Installing suspension

[justdrinkbeer]

Hi all,

Is it difficult for me to pull the struts off my D40 & put the stock ones back in myself? Doesn't look like it would be.

Going to go back to stock so I can trade in

 

[MAD D40]

Not at all. Its only an hours worth of work.
Wheel off (of course), unclip brake lines, UCA ball joint, 3 nuts on top of strut tower, Big bolt at bottom of strut then reverse it to install your old strut and your there.

The worst part is the 3 nuts on top of the strut tower. I had to resort to using a socket bit that chewed the nuts off. The nuts were only $4 to replace. However yours may be kinder than mine. For your sake I hope so. Otherwise a lot of swearing seemed to help me.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Hey mate, do you just unscrew the UCA ball joint and let it drop down?

 

[Leprechaun]

Hey mate, do you just unscrew the UCA ball joint and let it drop down?

You have to split the ball joint with either the BIG hammer and shock method, or a proper ball joint splitter. You should just back off the nut until it cracks. I always put a trolley jack under the control arm to support the weight.

similar to this Vid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX7GVWcB-bg


or this if you want to buy a tool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feKKmmSJ2ZA&feature=related

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Alright, i've been trying this, but im a bit nervous about this UCA ball joint thing.
If i bash it with hammers like the vid does it just pop off, and then, how do i get it back on?
If i need to ask all these questions should i not bother?

 

[ONLOCK]

i tried bashing mine off but ended up having to get a ball joint spreader, to get it back on all you do is tighten the nut so it pulls it back into its spot

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Thank you all for the info, got myself a ball joint spreader today ($12) and had it done within an hour, even with my gay neighbour sitting next to me shitting on about his Model T Ford.

Truck looks so sad now: suspension back to stock, second hand road tyres on, and every accessory taken off, feel a bit sad about it to be honest.

I'm sure when the shiny new STX 550 is sitting in my drive on monday it will feel better

 

[Aussie Frontier]

Sheesh I was so lucky with both of mine. I was ready for them to put up a huge fight but I just hit the nuckle once fairly hard with a soft hammer and they popped off. The trick is not taking the castle nut off all the way so that when it pops it doesnt fall off totally.