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Hey guys! Gonna do a front end rebuild on my car this fall. Tie rods, lower ball joints, upper control arms, and a manual steering box with adapter. Just a quick question regarding the lower ball joints. What is the "good" protocol to do them. Mainly what to do with the lower control arm since its hooked to the torsion bar. I have heard to just support the LCA with a jack before removing the balljoint from the spindle. Is that all thats required?
Thanks!
-John
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1966 Dodge Coronet 440 318 Polysphere 727 auto
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Lower ones can be a pain to separate sometimes. Do you have a factory service manual? They can be invaluable for this type of information.
67 Coronet 500 - 9.610 @ 139.20 mph
Owned Since 1981
Daughter's Car
67 Coronet 500 Street Car with AC
13.300 @ 101.75 mph
69 GTX clone - build in progress........
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Yes, you can use a floor jack to support the lower control arm. If you run disks, you have to pull the rotors to access the bolts that hold the ball joint to the spindle. Drums, gotta pull them off to get to them. Use a pickle fork to seperate the ball joint from the spindle, same with the tie rod end, since replacing them you don't care about destroying the boots. Assembly is the reverse, just bolt everything back up and remember the cotter pins.
If you haven't already bought the parts, I'd highly recommend quality ones from Moog or other brand name, I've got the part numbers here
https://dodgecoronet.com/coronet/showthr...sion-Parts. The all in one "kits" are of cheap quality, here's a video I made of kit ones I removed from my car.
https://youtu.be/USkDjyH0n5o
I love Mopars so much I'm date coding the skid marks in my underwear.
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08-18-23, 01:51 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-18-23, 01:54 PM by Avenger.)
Funny question. Is it easier to unbolt it from the backing plate first and then break the ball joint free from the LCA, or is it better to get the joint out of the LCA first and then take off the backing plate? Just getting as prepared as i can since i am probably going to start this in a few weeks and hopefully get er done fairly quickly. Im probably also going to hold the LCA with a jack and do the upper arms first, to hold the spindle up while i do the lower wth the jack still in place of course.
-John
1966 Dodge Coronet 440 318 Polysphere 727 auto
Posts: 3,147
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It's usually easier to unbolt the spindle first, then seperate the ball joint. Also easier to pop the tie rod first, as it gives you more freedom of movement of the spindle/backing plate.
I love Mopars so much I'm date coding the skid marks in my underwear.
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How did it go John?
The Idaho Andy
I love the smell of race fuel in the morning
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67r/t4speeder Wrote:How did it go John?
I haven't started yet. Planning on starting the weekend on the 9th
-John
1966 Dodge Coronet 440 318 Polysphere 727 auto
Posts: 6,660
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Joined: Jan 2013
I wish I could plan projects like that.
Mine come all at once so I don't plan anything so hopefully nothing happens and I can go fishing. Make any sense?
The Idaho Andy
I love the smell of race fuel in the morning
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Yup.. when it rains, it pours
I love Mopars so much I'm date coding the skid marks in my underwear.
Posts: 291
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Joined: Jan 2013
67440Dodge Wrote:Yup.. when it rains, it pours
You got that right lol. Still havent gotten the chance to even start. Had projects and such every weekend. This weekend is replacing a leaking element in my water heater and hoping that nothing gets busted in the process resulting in a new tank. If it happens it happens though lol.
-John
1966 Dodge Coronet 440 318 Polysphere 727 auto
