Busted out the front end work on the Sub today.
Swapped in the new / replacement bump stops in the front suspension. Unfortunately the parts I ordered were the 'stock' beehive design and not 'Z-71' type. They were really inexpensive at RockAuto, not sure I'll tolerate the sticker shock on the 'correct' parts from the dealer enough to bother switching them again. The install was fairly easy, the fronts are just pressed into a metal cup with four flanges that grip the piece. Easy enough to pry out the old one and work the new one in.
Then I pulled out my budget shocks to install the shock boots I'd neglected to order in the first place. A little fighting the gas shocks was all that took.
Then it was on to the inner tie rod 'armor'. Again a budget choice. The stock inner tie rods are ridiculously spindly and somewhat exposed frontally. They're ~1/2" in diameter.
There are a few much more robust offerings, but they 5-10x as much as these sleeves. And given the sort of slow driving I do off-road anymore, I think they're a decent improvement and value.
These sleeves basically replace the jam nut that locks the outer tie rod in place. A clever solution.
The instructional video advises some care in removing the tie rod assembly, then measuring the overall length and replicating that after you disassemble things and add the sleeves. You won't get accurate enough to not require a new alignment, but you will get close enough to drive a bit without chewing up your tires. With other work and torsion adjustments, I fully plan(ned) on getting a fresh alignment before the week is out.
I did however run into one particular issue, which might be related to my torsion key mod and adjustments. The tie rod assembly passes under the sway bar. At full droop and even when jacking up on the suspension at the steerign knuckle, I didn't have straight-in clearance to the steering connector for the tie rod assemble. The sleeves interfered with the sway bar.
Couldn't spin it in and thrashing around trying to make a quarter turn, then bend the inner rod and turn it again, while getting threads started, just wasn't enjoyable. So I marked the end of the 'armor' sleeve with a metallic sharpie on the inner rod shaft, broke it back down, then readily remounted the inner shaft, then re-attached the outer end and re-adjusted the sleeve / nut back to my marked line.
when it was all done, it seemed to track fine, but my steering wheel is now off center a tad. That's a problem for the alignment guy to fix.
I found no discernible play in my boll joints, nor any great wear in my front brake pads after 2yrs / 12k mi. My rotors needed turning 2yrs ago, they still do. Nor any real wear in my upper or lower control arms. All the suspension bushings got a liberal soaking in silicone lubricant and fresh grease on all the fittings.
I also took a full turn off my torsion bolts, after putting 5 turns on them last week after the rear lift changes. The front was pretty jouncy and seemed to feel like things were 'teetery'. But since I turned them down a bit AND lubed the **** out of everything, hard to tell what made the most difference. Thing rides pretty nice again. A bit more driving and maybe another torsion tweak and then I'll call it done and get the alignment.
