Wampus Cat

[TxCajun]

I decided to completely rebuild the front suspension while switching from a manual to a power steering gearbox.

I had previously installed 2 inch lowering springs and new upper ball joints when I rebuilt the brakes. At that time, my inspection had led me to believe the rest of the suspension and steering linkage was in pretty good shape. However when I started disassembling things, I found more wear than what I could find with the suspension or steering all assembled. For example the rear bushings on the lower a-arms were worn very badly even though I could not feel movement or wobble in the a-arm. Fortunately the threads in the a-arms for the bushings were not damaged.

I’m currently in the process of cleaning and painting all the parts and installing new Moog parts.

I’m also making the modification to improve caster by moving the A-arms 3/4 inch forward. I decided to compensate for that by modifying the shock absorber mounts on the lower a-arm to move them back to their approximate original position to maintain the original shock orientation.

Oh, I also recently found a basket-case, badly used/abused 20-ton hydraulic press and refurbished it for use in the shop (rebuilt the hydraulic jack; found or made replacement parts; straightened bent parts; fabricated a caster base). The press worked great for removing the old lower ball joints.
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