riffman

I dont' think this constitutes as driveline, so thats why i posted it here. sorry if its wrong.

Ok, so this weekend, I am replacing a lot of my front end parts.
To be exact:

NCP2673503 NAPA Chassis Parts Control Arm Bushing - Lower - Front Susp
NCP2671405 NAPA Chassis Parts Control Arm Bushing - Upper - Front Susp
BRGLM501349 NAPA Bearings Wheel Bearing Cone - Inner - Front Wheel
BRGBR15101 NAPA Bearings Wheel Bearing Cone - Outer - Front Wheel
BRGLM501310 NAPA Bearings Wheel Bearing Cup - Inner - Front Wheel
BRGBR15245 NAPA Bearings Wheel Bearing Cup - Outer - Front Wheel
NOS21756 NAPA Oil Seals Wheel Seal - Front Wheel
NCP2652305 NAPA Chassis Parts Sway Bar Bushing - Front Susp
MRCES2080S Master Ride Chassis Tie Rod Adjusting Sleeve - Front Susp
NCP 2692936 NAPA Chassis Parts Tie Rod End - Inner
NCP 2692935 NAPA Chassis Parts Tie Rod End - Outer
NCP 2601431 NAPA Chassis Ball Joint - Lower - Front Susp
NCP 2601429 NAPA Chassis Ball Joint - Upper - Front Susp

this is a 95 2wd 3500. So I'm wondering about any oddball tools that i might need? I have a pretty good assortment of tools, and very large sockets aren't a problem...i got em. But is there any special tool needed for a spindle nut holding the hub on or anything? Anthing else that I might need to beware of??

Any help would be awesome!

Thanks guys!
Scott

ccmckee

Apparently the bushing are a real b***h too change out good luck and happy wrenching

Mopar1973man

I think your good with standard tools... ccmckee is right though... Bushing are a really pain in ____ to change. You might hose it down with some WD-40 to help them. Wirebrush to help clean up the old dirt and mud too.. At the worst you might need a propane torch to get the old ones out.

riffman

coolness. Thanks for the info!

What makes it difficult to change them, are they just hard to pry out the old ones or something?

hamilton71801

I replaced my control arm bushings with energy suspension on my 01 and burnt them out. Pretty easy. Put control arms in vise or lay on trailer bed and put a bucket of water under them. Get your torch and catch them on fire and watch them burn. Once the center falls out you can knock out the other part and not have the mess if you let it all burn out. Grease up the new ones and put back on. Took me about 3 hrs to do mine. It would have been quicker if I didn't have to trial and error the whole process.

riffman

sweet. Smoke wrench to the rescue!! I'll probably just start with the torch, unless they just fall out. That wouldn't hurt my feelings. lol....

Thanks for the help!

riffman

whoa mama....that was a serious PITA!!! You guys weren't kidding!

We started yesterday morning at about 8:00am and didn't get done till around 10:30pm. We had it up on a lift, so that helped greatly!!! I would probably still be working on it now if we didn't have the lift...lol

Those control arm bushings were a mess!! The uppers were ok. We just pressed them out with the ball joint press we had. The lowers on the other hand....wow. We set the rubber on fire, and let the ruber burn out. Then pulled the inner sleeve. After that, I got out the sawzall and cut through the outer sleeve in two spots. Basically takeing out about a 1" section from the middle. Then i could pry one side out, and beat the other side out.

I tell ya what, for anybody that reads this and is getting ready to do it themselves....a full press would be pretty handy do have. getting the new bushings in was interesting. We ended up using 2 sets of ball joint presses with a threaded rod to squeaze it together. A press probably would have made that easier.

So after all my rambling, i have one more question for you guys. The bar just over the upper spring mount that holds on the upper control arm...is that for setting camber?? There is ovaled holes in it, and about 1'2" - 3/4" of play in it, and we set it to a pretty positive camber when we reattached everything. I'm planning on taking it to get it aligned, but am curious if thats what they use for the camber setting....

thanks again for the heads up on the bushings!!

kd460

Riffman, your timing is perfect!!

My upper A-arm bushing has been making noise for awhile again. Thanks for the part number, hopefully it is the same as my 97. Do you recall a price and were they sold by the set?

I do have a c-clamp type ball joint press and a 12 ton floor model hydraulic press, just not to sure how tough it will be to get that a-arm in the 12 ton press.

From what I read, it is recommended to "trace" the position of that bar so it can be put back to close to original position, but, it is also stated that an alignment must be done afterwords.

So, any tips, advice, words of wisdom will be appreciated. Oh yeah, my ball joints are new, so I am worried about tearing them up with a pickle fork. Any tips? Thanks, Kevin

riffman

Yup. That upper is the correct part number for you. My cost was $16.73, but I have an account there that gets me some discounts. Not much of one, but a discount none the less. There are two bushings per box, so you'll need 2 boxes. So it will probably be right around $40 for the pair.

Your c-clamp balljoint press should work just dandy. It was the lowers that we had a big problem with.

The only spot that i would pay attention to is the camber adjustment up on top. I was thinking about it, and couldn't really come up with a good way to keep it in the same area. Just pay attention to the position of the bolts when you take it off, and that should get you close. that, and if you don't monkey with the spindle position too badly, you can use that to get you back in the right general area. Either way, you are going to need an alignment....

kd460

Riffman, thanks.

Found the parts on NAPA online with the help of your part numbers. They are the same parts for my 97. Parts are on order, gonna take care of the bad bushing, try to get everything back together "close" to original location, go on my my deer hunting trip, then when I get back, replace the tie rods, and the other bushings, then get it aligned.

Thanks again for the info, Kevin