Time to rebuild the suspension :~(

[fillupd]

I have the swivel and a pretty good impact also. Wouldn't budge that nut. I cranked on it also until I thought my bench was going to flip over. I ended up giving it to my son whom works for a car dealership and his new Mac impact zipped it off with ease. He ended breaking his vice and used a buddies huge vise, heat and a big hammer to get that bolt out. That was the hard part. ( I cut my ball joint out which left the bolt and knuckle only , a little easier that way.)

Maybe it would be cheaper in the long run to have a shop or a machine shop give you a quick quote? I know mine was stubborn. Don't risk breaking your knuckle.

[70spider]

Maybe it would be cheaper in the long run to have a shop or a machine shop give you a quick quote? I know mine was stubborn. Don't risk breaking your knuckle.

Yep, I was thinking the same thing. When the swivel gets here, none of the local places had one, I'll give it a shot and if it doesn't work I was going to see how much it would be for a shop to do it. My problem is I live in a rual area so not to many places to choose from . This brings me to the reason why I am doing this myself, the local shops would not touch my FIat.

[70spider]

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got the swivel socket in the mail today. I removed the ball joint nuts and was able to pickle fork the a-arms off the steering knuckle on the passenger side, I figure I'll do one side at a time so I have a reference on how they go back together .I cleaned them up and now I am going to paint them. I have to get a new center link before I start putting things back on, plus I need to get a thread chaser.
Now that I seem to have a handle on the front it is time to research on how to replace the bushings on the rear trailing arms. There isn't as much info on the rear but I'll dig around and see what others here have done.
Also has anyone used the Monroe shocks? It seems most here use the KYBs.
Thanks all.

[njoconnor]

Now that I seem to have a handle on the front it is time to research on how to replace the bushings on the rear trailing arms. There isn't as much info on the rear but I'll dig around and see what others here have done.

Thanks all.

Thnak you for posting the progress. Feels' like I'm practicing for my suspension.

A couple of months ago I asked about the process for replacing the rear bushings. Agreement seems to be: 1) support the rear axle with a floor jack, car up on jack stands at the jack points; Unfasten, replace, and refasten one bushing/joint at a time. From what I've gathered, the rear bushing go into their arms much easier than the front bushings go into the A-Arms....

Going to try on side of the Panhard Rod later this week just to practice/troubleshoot.

Neil

[fillupd]

70 Spider - PM sent

[70spider]

Ok the parts are painted and it is time to reasemble them. What kind of axle grease do I use for the bearings? Also, do I lube the ball joint shaft prior to attaching it to the knuckle?

[vandor]

>What kind of axle grease do I use for the bearings?

Any wheel bearing grease will do, but be sure to remove all of the old grease from the hub. It's possible that two different types of greases are not chemically compatible.

>Also, do I lube the ball joint shaft prior to attaching it to the knuckle?

No, it does not move.

[fillupd]

There are a zillion opinions on grease out there. I use Valvoline SynPower Full-Synthetic Multipurpose Grease. I did quite a bit of surfing and reading about greases. I'm pretty satisfied with this choice. It hasn't walked the walked yet but time and miles will tell.
I used some LE last time and wasn't really happy with the looks when I regreaesd my bearings. Lucas make some good grease, I use the marine Lucas in my boat trailer, that stuff is stiiiiicky. I think the Lucas Green grease-Heavy Duty- would be my second choice for the spider. It was really a toss up. Lucas is pretty, synPower is black because of the moly.
So there you go with my opinion. You can use Lucas and when asked if your grease is any good, you can say, I don't know but it sure is pretty.

[DieselSpider]

Clean the hubs and the bearings surgically clean and then pack the bearing don't just smear grease on the outside of it. Don't spin the bearings with compressed air after you clean them as this can damage the cage and cause it to shatter.

Hand packing a bearing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... hL1uAp_WCw

Using a packing tool with a grease gun (clean the bearing better than this gent)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... XTIjkfcR84

[70spider]

Thanks for the help. Its been raining here for a few days and we have a few more according to the weather-man, feels like Seatle, so I have time to figure out which grease to use.

[70spider]

Progress, I put together the passenger side a-arms. Ran into a bit of a problem with the upper ball joint spinning, solved with an impact wrench . I just had a question, what are the torque specs for the nuts that hold the dust shield and steering link to the knuckle?

Thanks

[fillupd]

I'm not sure but I would guess around .... pretty tight. I just cranked mine down pretty good and kept an eye out for the flat to lock it in place. I took a look in my manual and really didn't pop out at me for a torques spec.

[70spider]

With a couple of assumptions: 1. The bolt is a 10x1.25 2. The bolt is 8.8 grade. With these assumptions I found a couple of charts on torque specs so between 25-33 ft.lbs.
Does this sound good?

[fillupd]

I'm guessing after mine were tight and I turned them to meet the lock so the flat was in a good spot to bend the ears over, that I was >50 on the knuckle bolts. I'm not a human torque wrench but 25-33 sounds a little on the light side.

I'm curious now, I'll try to dig up some ratings.

[vandor]

> With these assumptions I found a couple of charts on torque specs so between 25-33 ft.lbs.

Sounds about right. Why not look it up in the manual?