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 Post subject: Front end rebuild
PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2003 11:10 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 01, 2002 5:52 pm
Posts: 3427
Location: McChord AFB WA by way of Spokane WA
Alright when i whent to get my front end alighned they told me that it couldnt be done becouse the front end parts were too worn out. No real big suprise, its never been touched. So has anyone done a front end reduild or know how hard one would be to do?

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2003 11:51 pm 
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Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2002 9:20 pm
Posts: 2013
Location: Copperas Cove, Texas
Get a pickle fork and strip it down. Get replacement parts first. You might have trouble finding parts for your idler arm. Basicly, take the load off of the torsion bars and use the pickle fork to separate the ball joints and tie rods. Then the rest is remove and replace parts. The upper ball joints need to be pressed off of the arms. Remember to count the number of threads or turns when you replace the rod ends of the centerlink.
OR! Go for a coil over setup!

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:42 am 
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Location: McChord AFB WA by way of Spokane WA
my foactory service manual said that the upper ball joint and upper controll arm are one unit. :?
Thanks for the info on the tool ill need to, i would have forgoten to get my dads puller :lol:

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 16, 2003 8:48 pm 
i completely rebuilt my frontend from hub to hub.and im just what you would call a shade tree mechanic lol.i would say the hardest part was removing all the ball joints.but i did it with a fork and big hammer.had the best luck going to a local napa store for all the bearing and seals.dont waste your time at advance cause their is 2 bearing their books dont even show exist.and the whole time i had the old ones in my hand lol.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 17, 2003 4:21 pm 
MEPR - If you're talking about the 80 4x4 that you have in your signature, then I have some suggestions... this may be a long post but I hope it helps you not screw up like I did.

I actually went to a tire place and was told the same thing. I have a worn out idler arm bushing that causes the whole front end to creak to top things off. Basically, here are the things I know you can buy because I did:
Upper and lower balljoints
Upper control arm shaft and bushings
Tie rod ends and intermediate shaft
Wheel bearings
CV half shafts

I did the whole front end on my 79 4x4 a couple years ago and it really wasn't that hard. The one thing that I can promise you will be a pain in the ass is the large nut holding the upper balljoint to the upper control arm. I had to cut mine off cause it was rusted and had to have 2 nuts custom made for me because its so huge and with a odd pitch. When you're taking it off make sure you're careful. Otherwise, here is something I wish I knew back then... the early Troopers have the same set up with one exception: Isuzu realized how dumb they were for using one humongous nut to hold the balljoint on the arm so they changed the design of the upper balljoint so that it was instead held on by 3 or 4 "normal" small nuts, much like the lower balljoint.

If you keep that in mind, the rest is pretty straightforward and easy. The upper control arm is held to the strut tower by 2 bolts. When you remove those 2 bolts to get the upper arm off (which you'll have to do if you're replacing the shaft and bushings on it) then you'll find that a few shims drop out. Hold on to those and put them back when you're done because otherwise you'll really throw the camber off.

Finally, go back to the front end people and they'll take care of re-shimming anything you missed and aligning your tie rod ends. I hope that helps you. If you run into any problems or questions let me know.


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