General Suspension Refresh

[krautmeister]

So I'm going through my 80 C10. It's been lowered, but don't know any specs on it.

So I was thinking of replacing all ball joints and bushings. How about this kit or are there other kits that are better?

Any special tools I need? I may do complete control arms so I don't have to press anything out.

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[87ChevyR10]

Hey, I didn't know anyone made front-end kits like that. Where did you find this as I need to do this, too. Thx!

 

[foamypirate]

Personally, I'd put together my own kit with nothing but Moog parts. I'm not a fan of the quality of the parts included in most kits.

 

[74 Shortbed]

All Moog for stock rebuild, Energy Suspension for premium upgrades.

 

[krautmeister]

Hey, I didn't know anyone made front-end kits like that. Where did you find this as I need to do this, too. Thx!

eBay kit... quality unknown.

 

[87ChevyR10]

eBay kit... quality unknown.

Ok, well I'll avoid those then. I recently bought a set of risers for my cruiser off eBay for $38. Absolute trash. All of the bolts felt like they were a slightly different size than what the holes were designed for. One of the holes started stripping from the get-go. I even had to go buy hex drivers for my socket wrench just to get the triple tree bolts to feed all the way in. No way were allen keys going to get the job done.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

I thought Moog made a kit just like the one shown in the picture. Maybe not...

 

[MikeB]

Personally, I'd put together my own kit with nothing but Moog parts. I'm not a fan of the quality of the parts included in most kits.

I agree 100%. Moog parts are very reasonably priced at Rock Auto and Summit Racing. With no-name parts, you may very well end up with cracked grease boots and "squeaks and creaks". Been there, done that with some JCWhitney stuff many years ago when I was dumb.

 

[smoothandlow84]

All Moog for stock rebuild, Energy Suspension for premium upgrades.

X2.....and thats exactly what I ended up doing when I rebuilt my front end (5 " drop in the front). The oem rubber control arm bushings are a royal pita to remove...it takes a shitload of patience, a drill sometimes a torch and a lot of profanity. Installing Polyurethane replacements is easy. There is no need to have them pressed in. I loosely installed the bushings and then tightened the nuts to press them into place. Use a small dab of the lubricant that comes in the kit to pre grease the bushings it helps. The best part about polyurethane. ...they will far outlast the rubber and you'll probably never have to replace them again.

 

[smoothandlow84]

Oh yeah...billet tied rod adjusters too. They look super trick, are easy to adjust and hold up better than the stamped steel units. I found billet units a week after replacing mine. This is on my "to do" list.


Fwiw.....i'm not a fan of ebay kits at all unless the manufacturer is well known. The reason those kits are cheap....cheap components most of the time. No overhead, no return policy....no warranty. I'm oldschool, I want to hold and inspect the parts by hand and now that I am getting what I paid for. I don't mind driving into a shoo to get my parts even if they cost more. It's piece of mind talking to an actual sales rep for me.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Oh yeah...billet tied rod adjusters too. They look super trick, are easy to adjust and hold up better than the stamped steel units. I found billet units a week after replacing mine. This is on my "to do" list

Just remember to neversieze the threads that dissimilar metals thing you know.

 

[MikeB]

Yes, definitely Energy Suspension polyurethane control arm bushings. Steering will be more responsive than with rubber bushings, and they will outlast the truck. I even used their bump stops on the bottoms of my upper control arms.

 

[smoothandlow84]

All my bushings and bumpstops are polyurethane

 

[foamypirate]

I've got a C20, so I've got nice steel bushings. No give in those puppies!

 

[84c10Tony]

About ten years ago, I was time and cash broke and went to Sears in Victorville to use their c card for front end r/r. I had Energy A frame bushings and new springs, wanted them to install etc.
I specifically requested for All New Moog ball joints, ends etc. to complete the job, they agreed to Moogs, press in the bushings etc.
So, went for a walk, came back to find the nice mech. beating the bushings in with a ball peen, they had used junk parts instead of Moog, NOT happy.
I mentioned this to the manager, she replied "she looked it up on You tube and this was acceptable"...mmm, No.
After seeing the mess and junk, she said the foreign parts are fine and would not do anything about it, even after the store mgr. got involved.
All the rubber boots cracked in about a month, bushings squeak...the quality speaks...creaks, whatever.
And they never installed my new springs sitting right there on the floor, the mech. wanted $220 more even though the old ones were off the truck and on the floor.
So...Definitely get all Moog if you like a smooth DD, plastic if you race or....?, now days, I want a smoother ride and less NVH (bones feel that schyt).
Myself ? I creak and squeak enough as it is.
I have a bunch of tools from years ago still in the packages to redo this myself, which I definitely won't be doing now...lol, plans vrs life, it happens while you step in something else.