I was starting to come to the same conclusion.. without really knowing
the technical reasons...
The guy who quoted me $2K to do the front end, also told me my radiator
was shot, leaking, and I would start to have over-heating problems.. I
check my radiator once a week and the fluid is still in the same place,
and I drove it around town for an hour in 96 degree temp.... it did not
over heat...
he said my floor pans would need to be replaced, but the under coating
is still in tact, and I've been walking around on them while
re-upholstering and haven't felt any weakness.. (how does he know they
need replacing?)
the $2K for the front end was just the beginning of what he wanted to
do.. the laundry list of things he said was bad on my car would cost
about $8K to $9K to do (at his rates)...
by the time he was done with his inspection, I was almost afraid to
drive the car home, and still haven't taken it on the Interstate since
then.
I thought maybe he knows what he's doing because he has a real sweet
hemi-charger he restored, testimonials on his site, and he's been a
sponsor of the HiPo Mopar event here in town for several years.
My suspension IS sloppy at high speeds, but I now believe maybe just
ball joints and new shocks might do the trick (the old shocks look
pretty damn old)
If it turns out a I need to.. I've now bought all the parts for a
complete suspension over-haul.. so I'm ready for the worst, but hoping I
can get on the highway without tearing the front end apart ;)
Ollie wrote:
I am somewhat perplexed about the front end issues that come up here. I
cannot believe that a front end is totally wore out and will cost a few
thousand dollars to overhaul.
Most our cars do not have the mileage on them to be a total disaster.
From my 2 cent view, the only items that would normally need to be
replaced would be first, the lower ball joints and second LCA bushings.
The way that our cars are set up with no coil springs there is not
usually that much wear and tear on the upper ball joints. The third item
that may be of issue would be the A-frame bushings. Here more than
likely you have just wore out rubber. A squeak that drives u crazy. As
far as outer tie rod ends, they just don't go bad unless they have been
run on real bad lower ball joints or severely out of line, ie toe/in
out. Inner tie rods last forever, same as pitman arms and idler arm.
All parts can be inspected. Don't let rotted cracked rubber tell you a
part is bad. Take your pry bar and pipe wrench and try to more tie rod
ends, pitman arms, idler arms. A good wack with a stress relieving
hammer on the drag link will cause something bad to move. If there is no
play.its good. Grease it and go.
Lower ball joints and LCA bushings can be changed at home. Of course you
will have to take the lower control arms to a machine shop to be
pressed.
One more bit of rambling. Change your torsion bars first before you do
anything. I put this off until one of my last projects. WRONG..should
have been my first act of terrorism. It will improve your Mopar so much
your will think you just bought it new.
Ollie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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