower knuckle to go into the lower control arm. Watched videos and searched the forums with no success. Have large 2 ft pry bars. If you have any suggestions it would be appreciated. Maybe a sleep cycle will help. Below are some pics of the work.

 

not sure if this will help or if this is remotely clost to my car or truck that I currently have, but my sig others car (Volvo S80) has a similar set up with control arms and struts, what I have done my self is feed the top in as if im going to bolt it down, then once thats "in place" hook up the bottom first then once done with the bottom/lower the top side usually would just fall into place, might help. it works that way well on the car we drive so i figure its worth a shot...

 

Hey Jamie. I figured it out. I tightened the top three bolts first and was trying to nest the coilover / strut. When I went to remove it and started loosening the tope 3 nuts she started moving on her own right to the nesting saddle ears. So I said Hmmmm, That's interesting. So I drifted the joint, installed the huge lower bolt and then tightened the top three. Easy. But I am in no way a mechanic so how was I to know??? Guess the other side will be much easier once my back recovers. This front end suspension work is a young mans game. Im too old for this stuff. Guess I gotta work smarter instead of harder. Thanks for your reply.

 

Well I don't have any pics to share cause I forgot to do that,
I completed the passenger side suspension / brake work and will tackle the drivers side tomorrow I hope.
Passenger side work R&R:


Upper control arm and ball joint/ Moog
Lower ball joint/ Moog
Coilover / strut/ Prime Choice
Caliper and hose/ Oreillys
HD rotors/ Raybestos
ThermoQuiet QC1083 Ceramic Disc Pads/ Wagner


I know Im moving at a snails pace and If I had to do this for a living Id starve to death but Im learning and having fun and believe some good Karma will come back to me. Great to learn new things. Thanks to all that have supported me.

 

your doing fine, f you did this for a living you would be very good at it, trust me, its a game of repetition!! glad to read you got it sorted out!! keeping tabs on this thread as this is getting interesting! and who knows maybe I might be able to offer more advise...

 

This is the broken drivers side coilover shock...




This is the new reman steering rack...




Brake system is all shiny and new




Coilover removed




New coilover installed


Well the cold weather is coming so I thought I would put two hours in on the drivers side and see what's going on. Its all good news on this side...Caliper looks good. So I got done in two hours what took me 6 hours on the passenger so this old dog can indeed learn new tricks...

 

Man! Are we having fun yet?

 

My assistant, a former master engine rebuilder for Ford Motors, played a prank on me. He said it took two days for me to notice....




Dipstick plug meaning that the transmission has never been serviced....




Sprayed out pan with brake parts cleaner...




Bluegill fishing bobber to add to the tackle box....




Metallic contaminates stuck to the pan magnet...




Metallic contaminates stuck to the pan magnet...


Well Saxman,
The fun kinda comes and goes. Tonight having transmission fluid working its way down my arm slowly creeping further and further towards my arm pit did bring back happy memories of my youth working on my dodge 727 transmissions. On the other hand, throwing up in a trash can, because my nerves got the best of me. Well not so good... I did learn a valuable lesion.
"Don't stick anything in the cylinder plug hole" as suggested by another member on this very forum. (sounds like my mother--God bless her soul)



Tonight I was pressing the drivers side caliper back in and found a small leak and the seal didn't look correct so I ran it out. Cleaned and inspected it, and ran it back in. It would just slightly weep a drop of fluid so I condemned the caliper and Got a new one and brake hose which I did not install tonight. So the truck needed two new calipers and two new brake hoses.... I decided to do the transmission filter tonight instead of the caliper.

 

Looks like it's starting to come together well