Front end a mess- advice?
 

Hey all-

I ordered new upper control arms and bushings today after reading through the forum to diagnose my loose front end parts on my 82 240. The front wheels are wearing on the inside and my steering is getting more loosey goosey. I know the ball joints in the control arms are shot (cracked and loose) but so are all the other front end bushings etc. I really don't know where to start, and have to do this on a tight budget.

So- is it true that if you replace one part in the front end, everything else will start to go? If you could prioritize, what would you say are the most important things to replace? And, has anyone seen a good diagram of the front suspension parts so that I'll know what the hell I'm talking about? Haynes manual fails again at this one...

thanks!

Deanna

its a doable job for a fairly competent mechanic. it requires a special tool for the lower ball joint and the special spring compressor. the ball joint you could get done by a local shop, the compressor is a must have either borrowed or purchased. you might as well do the whole thing if you are doing some, its almost the same work anyway and inevitably something you didnt want to replace will break on disassembly. there are a few good write ups on here if you do a search

You can do everything but the inner LCA bushing with out the spring compressor.

but I couldnt tell they were bad on mine until I removed the lower arm.then they just fell apart

I know I can do the upper control arm myself- no worries there. Sounds like lower ball joint is going to be a shop and I prefer not to mess with springs, so same for lower control arm.

So...you think lower ball joint and lower control arms are the next most important things? Any idea how much that might cost at a shop?

when I was speaking shop I meant take the joint to them to remove and install new one. this requires removing the spindle. to get them to do the lower arm inner they need to take everything apart. cost of the full kit was around 300, the shop will add markup to the parts. my general rule for a labor guess is 2X part cost so I would think a shop would be around 700-1000 to do a front end.

The problem with overhauling the front end a piece at a time is that almost anything you replace is going to require a front-end alignment. If you are going to drag things out, look for one of those "lifetime alignment" deals. (Even some of those have limitations.)

Deanna (and anyone else interested),

Here is a link to online auto repair manuals that might be useful. I think they're a little better than the Haynes.

http://search.ebscohost.com/Login.aspx?lp=login.asp&ref=&authtype=ip,uid

User ID is: greatfalls
Password is: publiclibrary

Select the "Auto Repair Reference Center" link, then vehicle year, then make, then model, and finally "Repair Procedures".


Hope it helps.


Gerry