jeff spahn

That little bugger of a metal retaining spring . .. rrrrrrrrr. Making me crazy. Spent 20 min last night figuring out how to put it on without damaging it or the boot.
Now I have to load up the suspension so I can tighten the upper ball joint. I can't find the torque spec on that off hand. Printed AO's and Rob's spec sheets but can't find them yet.

Still, love tearing into this thing. It is fun and I get to play with my air tools.

Of course, I am now on my 5th air ratchet. 4 of the Craftsman $69.00 versions (replaced all for free). One $99.00 "Professional" Craftsman is what I have now because the Ingersol Rand ones were sold out at sears.

If this Craptsman fails, I am going to just get a Chicago Pneumatic and be done with it.

Tom in Austin

Hey Jeff, just did mine last week ;-) All the 19 MM bolts (upper and lower BJs and also the tie rod) are 63 Ft-lbs. Yes, the spiral wire retainer on the large end is a little wacky to wind around there. Did you remember the retaining ring on the small end of the boot?

To tighten my upper, I was able to use a big c-clamp to compress the spindle and arm ... once you run the nut on a ways, the taper holds and then it's easy to tighten the rest of the way.

Enjoy!

jeff spahn

Tom, didn't have a ring there on the first side. Perhaps it fell off. I'll just do a small zip tie. Thanks for the heads up!

Tom in Austin

Hah ... I threw old boot in the trash and only noticed the slot in the rubber when I was putting on the new one. Then fished it out of the trash and found the ring ..

blandis

I used the old yellow clip as opposed to the new one. Thread it on.... and use a couple pairs of curved needle nose. Took me a while to learn this trick.

Hkp7

I just did mine a few months ago, I used a hook style pick from a pick set from sears. Just install it like a key ring.

jeff spahn

Got it. Once you get the hang it goes on in under a minute. Thanks guys. Now onto taking the timing belt covers off and then removing the air pump. Lots of WYAIT stuff. Sitting on lift bars is good motivation to do lots of stuff. gonna make a new power steering return hose too. That's for Friday night.