Work continues of refreshing the front end. No sechsy high-dollar 'off road' specialty parts, though. But fresh bushing sand ball joints is still a nice improvement in ride. Only managed to take a pic after I excised the factory lower. Hardest part of the job was breaking loose the old ball joint. Rest went easy. I keep getting the 'free' torsion bar unloading tool from my local Autozone. Few more times and the gas alone going back and forth for the thing would have paid for just buying one outright. But I never planned to use one so many times.
I'm also farting around again with an idea mentioned long ago and just recently again in Stryder's build topic -
Also the fuel pump was probably me. I did replace one that way but it's way too difficult for the field(soldering and pucker moment for cracking the assembly plastic) Now I just carry an extra eBay assembly that would get me home in a pinch/don't care if it gets banged up a bit in the spare...
www.expeditionportal.com
- the idea of some protective shields on the leading edges of the lower control arms as a means of protecting the CV boots from intrusions. I have been known to massacre some shrubbery in the high desert. 'Unsprung weight is bad', but I figure such plates would weigh less than 2-lbs per side.
Anyway, was farting around with a paper mockup while changing out the lower arm and am retaining the removed arm so I can use it for a forming buck for some prototype plates. I have a few different attachment methods in mind, looking to avoid an drilling / tapping of the arm itself. Instead bending the plate in ways that lock onto or wrap around the control arm such that the added plates bolt to themselves.
1st pic is from below the lower arm, second is level looking straight into the CV, third is marked up for possible expansions in the area covered, 4th is just the lower arm removed.
I'll probably need to trim / notch the plate for the movement of the tie rod and wrap up and around the steering stop molded into the lower arm and where the steering knuckle moves inward. And can extend the 'plate' further up the control arm toward the bushing and maybe increase its height. The sway and steering arms are well behind the plate in that area.
If I wind up making a set of milled polyurethane torsion mount bushings, I'll probably lower the the front end while the torsion bars are out to get max suspension compression and check plate fit there too. See where I can add or have to remove. Then I can get a proper template worked up and move on to some legit 3/16" 6063 aluminum plate. I might do a test with some thin sheet metal and double stick tape, in the interim. More to come on this idea.
With the changing of the lowers I'll have replaced everything in the front suspension and steering except the steering box and the steering knuckles and torsion bars. And sway bars. All the bushings / moving parts are new over the last 4yrs / 20k mi. That includes oem-replacement CV half-axles and front wheel hubs/bearings. It's riding really nice, even with the torsion leveling keys. I also previously installed Spohn's boxed rear lower control / trailing arms, new OEM springs, lifting shims, new end links in the rear too. And the shocks all around. So basically now all the suspension is new.
Still want to proactively replace the rear bearings.
Finished too late today for proper test drives. Not sure if I've finally eliminated my mystery front end shift-clunk. Only other thing I can think to do in that regard is replace engine and transmission mounts. And the way I romp on it sometimes and some heavily washboarded roads I've been on, I should probably do them anyway, given the age and mileage of the vehicle.
The home-made torsion key crossmember rubber mounts I put in still look good as new. But I haven't put them under any off-road stress get. town/highway driving isn't stressing them at all.
eta monday aft.
Just finished running some errands this morning and I'd say the shift-clunk noises in the front end are 80% remediated. The fore-aft displacement of the driver side torsion bar led me to believe the front left lower had the greatest wear / slop, so that's the side I chose to replace first. That seems to have paid off nicely. I still need to change the passenger side, but that's labor and parts cost$ for another day.
