Having some end of year vacation time to use up and a new heater in the workshop I planned to rebuild the front suspension and upgrade to disk brakes.
The heater was only able to warm the workshop about 20 degrees, so if the outside temperature is in the 20’s the workshop will be in the 40’s – and New England is about to drop below 0! OK, have to insulate the workshop before working in the middle of winter. I decided that “this just isn’t fun” and found indoor things to do after a couple of days. But I did make progress before retreating inside!
Pulling the brakes was interesting. The brake shoes were worn and both wheel cylinders were leaking. All of the brake hardware was corroded. One side was loose and the other side was dragging. No wonder the braking was so scary! I’m glad I’m upgrading to front disc brakes.
The first part of removal was easy. In this picture you can see the torsion bars, drag link, and steering box.
The drag link came out easily – undo the ball joint nut, insert a pry bar, and then pop the ball joint free. The big ball joints in the steering knuckle were a different story… After a couple of hours of prying, pounding with large hammers, and use of applicable language, they were still frozen solid.
It was clearly time to get the right tools. As I was getting ready to head over to Harbor Freight I considered how the Imperial front end is heavy duty and locked in place with with 60 years of corrosion. I really didn’t want these tools breaking at the wrong time – heavy pieces of sharp edged metal flying around can lead to a bad day. Checking online OTC got the best reviews for heavy duty use.
So, two days later an OTC front end set showed up:
All of the tie rod ends popped off easily with no problems. Having the right tools for the job makes all the difference! Now to the Big Job – removing the steering knuckle from the ball joints.
The ball joints use the separator tool in the middle of the box. Slip the separator onto the upper ball joint and tighten it down. Nothing. Not really a surprise… Next step is to hit it with the impact wrench. Again, nothing. OK, I got the OTC set to be able to abuse it. Set the impact wrench on its highest level and just let it run.
After several seconds of the drive bolt slowly turning there was a loud “spoing” and the separator popped off. Checking it, the tool was fine – the the ball joint was free! Pro tip: always leave the nut loosely on the ball joint when freeing it; then when it breaks loose the heavy parts don’t go flying.
With the top ball joint free it was time to do the bottom one. Slide the ball joint tool on it – and discover that it is just a little bit too small. Remember when I mentioned that Imperial parts are large? None of the other pullers would fit – they hit the upper ear on the steering knuckle. So, back online. Found one source for an over-size spreader that looks like it should work. It will be here in a few days; hopefully it is strong enough for the Imperial!
Update: the over-size spreader worked on two of the remaining three ball joints, but the last one absolutely refused to budge. After fighting it for a few hours I noticed that there is a space between the body of the ball joint and the steering knuckle – just enough room to get in there with cutting disk without touching the knuckle or the suspension arm. One minute with the angle grinder cutting the ball joint apart and the knuckle was off. With the knuckle off and on the workbench, there was plenty of room to get the heavy duty separator tool in place, tighten it down, and smack the body of the knuckle with the BFH (“Big Forceful Hammer”). The remnants of the ball joint popped right out.
The power steering box is out and has been sent off to be rebuilt. The brake booster is out and has been sent off to be rebuilt and to have the master cylinder upgraded from single reservoir to dual reservoir – an important part of the disc brake upgrade.
And hopefully it will warm up enough to get back into the workshop before July.
Next: Front End Removal