I'm throwing some steering/suspension parts in the GTA this weekend. What is the best way to lift the car to get to the centerlink (and related parts). Jack stands and remove the front tires? Drive on ramps and leave the tires on. If I use ramps, should I lift the rear of the car so it is level? If I use ramps, will an alignment need to be done (assuming I change the idler arm, centerlink, and inner tie-rods as one piece)? Thanks in advance.

Kevin

 

Ive been wondering the same thing?...Also, do u know if u need any special tools for this job?

 

It's easiest if the front of the car is up off the ground and the tires are off; but it's probably possible to do it with it sitting there. Just ... not much fun, unless you're REALLY skinny.

You'll need the right size sockets and/or wrneches for the bolts, a BFH, and a "pickle fork". You can "rent" that at AutoZone and other such places. Its "official name is "tie rod separator".

Yes an alignment will be needed; although if you do all the steering linkage as one unit and match it to the old, it should at least be driveable.

 

I only needed to swap the centerlink....but everything was pretty much fused together. Had to replace everything. Even had to use a blowtorch on the pitman arm to get the centerlink off.

 

Air tools are your best friend & a finger lift. If not get ready to do some sweating, yeah BFH is the best make it 2. Good luck with everything.

 

Just to clarify, BFH means BIG F***ING HAMMER... right?

How long would it take to swap those components if you have all the tools you need? I was thinking of doing this for a lab in my high school autos class but I don't want my car out of commission for to long. I mean just by looking at it, it seems pretty straight forward, but from what little experience I do have, it never is as easy as it looks.

 

Well you should probably ask your auto teacher, becuase the time it takes will really depend on the tools he has.

My buddy has a pickle fork set that goes right on his air chisel / hammer, and with that, and some PB oil, and impact tools, you could have the swap done in less time than it takes to put the car on the lift.

However, stuff often goes wrong. Ask thebufenator. Good luck.

 

The air hammer/chisel is your best friend for doing front end work. Makes life so easy . Yes things may go wrong, so don't expect that it will be a cake walk unless you have done this type of work before. But other than that its a good way to get some knowledge & hands dirty.Let us know how it goes & take some pics if you got time.

 

yeah.....if the aprts have never been changed......expect them to be fused together really tight

 

i did my inner and outer tie rods and sleeves yesterday, didnt even take the wheels off just jacked the car up so the tires were off the ground...air gun and an air hammer are ur friends with front end.

 

I'm about to do mine this week... center link and one inner need replacing so I bought everything but a new pitman arm (autozone didn't have in stock), I figure that will be my hardest endeavor ... end link will be breaker bars and PB blaster and the ends are mounted to the spindles where I can get a good swing at em.

My buddy says I'm nuts (since I dont need some parts) but I figure it's going to make the whole job easier.

Plus how tight are 23 year old parts gonna be after hanging out with their loose friends and being smacked off and set back on?

 

I took inner & outer tie rods, with the idler arm connected to the center link all as one piece. Essentially, I had to disconnect the outers, the idler arm from the frame, and the pitman arm from the center-link. The parts could be as many as 20 years old, and being I have already replaced springs, struts, end-links, sway-bar bushings, and added a wonderbar and subframe connectors this winter, I figured everything needed to be freshened. Inners, outers, sleeves, idler arm and centerlink were less than $200 altogether.

The worst part was I dropped my 18mm socket into the frame when unbolting the top idler arm bolt. My magnet hasn't been able to find it yet, but I have the wheels off and should be able to McGuyver a solution.

I figure it'll be easier to lay everything out as one-piece and match up the new pieces. The alignment shop is literally around the corner.

 

I just did the whole front end tonight.

Rather than all the parts being fused together, most everything was "loose".

The BFH worked much better than the tie rod separator.

 

So, to both resurrect an old thread and clarify the original question, this can be done with the car on ramps, if you have tall ramps, correct?

 

Yes, it should be doable on ramps.