WheelinJR
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland, Oregon
Started this project Thanksgiving Day, finished it up Friday and got home at 10pm to get up for the TSF run yesterday. So with the help of my brother in law Jerry (jerokee) we went to work.
Basically, my front end was shot, needed bushings like crazy and some good repair work. Here's the list of what I got done.
1. Replace upper control arm bushing on to of pumpkin
2. Cut off passenger side upper control arm mount on axle
3. Cut bushing cradles off of lower control arms and weld on new ones
4. Press new bushings into lower control arms
5. Install new front brake lines
6. Install new front shocks
7. Drill out upper link to fit new 14mm hardware (explanation below)
8. Drill out lower trackbar bracket to accept new larger hardware
We decided that since we were going to change brake lines and shocks that it was just easier to disconnect the steering too and just yank the whole front axle out.
Now everyone said this bushing would be a pain to remove. This one was so beat that with one smack of a 2.5lb mini sledge it slid right out.
To replace the upper bushing I decided to call RockKrawler and order one of their 14mm x 2.375" ball diff mounts. Since I run one upper link, I liked the idea of having bigger hardware through that one mount point.
I took one of Jerry's used DA discs and cleaned up the loop here.
Then, greased it up with a thin layer of grease
Next, slide one of the poly bushings into place
Then I greased up the center ball
Then put the ball into place, and slide the other poly bushing in
Next put the outer plates into place and start bolting them in. I worked my way around evenly to make sure the bushings slid into place smoothly.
Here it is all tightened up, only thing left to do is take a cutoff wheel and shorten the bolts.
Jerry went to work cutting the old bushing cradles off. These were all beat up from me improperly pressing the first set of bushings in. They were also only a wall thickness of 1/8". We ended up turning to Rubicon Express and got some new 3/16" wall thickness cradles, and welded them on.
The last dilemna was finding somewhere the day after Thanksgiving to press in new bushings. We called a local auto shop up there in Olympia and they had a press, but when they got there, they were afraid of ruining the bushings doing it, so they wouldn't do it.
We ended up heading south to Exit 88 where Tim Lund of Wild West Off-Road actually hung out at the shop when he wasn't really open to put the bushings in. When finished, he didn't even charge me. Awesome guy, and I suggest heading his was for work if you're in that Olympia area.
All done, bolt the arms back on, and slide everything back under the Jeep.
In the end, I was a little tired but all ready for the TSF Thanksgiving run. It's great to have a solid front end again right before I do my gears and lockers.
Basically, my front end was shot, needed bushings like crazy and some good repair work. Here's the list of what I got done.
1. Replace upper control arm bushing on to of pumpkin
2. Cut off passenger side upper control arm mount on axle
3. Cut bushing cradles off of lower control arms and weld on new ones
4. Press new bushings into lower control arms
5. Install new front brake lines
6. Install new front shocks
7. Drill out upper link to fit new 14mm hardware (explanation below)
8. Drill out lower trackbar bracket to accept new larger hardware
We decided that since we were going to change brake lines and shocks that it was just easier to disconnect the steering too and just yank the whole front axle out.
Now everyone said this bushing would be a pain to remove. This one was so beat that with one smack of a 2.5lb mini sledge it slid right out.
To replace the upper bushing I decided to call RockKrawler and order one of their 14mm x 2.375" ball diff mounts. Since I run one upper link, I liked the idea of having bigger hardware through that one mount point.
I took one of Jerry's used DA discs and cleaned up the loop here.
Then, greased it up with a thin layer of grease
Next, slide one of the poly bushings into place
Then I greased up the center ball
Then put the ball into place, and slide the other poly bushing in
Next put the outer plates into place and start bolting them in. I worked my way around evenly to make sure the bushings slid into place smoothly.
Here it is all tightened up, only thing left to do is take a cutoff wheel and shorten the bolts.
Jerry went to work cutting the old bushing cradles off. These were all beat up from me improperly pressing the first set of bushings in. They were also only a wall thickness of 1/8". We ended up turning to Rubicon Express and got some new 3/16" wall thickness cradles, and welded them on.
The last dilemna was finding somewhere the day after Thanksgiving to press in new bushings. We called a local auto shop up there in Olympia and they had a press, but when they got there, they were afraid of ruining the bushings doing it, so they wouldn't do it.
We ended up heading south to Exit 88 where Tim Lund of Wild West Off-Road actually hung out at the shop when he wasn't really open to put the bushings in. When finished, he didn't even charge me. Awesome guy, and I suggest heading his was for work if you're in that Olympia area.
All done, bolt the arms back on, and slide everything back under the Jeep.
In the end, I was a little tired but all ready for the TSF Thanksgiving run. It's great to have a solid front end again right before I do my gears and lockers.
