lets do a suspension job real quick!

so here's my account of replacing the bushings in the front:
new anti-roll bar links, front and rear control arm bushings and ball joints

but before we start the show, i had to make a "special tool"

this just consists of a fully threaded grade 8, 1/2"X 81/2" bolt (or allthread cut to size), nuts, washers, 2 end caps and a 2" coupler. go here for the details and info on who devised this master plan. volvo will sell you one of these, for about $200, but this one costs $20... not a hard decision there.

ok on with the bushings!

ahhh a perty new anti-roll bar link... pretty easy to r&r. i found jacking the car up and then jacking up the control arm to release the weight off of the link makes things nice and easy! simple physics friends.

bad ball joint... very loose and nasty. the source of my wonderful rattle and slight loss of control over bumps

good ball joint. look at her glisten...

like a glove. now when these people write the shop manuals they dont give much detail. so, if yours dont come off of the strut tower easily, smack it with your trusty ball peen and pry it off; yours may be rusted like mine was... i also left the rear control arm bracket (below) unbolted so i could move it around more to help get the bolts you see here in easier.

this is a pic of it bolted obviously, but just keep those 3 bolts out until the ball joint is in, then torque it all down

 i had a hard time getting this bushing out with my little tool, just couldnt get the leverage i needed... sooooo power tools! i saw a post online where a guy took apart his hacksaw, threaded it through the bushing and then reassembled the saw and got to work. no thanks, i like electricity. so i cut through to the outside metal sleeve, the one that mates with the bracket and then just popped it out with ol' ball peen. but be careful not to saw the control arm, she doesnt like it.

goodbye to you sir. this one was actually decent. though, the inside sleeve was fixin to separate from the rubber. the other side, however, was shot. it was already separated and on top of that the inside sleeve was all rusted to the control arm itself, hence the moaning from below. some tapping and prying eventually eased her off.

this tool worked nicely for this. its actually supposed to be used for the trailing arms... but it fits here too. just wind her down with a little hand soap for a bushings-safe lube and voila.

so that was one of my adventures. i will be attempting the rear suspension soon. but after all the pain of working in my gravel driveway, i think i will take it to my school where i have access to all my tools, and a lift.

so to this job, i give one bloody thumbs up