OK, A couple things to note for this "brake" turned into suspension refresh. Here are some tips and comments on engineering absurdity I encountered. Note: Some of this may be self evident to folks used to this style front end. I'm not used to having to pull hubs/bearings to do brake discs/rotors, that was a learning experience for me. I did not remove/replace any of the steering linkage, mine all seemed tight.
First, don't make the mistake of starting your "brake" job by greasing all your ball joints. I did that...then, as the job snowballed I proceeded to take almost every ball joint apart, now freshly coated in all the nasty old grease that squeezed out. Lots of greasy dirty rags later I'm going through and greasing it all again :sombrero:
Front:
-Stupid thing #1 Sway bar links. Unless you know yours are bad leave them alone. I wasted A LOT of time on these. First, to remove the upper link (ball/socket style connector) I had to remove the shock and the lower shock mount...(so I decided to just replace the shocks!) This is the only way I manged to get a hex key to remove the nut for the upper ball/socket style joint. However, I still ultimately needed to cut that joint apart. Even after that I had to cut the lower mount off, as the inner sleeve of the rubber bushing was fused to the post off the lower control arm. I first cut off the outer collar and rubber bushing, then shaved the inner collar flat and made another cut through it for some penetrating oil. After that a vice grip is your friend. This was supposed to be a simple 4 bolt job. Just removing them set me back 3 evenings of after work/dinner wrenching/problem solving. DON"T mess with these links unless you absolutely must!
-Removal of caliper and caliper carrier is straightforward except for one 10mm bolt connecting the upper portion of the carrier to the dust shield.
-Caliper guide pins are different for top and bottom. They are labeled on the caliper and the OEM guide pins. The lower one is called the "lock" pin. There is a little rubber bushing on one pin, make sure that comes out of the caliper. One of mine was so deteriorated I had to fish it out of the hole with a pick.
-Front disc removal requires removal of the hub. Prepare to get greasy as you'll be removing the bearings. There is a special tool for removing the bearing lock nut (some have used a GM 1/2 ton socket with 4 of the 6 "nubs" ground off). I used two screwdrivers and found it worked OK. I can't set the proper "pre-load" on the bearings with my method though. Also decide if you just want to replace bearings at this point. I didn't. Mine seemed to be fairly recent. I cleaned them completely and repacked with fresh grease
-Rear hub seal is apparently much better as OEM. I just reused what was there, it seemed to be in very good/basically new shape. I think my bearings were replaced VERY recently as all the pieces looked fresh and new.
-Once hub is removed you'll have access to the back of the rotor where you can remove 4 x 12mm bolts holding the ABS reluctor ring in place. You'll want a sturdy bench vise to hold the hub while you remove the 6 x 14mm nut/bolts holding the rotor to the hub. I used my pickle fork to separate the two after the bolts were removed. To install the new rotors I just alternated tightening the 14mm nut/bolts in an opposite/across pattern. I was worried it may need to be pressed in place but the bolts just pulled it together.
-At this point you'll likely realize, like me, you have some CV boots that are looking dry/cracked...and you may as well pull the CVs and reboot. Maybe you'll be lucky, I wasn't. My inner boots were probably original and totally shot. I also accidentally nicked one outer boot with my grinder while dealing with those beautiful sway bar links. Yeah!!! more grease!:wings:
-Pulling CVs is pretty straightforward. Driver (left) side slides out, Passenger (right) side has four bolts on the inner joint. First off, however, you have to release the spindle from the ball joint tapered joints. As you may know a 3lb hammer is really handy for this kind of thing. with the car in the air bang on the lower, cast iron, portion of the spindle. Keep the nut on as the torsion bar will still be under tension, and the joint will "pop" free quite vigorously. Once the lower pops out you can bang on the upper cast iron part of the spindle until the upper drops. Now you can slide your axle out.
-This is an ideal time to replace upper or lower ball joints, if needed. I did the lowers, my uppers seemed just fine. SEE how quickly this snowballs!
-ABS sensor. I couldn't get mine removed from the hub carrier and didn't want to risk damaging them (pricey buggers), so I had to set the carrier on a box for the rest of the job, half in my way. REMEMBER to clean the sensor "heads" before putting the front disc/rotor in place!! These things are magnetic and attract lots of junk. I forgot to clean mine...damnit.
-Stupid thing #2. Unless you have magical flexible tools You'll probably have to install your new sway bar links BEFORE you can install your lower shock mounts and new shocks. It would help to have 3 hands to get the new shocks installed as you'll need to somehow push down on the lower control arm OR lever up the new gas charged shock a couple mms to get it installed. You'll want to install the shock before the axle and spindle. Because I'm an idiot I did everything in exactly the reverse order as I removed it. Meaning I installed my spindle before I attempted to install the new shock. That doesn't work with a gas charged shock unless you first compress it and wire it in the compressed state. I pulled my spindle off again and used a screwdriver as a lever under the shock. I did it with 2 hands, so it is possible...3 would be better though.
-Stupid thing #3 most fasteners in this job are 14 and 17mm. BUUUUT for the lower ball joint you'll need a 24mm, upper ball joint was 21 or 22mm, tie rod was 19mm. ABS ring was 12mm, and somewhere in the job I wound up adding a 15mm and a 18mm socket to my "job box". I used 1/2" and 3/4" breaker bars, ratchets and various extensions throughout the job. I also have "Gear wrenches" which I found very useful. I also used a 3# hammer, large vice grips, needle nose pliers, pipe wrench and multiple different screwdrivers. So much for a simple emergency tool kit. My "job box" weighed like 20-30 pounds.
-Believe it or not I've never dealt with taper fit ball joints before. I'm not sure how to get them properly seated on reassembly. Think i've got everything but the upper ball joints look like they could go a bit more??!!
Rear:
Pretty straightforward overall
-Rear sway bar links, squeeze the sleeve with a vice grip to break it free from the bolt. Penetrating oil and a vice grip make this simple to remove.
-Rear shock lower bolt is 24mm (thankfully that is also what lower ball joint and front and rear diff drain/fill holes require).
-Lower bolt was manageable on mine with a 24mm socket plus an adjustable wrench, I didn't buy a 24mm open end.
-Rear discs have two holes you can thread a small bolt into to "pop" them off the hub. Do that, it makes removal easy.
-Dumbest thing in the rear: Upper brake caliper guide pin removal requires you to remove the caliper from the brake hose. Remember to install the new pin before re-installing the brake hose.
-Second dumbest thing: new shocks come with a band attached that covers the upper mounting point. You'll definitely want to wire the shocks another way in the compressed position. I still found it easiest to attach the lower mount first the let the shock expand into the upper mount, directing from below. I tried to short cut on the 2nd side and get it all done by just cutting the band, no good, shock moved too fast for me to get the bushing and washer in place. I had to re-compress it and wire it.
OK, I think I covered most "things" I encountered. That was mouthful. You deserve a beer just for reading all that!! :friday:
For me it's :coffeedrink: time as I still have to finish putting the last set of brake pads in AND bleed the brakes. Then it's drive time!!
