Complete Front Suspension Teardown and Rebuild

[POOBLAH]

All,

I got the passenger side front suspension completely removed from my Cobra. When I was looking at my control arm I noticed a fairly large size crack in my bushing. The other bushing seems to look fine. Now I've seen control arm bushings that are complete toast. Im not sure I would classify this one that way. So in my quest to keep the car as stock as possible I'm a little torn on the decision. It also doesn't help me hearing how much of a pain in the ass it is to replace them. I'd like your opinions on if I should replace the control arm bushings. Whats the main thing you all look for in bad control arms for these fox bodies?












FYI: The ball joints 100% toast and will need to be replaced. Any suggestions for that as well?

[POOBLAH]

Well I found some Ford Racing Lower Control arms on eBay. Picked them up for $300, which is reasonable. Now I have an extra set of Moog Ball joints that I no longer need. :-/ Ah well... Im still glad I found the control arms.

[POOBLAH]

I've got the k-member and inner fender well cleaned up as much as possible. I've also installed the control arm (loosely).



Now I just need to find a spring compressor which will work. Most Macpherson strut spring compressors won't work. Neither will that little tool that 5.0 resto sells that helps "guide" the spring into place. (Being a stock spring + new isolators, its too long). If you gentlemen have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

[1986Browns]

How many miles are on your car?

[POOBLAH]

91,000.

Since its a Pre-Production car I've been trying to fix it up and clean it as I go along. Its been a long process, but she is finally coming together slowly. It can be a real pain in the ass trying to stick with stock parts sometimes. lol.

[Powers33]

I've got the k-member and inner fender well cleaned up as much as possible. I've also installed the control arm (loosely).



Now I just need to find a spring compressor which will work. Most Macpherson strut spring compressors won't work. Neither will that little tool that 5.0 resto sells that helps "guide" the spring into place. (Being a stock spring + new isolators, its too long). If you gentlemen have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

Well I have used 2sets of rachet straps before to compress my springs. They make a 1 peace design that has the strap connected to the ratcheting tightener. Also once the spring is in place but maybe not compressed enough you can put a floor jack under the control arm .

[1993cobra]

A pain in the ass but I always used two people and a floor jack.

[93N8]

I bought this at either advanced auto or Harbour freight. I had to go to Lowes to get the spacers and washers. When your done just loosen it and it falls down thru the hole in the A arm. I went eibach pro kit and everyone told me i wouldn't have to compress the new springs. They were wrong. And it was easy peasy with this compressor

[POOBLAH]

Yea.. Im thinking that is gonna be my best bet. One thing though... Instead of spacers like you have, couldn't I just feed only the threaded end through into the spring and let the bottom of the control arm act as a stop for the other half? This would give me more leverage. I was also thinking that to prevent it from scraping the bottom of my control arm, to use a hard block of OAK wood between the bottom of the control arm and the end of the spring compressor.

[93N8]

I'd have to look. It could be possible. I think I only used the spacers to put the new springs in. I just compressed it, set it in. Put it back together and slid it out

[jstanley55]

Lowering springs are way easier than stock by far! The ordinary spring compressor won't work on stock height springs. You won't be able to get it out once the lower control arm is in position. There's a post on here somewhere where Aaron mentioned a special spring compressor he bought, might want to search for it but if I recall he said it was pricey.
May the force be with you!

[jstanley55]

Here's the post I was referring to:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4870&p=44118&hilit ... all#p44118

[POOBLAH]

Thanks for the info!

[POOBLAH]

Well I got almost all the parts prepped and cleaned! I also went ahead and bought a spring compressor which I think will work. I took my old spring and control arm up to the shop to test it before I bought it. Tomorrow (wife permitting) Ill put the spring, spindle, and strut back on. I have a few other parts not in the picture. (Like NEW OEM strut covers + hardware)





HERES TO HOPING IT GOES WELL!!!!!

[POOBLAH]

So I ended up fighting with it for 12 hours last Saturday while trying to compress the Spring into the Control Arm. Despite my best efforts, compressing the spring all the way does not work because of the natural bow that it has in it. My only choice was to compress the spring by itself, leaving the top and bottom coils alone so that the compressor would not bind into the control arm nor the spring socket within the K Member. Finally after a quick 30 minutes worth of effort I was able to secure the spring in, and loosen the compressor enough that all tension was on the K-Member and ARM. Unfortunately I then had another problem on my hands which was removing the tool which was now bound within the coils of the spring. The tool is three main parts (a larger hook, a long bolt, and the smaller hook assemblies). The order matters GREATLY when trying to remove them. First you have to remove the big hook (larger single unit). Because it has bumps to keep it from slipping, you need a crow bar to assist with this. After using a crow bar and a rubber mallet for about an hour, I was finally able to pull this part out. Then I was left with long bolt and the smaller dual hook assembly. You have to get the hook assembly all the way to the bottom of the control arm in order to unscrew the long bolt out. Once you have the long bolt unscrewed then it simply slides through the bottom of the K-Member. The last part was getting the dual hook assembly out. This was kinda tricky because I kept trying to get it to go through the hole in the control arm and it would not work. There is not enough room to twist the assembly straight up and down (which is what needs to happen in order to make it fit through the control arm hole) Instead I found the coils with the largest gap and managed to slide the assembly out through them with the assistance of the crow bar. Once that was done, then it was a matter of attaching the Strut and Spindle back on to keep it secure.

What a mess! I've never had to fight with issues like that on a car before! Kinda makes me not look forward to doing the other side, but at least I know its possible now.

In the end, I found about 5 ways which won't work and 1 way that does. Trial and Error.