I am going to replace just about everything under my car. Some stuff I will reuse like the sway bars but I plan on replacing all the bushings ect. I read the front end rebuild sticky and have searched for what parts i'll need. The Question I have is Where do I start? Is there things that need to be replaced 1st and things that need to be done last ? I ask cause I dont want to have to go back and re buy new stuff because I installed it in the wrong order.
Keep in mind I will be replacing all the bushings, ball joints, shocks, springs, sway bar end links and pretty much everything in the front end rebuild sticky. Where do I start? and what should be last to be installed?

 

I would start by putting the car on jack stands. Then I would rotate all the hardware counterclockwise, one at a time.

You have to take off the wheels, then the rotors, then the calipers, then the dust shields, then the sway bar end links (and bushings if you're replacing them) and the steering linkage, then the strut bolts (and the nut at the top if you want, and even the strut mount if you want new those), then the ball joints, then the control arm bolts. Then you set aside all the parts you're NOT replacing, and reinstall all that stuff, using the new parts you ARE replacing. So the thing to do first would be the CA bushings; then the ball joints (easiest to do these to a separate set of CAs that you get at the junkyard and prep in advance, that way you can speed up the whole process); then the springs; then the struts; then the entire steering linkage including the idler arm, all 4 rod ends, rod adjuster sleeves, and center link; then the sway bar; then the brake dust shields, rotors with nice new bearings & seals, calipers, and wheels. Then you drive to the alignment shop.

Pretty straightforward, you'll see, there's not many different orders you can do things in, although there are a few things yo ucan do in parallel (sway bar stuff and steering linkage for example).

 

Ok. thanks.
Thats what I was looking for. I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget something and end up having to take new ball joints back off. The only thing I have to seperate ball joints is a pickle fork and that usually destroys them. I really don't want to buy something twice.
But if it's worn out, it's getting replaced lol

 

Yeah, easiest BY FAR to just take it apart ONCE, and swap out EVERYTHING all at the same time, and be good for another 100k miles...

 

It also guarantees that when you get the alignment done afterwards, that its right.

 

i'm in the same boat - everything needs to go. since mine's not the daily driver, i've just taken my time to collect parts to do everything at once. no guessing what was replaced when if you do everything at once. If you have time, shop around - not everyone has the best price on everything, so sometimes its to your benefit to try a few different vendors (including Amazon!)

 

I'm going to shop around for the best prices. But this is my daily driver so I'm going to try to do everything up to and including the ball joints at one time. Then piece the rest togeather on weekends. I know the PO and they didnt replace ANYTHING lol they drove this car into the ground then it set for about 3 yrs and became a home for mice. But I got it all cleaned out and I'm planning a new engine but I wanted to replace all the suspension stuff before I do the engine.

 

ball joints and control arm bushings can be done at the same time by a shop with a press, the tie rods/centerlink/idler can all be done at once (pull the old setup as one piece so you can get close to the original alignment), and strut mounts can be done on their own as well. get all 3 steps done before getting an alignment so you don't have to do that part more than once

 

Yeah, I plan to do the ball joint and control arm bushings 1st. And I work in a shop so I can use our press on the weekends. And thanks for the idea on pulling the whole set up as one piece, I didn't know I could do that. And the alignment will be free. Just about 45min of my spare time
I am also doing the rear as I do the front so when I get to the springs and struts I can do all 4 at once and hopefully I'll have a nice riding camaro.

 

FYI... easy way to get ball joints apart with out a pickle fork ruining them. Loosen them up off the spendel but leave the nut on about 3 threads. then get a hammer or air hammer works great and tap with force on the end of the control arm near where the ball joint goes through the ca and spendel. make sure its not jacked up by the suspension. this will use the spring to push the ball joint out.

 

I rememberd being told that a long time ago as I was reading that. thanks for the reminder (as mush as I forget things i'll probably be doing this)

 

i need to do the bushings in my control arms and panhard too, but probably will just replace them completely (those adjustable units from founders look pretty good for the price) since they're not too expensive and less headache than pressing parts out

 

Every suspension job Ive done a pickle fork has never worked usually just jams in there and destroys things or I hit my hand with the hammer.

 

I may look into that myself, money vs extra work
But I also like sofas idea about getting a junk yard set and prepping with new parts to cut down on the install time.

 

I did ball joints on a chevy s-10 last year with a pickle fork and about broke my hand, it was on the brake caliper and I missed the fork and hit my hand. That was a pain. I had to grind off the top of the rivets and knock them out with a punch to get the ball joint out.

 

Yeah they're SUPER cheeeep at the junkyard... some other vehicle shares them, something REAL common, maybe S trucks or A/G bodies or something, so they're not a problem to get.... last time I needed a pair, they had em sitting behind the counter, $35 the pair, no waiting. It was worth it not to have to tear down the car, fiddle around with all that with no car, and risk not being able to put the car back together. Seems like I took em along with the new parts to a local tire place on Sat afternoon right around closing time and slipped the mech a yuppie food stamp to swap em, that way I didn't have to deal with that with the car all apart.

 

yuppie food stamp.

 

Hey one more question. I was looking at struts, springs and shocks and I keep seeing " for AT 5.7L" I have a manual 5 speed not AT but I do have a 5.7L. Is there a differance between At and Manual cars springs ect.?

 

The 5.7 part makes no difference. Weighs the same as a 305.

The reason you see no listings for that, is because no such thing exists, from the factory.

The manual/auto thing only matters to the extent that the 2 are a different weight. Same for AC/no AC.

Consider carefully how much whatever you've done to the car has affected its weight. Aluminum heads, WP, and mini-starter, for example, are nearly 100 lbs less. Similarly, audio equipment piles up REAL QUICK. How much the car is "lowered" or "raised" will be affected by this. For example, you might buy springs that are supposed to "lower" your car, but instead, the car sits higher after you put them in than it did with whatever is there now; this might be because your stockers wre COMPLETELY wore out and sagging, and you'd replaced the parts described above, plus pulled out the A/C, rear seats, and all the emissions, and put in an aluminum radiator instead of copper, AND put on a fiberglass hood. Those "raise" and "lower" specs are only meaningful in the context of what the car came like NEW, not what it is like NOW.

For springs, I would suggest the Moog 5662 front and CC635 rar combo. Other parts #s you might consider are the 5664 front and 5665 rear. For struts, Kony yellow for "the best", Tokica Illumina for "pretty good", and KYB for "just get the job done".

 

OK, Thanks.
and I think my stock springs and stuff are completely worn out. I have had 3 different people with 3rdgens ask how much I have lowerd my car. I have not and the PO didn't lower it(I know them personally) only thing I have changed is swapping in the 350. And as far as AC, I'm going to keep that but convert it to r134.
But thanks for the suggested parts. I'm not to familiar with what is good and whats not when it comes to suspension stuff. All I know is what I have read on TGO
But the engine I am building for my car is a 350 but it will have iron heads and I will remove the emmision stuff and run some nice headers. But thats about all I'll change. I have a 91 Z-28 and I love the looks it gets because all the other camaros around here dont have the hood blisters, underbody kit or the rear wing. So people stare at it sometimes.

 

Sorry for the thread jack.

Now if a car was going to have aprox 100# speakers in the trunk and the plan was ebiach pro springs would this significatly lower more then the advertized 1''?

 

Probably...

Rear springs for these cars have about a 150 - 175 lb/in rate (150 lbs, or whatever, compresses them 1"); so therefore 100 lbs, which is 50 per spring, would compress them somewhere between ¼" and ½".

You can get an idea for how much that is by filling your gas tank; 16 gal @ 7 lbs/gal is about 112 lbs, so when your car is empty go fill it up and see how great of a change it makes. The other 100 lbs will do about the same.

 

Well that makes sense. Thanks!