Some tips on new suspension installation needed.

[BammBamm]

A few things I need info about. The crossmember bolt to the lower control arm, is it pressed in? Mine is spinning. I'm thinking about welding it. How much camber and caster and toe in do I need? Is there an easy way to do it myself? It appears to change camber and caster is a pain. I don't want to pay a shop I do it.

[bobplyler]

Alignment isn't too hard. I used a quicktrick https://www.quicktrickalignment.com/shop/pro-series/.
I used cheap flooring tiles, with grease between them instead of turn plates. I used tape on the ground, laid out with a protractor to get the angles. I got the shims from Harbor Freight. It took about 4-5 tries per side to get the caster/camber correct. The toe was easy.
These are the specs I used. Note, these are UNLADEN.

[bobplyler]

Also, the crossmember bolt to the control arms is welded. Sounds like the weld broke.

[njoconnor]

One of my crossmember bolts was spinning as well. On inspection, it was clear that the PO had subbed in a regular bolt for a (probably) stripped or sheared off crossmember stud.

I sourced a hardened bolt of the same diameter (I'm thinking 12mm wide across the threads, but can't recall) and proper length, and we put the car up on my mechanic's lift. There was a slot on either side of the crossmember, and we were able to thread the new bolt up into the crossmember, then lever /jam the bolt's hex head with a large screwdriver; this kept the bolt from turning as we applied torque. We could then torque the lower control arm to spec. When I had the car aligned, the alignment shop had no problems with the fix, and the car aligned nicely.

It's a fiddly piece of work, but doable. My crossmember was intact, no cracks, no broken welds. Otherwise, I thin we would have replaced the entire crossmember.

Neil

[BammBamm]

Bob- Did you buy the jig that attaches to the rim or did you make one?

[bobplyler]

Bob- Did you buy the jig that attaches to the rim or did you make one?

The jig is part of the tool.

[engineerted]

If you are looking to spend that kind of money, i would get this one and use the string method.


http://www.longacreracing.com/products. ... A2+Adapter

[RRoller123]

You can also use an IPod with a free (or very inexpensive) carpenter's level app, very accurate. Place it on a straightedge placed across the rim. Not too fancy, but will do the trick.

Pete

[pwilliam]

When putting the new sway bar bushing on, and bolting the sway bar back to the a-arms do it with the car on the ground. It will make life much easier. The second trick I found to be very useful is place a hydraulic jack beneath the sway bar and jack it up. As the sway bar is moved up towards its final location, pry it away from the a-arm with a long wrench or the wood handle of a mallet. You just need something to give you enough leverage so you can push the sway bar out past the bolts on the a-arm and then into place.