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Front suspension  Rating:  Rating
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 Posted: 01-17-2010 09:22 pm
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rossjfox
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Thanks!  The shells actually came out quite easily.  I have a shop press and using a piece of pipe on one side and an appropriately sized socket on the other, they slipped right out.

The superpro bushings went in easily by hand.

Ross

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 Posted: 01-21-2010 03:31 am
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SpeedyMitch
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SportsRodder wrote: 6. Remove the  the upper and lower shock bolts and the three nuts holding the shock mount. Leave the bolts locating the strut in place.

Any hints on getting the upper shock bolt out of the shock? I can spin the bolt but it just won't come out. I have tried some penetrating oil and a few 'taps' with a BFH but can't seem to get it to budge. I suspect it is rusted to the sleeve inside the shock bushing.

Other than some additional muscle with the BFH does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Mitch

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 Posted: 01-21-2010 05:20 am
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subwoofer
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The BFH may not get you anywhere if it is rusted solid. Cut the bolt.

--
Joachim

Last edited on 01-21-2010 05:20 am by subwoofer

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 Posted: 04-15-2013 09:27 pm
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pearst
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SportsRodder wrote:
I have had my front suspension apart several times.  It is more dificult than the rear but doable.

1. Put the car on jackstands so you can work underneath.

2. Remove front tire on one side .

3. Remove the caliper mounting bolts and the brake line support backet. Move the caliper out of the way and support it so there is no strain on the brake line.

4. Place a hydraulic jack under the lower balljoint.

5. Raise the jack enough to take pressure off the shock mount.

6. Remove the  the upper and lower shock bolts and the three nuts holding the shock mount. Leave the bolts locating the strut in place.

6. Remove the shock and mounts.

7. Remove upper control arm mounting bolt and swing the arm towards the front of the Jensen.

8. Lower the jack slowly. When all pressure is off the spring and it is loose remove the jack. The spring should easily come out towards the rear.

9. You can now easily remove the rest of the suspension components for replacement or repair.

10. Use care as the spring can cause damage and injury if it gets loose before pressure is removed.


Questions:
1. In step 6 (the first step 6), is the "Strut" the same as the "Control Arm" (#50) in the illustration attached?

2. In Step 7, which number is the attached illustration is the "upper control arm mounting bolt"?

Attachment: Jensen Suspension Front.JPG (Downloaded 372 times)

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 Posted: 04-15-2013 09:44 pm
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pearst
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Bigger pic. 115k is not enough..... If you have a shop manual, its section E, page 13.

Attachment: Jensen Suspension Front.JPG (Downloaded 375 times)

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 Posted: 04-17-2013 04:01 pm
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Art DeKneef
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To answer your questions.

1. Yes. The strut is #50 in the picture. The round arm attaches to the lower control arm with two bolts. Don't remove these bolts.

2. The number isn't visible in your diagrams but it is the long bolt at the top that goes through one end of the upper control arm, then the cross member and then the other end of the control arm.

Since this is an old thread are you trying to remove the spring from the front suspension?

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 Posted: 04-18-2013 01:45 pm
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pearst
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Art DeKneef wrote: To answer your questions.

1. Yes. The strut is #50 in the picture. The round arm attaches to the lower control arm with two bolts. Don't remove these bolts.

2. The number isn't visible in your diagrams but it is the long bolt at the top that goes through one end of the upper control arm, then the cross member and then the other end of the control arm.

Since this is an old thread are you trying to remove the spring from the front suspension?


Thanks for the help.

1. So, as far as I can tell, I need to undo the bolts connecting the strut to the lower control arm since these bolts also attache to the lower shock mount, in order to get the shock out.  I have already undone these bolts but have not yet taken out the 3rd shock mount bolt in the back to take the shock out.  I was planning on doing that next...... Am I missing something?  How can I get the shock out if I don't undo these bolts?  What is the harm in undoing these bolts for the strut?

2.  Okay I see it.  It's the long bolt that attached the two ends of the upper control arm. 

Yes, I am trying to remove the spring.  Replacing all bushings...

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 Posted: 04-19-2013 01:03 am
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Art DeKneef
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If you are replacing all the bushings then removing the bolts won't matter. The car will need to be realigned. By leaving the bolts in and not disturbing the control arm you might be able to get by without having to do a realignment.

Just removing the 3 nuts holding the lower brackets in place you should be able to slide the shock and brackets down and out. It's a convoluted process.

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 Posted: 04-20-2013 06:33 pm
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pearst
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SUCCESS!! Thanks Guys!!

Attachment: photo-6.JPG (Downloaded 311 times)

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 Posted: 04-20-2013 11:06 pm
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pearst
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Now what???

Passenger side apart successfully. On the driver side, the upper control arm bolt will not clear the exhaust manifold. Is this in backwards? Sure would make a lot more sense if it was in the other way.

Do I need to pop off the lower ball joint with a pickle fork?

Attachment: photo-7.JPG (Downloaded 304 times)

Last edited on 04-20-2013 11:11 pm by pearst

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 Posted: 04-22-2013 02:41 am
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Art DeKneef
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It's dark here now so I can't go and check one of my cars.

This might work to give you enough clearance. What if you loosen the motor mount on that side and then try jacking up the engine a little. With any luck the engine with manifold will rise leaving you with enough room to work.

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 Posted: 04-27-2013 09:04 pm
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pearst
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Greg Fletcher to the rescue! Greg sent me a very helpful email I wish to share:

That bolt only comes out one way, even cutting it won't help. I do have replacements if you need them, they sometimes get so rusty that new ones are required. You need to drop the front sub frame- If you've never done it, it sounds dreadful, but it's actually very easy. You'll need to jack up the car, put jack stands under the frame rails. Jack up the engine to take off the weight (jack from sump with an approx 1/2x8x8 inch pine wood piece between it and the jack to disperse the weight. Undo bolts at #34 right and left side (see diagram below) in the engine compartment. Undo bolts at #38 on the suspension outrigger and it drops right down. Before you do this you need to jack up (it helps to have two jacks at this point, an inexpensive one will do fine) each lower control arm a bit, unbolt the lower ball joint and carefully/slowly lower the arm with jack to uncompress the road spring. It's fiddly work, but otherwise a piece of cake, you don't need a spring compressor to get them in or out.

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 Posted: 04-27-2013 09:07 pm
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pearst
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Well now that I have obtained good access to that blasted bolt, all I managed to do was bend it. That sucker is really rusted solid in there.

Going to drop out the entire cross member.

Attachment: image.jpg (Downloaded 275 times)

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 Posted: 01-06-2015 06:50 pm
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Eric
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Im planning to replace just the front shocks and springs, and POSSIBLY the strut rod (#50 in illustration) bushings. Im planning on using a floor jack under the lower ball joint to decompress the spring for the shock removal. Reading above, it seems that some of the difficulty on reassembly involves getting the strut rod back into position when putting the shock mount back in from below. Is there any way to keep the strut rod attached to the lower arm assembly during this operation, or would that prevent the lower arm from falling enough to get the spring out? Also, is there any special tips on replacing the strut rod bushings? It doesnt look like these have the metal covering that has to be cut out like the other bushings. If I replace the strut rod bushings but dont fully tighten the nut would that make it easier to line up the strut rod with the control arm and shock bracket on reassembly?

Thanks
Eric

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 Posted: 01-07-2015 04:20 pm
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tallyhoe
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Being new to the JH family I have a question about the anti-sway bar bushing placement on my machine as compared to others I have seen pictures of. My 73 has the rear bushings mounted low and on the frame and show that they have hit a few solid objects. Is there any way to mount them higher and out of the way. I have seen pictures of on Ebay of a really nice one and I see no bushings that low.

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 Posted: 01-07-2015 07:11 pm
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Brett Gibson JH5 20497
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That's were they go if the mount was not their then the bar would be metal on metal, and actually the exhaust pipe is usually lower than the mounts, if your ride height is low maybe it's time for new springs and shock's, I have heard KYB's add about 1/2" but no firsthand knowledge.

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 Posted: 01-08-2015 01:27 am
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Art DeKneef
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Eric,

Replacing just the front shocks can be done with the strut rod attached if I remember correctly. There are 2 brackets that attach to the lower part of the shock. After you loosen the top nuts and then remove them you can compress the spring some. Then removes the nuts that hold the brackets to the lower arm. Keep the bolts in place if you can. They will try to get loose as you loosen the nuts. Then it is a matter of wiggling the brackets out with the shock attached.

I think the rod will have to be removed to lower the lower arm enough to get the spring out.

Replacing the strut rod bushings requires the complete removal of the rod in order to remove and replace the bushings. I seem to remember having to work a little to get them out. After they are removed and the area cleaned they pretty much slid in after being greased up.

Remember that the strut rod helps with the alignment of the front end. So before you take anything a part, get some measurements so when it goes back together you can be close to where you were before.

It's a doable job by yourself, helps if you have someone to assist

Art

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 Posted: 01-08-2015 01:43 am
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Eric
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Thanks, Art. My plan is to pull the shock first. Then I'm thinking of trying to place a long dowel through the control rod bolt holes and lower A-arm so that as I lower the arm to get the spring out the control rod is still aligned for reassembly. Of course I'll have to forego this plan if I decide to do the control rod bushings. I assume I have to pull brake rotor and caliper for this?

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 Posted: 01-10-2015 03:30 am
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Art DeKneef
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Using a long dowel might work. I would use metal instead of wood. The pressure of gouging into the wood could hamper removing the dowels. That should keep things pretty much the same when you reassemble.

To remove the spring you don't have to pull the rotor and caliper. An easier way is to remove the long bolt that goes through the upper A arm and cross member. Of course if you do it this way you might want to change those bushings while you're at it. Especially if you replace the control rod bushings.

You can remove the caliper and rotor but I think it is more work.

The last car I did just the shocks so it wasn't too bad. Before that I did a complete front and rear suspension rebuild. So everything came out, was cleaned, painted, new bushings and then reassembled. Took longer but looks much nicer and handles better.

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 Posted: 01-17-2015 06:12 pm
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Eric
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By the way, in another thread on this forum, people seem to be sure that the front springs go in flat side UP, where others are sure its DOWN. Mike at Delta says they only go in one way...

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