Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:12:12 -0500
Reply-To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Front-end workout
In-Reply-To: <523CB5BD.9060804@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> wondering if this would finally be the time I called the tow truck. But
> I got it, I'm healed now and would still like to learn some things...
Sounds like my experience.
>
>
> On 9/20/2013 10:29 AM, Jim Felder wrote:
>
> As for a lever as someone mentioned, the only one I needed was to press
>> down on the anti-roll bar so I could compress the upper fitting down in
>> its
>> recess in order the get the lower one and the fastener on.
>>
> And didn't you wish you had at least a third hand to pry, guide the link,
> fiddle with the lower bushing, pick up the nut without the bushing falling
> off while the other hand was still prying ... ?
>
>
>> Most people I think would have the most problem with the simplest part of
>> all, the anti-roll bar. If you are not careful about details and you do
>> not
>> have a very large C clamp (mine was just enough at 16 inches) you cannot
>> compress the rubber bushings where the hold-downs mount to the body in
>> order to get the bolts in them.
>>
> Not clear about this,
I used the T3 poly bushings, which, when installed in the holders and on
the bar, stood the brackets out too far from the body to the the end of the
bolt to where I could get a thread on it. I had to squeeze it hard to close
the gap enough. These were the whitelines, I think.
>
>
>
> Getting the links on the bar was easily the hardest part of the whole job.
> I also had the T3 poly and I fought for hours, emailed Chris at T3 who
> sent me a link to a dandy video of his method ... which involved wailing on
> it with a big hammer, and which I could not reproduce myself anyway. I
> wished I'd gotten regular rubber bushings for that.
>
Here's what I did: You need a BIG vise. You lock the bar up in the vise
with one end close to the jaws and the other end sticking way, way out. You
align the "stob" end of the bar with the flat lower part of the vise (the
part that slides, between the base and the jaws) so that a big clamp will
reach and be in alignment. With the C part of the clamp resting against my
belly, I slowly clamped the "eye" of the drop link onto the stob end of the
anti-sway bar. It took just ten seconds or so to get each of them on once
the bar was positioned properly in the vise.
>
>
> T3 stock did go back up with the lower control arm bushings. Since they
> are in two pieces, you don't need a press and so don't need to remove the
> control arm. Lower the inside only, dig out the old bushing, push the new
> in from either side and raise it back up. That was slick and a nice way to
> end a horrible job.
>
I used OEM Flennor stuff there, but since the old ones lasted so long, I
was OK with that. If I am still driving this thing 30 years from now, I
won't complain about my choices : )
>
> Jim
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