Need a little help figuring something out

[SSLance]

Making a little bit of progress this week so far. Tuesday night I pulled the driver side LCA and coil spring out and put the DSE LCA with Howe tall ball joint in place with no coil spring. I then used the lift and some car ramps to cycle the suspension to the bump stop limits up and down while recording the shock length and fender height measurements every inch along the way. This will aid us when the time comes to set the adjuster height on the spring to dial in final ride height.

Here is the passenger side at current ride height and all of the old pieces still in place



and here is the driver side at same height but with new LCA and BJ in place



Notice the different tie rod end angles.

This picture shows the UCA bump stop on the passenger side



And here is the driver side UCA bump stop with new parts in place



Both pictures at current ride height as measured by the fender.

I then put a tape measure on the outside of the frame rail and measured to a tread block on the front of the tire (and also a second measurement to a framing square up against the outside of the tire) as I cycled the suspension from full compression to full extension to document how much bump steer is happening with the new LCA and the old tie rod end. That's where I stopped last night.

As it sits the tie rod adjuster contacts the frame just as the LCA bump stop hits the frame. Ron asked me to remove the bump stop and tie rod and cycle the suspension even further up, see what hits next and record shock and fender height measurements as I go...all to further document the new suspension travel points. Then I'll put the bump steer correction kit on the drivers side and measure the new bump steer travel at all points. Once armed with these measurements, Ron will direct me on how to set up the bump steer kit for optimum correction.

I've also been sourcing the needed parts and tools to correct and remount the LCA bushings in the cross member. Since this car is Metric, this was a bit of a difficult task. I ended up going to two local fastener stores and placed mail orders with 2 more stores to get everything I need. hopefully I'll have everything in hand by Friday and can make some serious progress this weekend.

Parts and tools purchased

M12-1.75x110 Socket Cap Screw 12.9 (2) (shoulder is 0.4685, ID of bushing is 0.4750)
M12-1.75x120 Socket Cap Screw 12.9 (2)
M12x24x3mm const. flat washer hard zinc plate (8)
M12-1.75 All Metal Top Lock ZP Nuts (4)
3' piece of 12mm drill rod
Flat Washer, Thick, Blk Oxide, Fits M12, Pk5 (2)

The last item being the hardest to find. Here is how they are described, Flat Washer, Extra Thick, Case Hardened Steel, Black Oxide, Fits Bolt Sizes M12, Inside Dia 13mm, Outside Dia 26mm, Thickness 5mm, Thickness Tolerance +0.4/-0.5mm, Rockwell Hardness C40, Load Distributing, For Use With Die And Jig Fixture Setup. Finding an extra thick, case hardened, M12 washer locally proved to be an impossible task.



I'll use the drill rod to put through the crossmember holes and LCA bushings and elongate the holes in the crossmember to place the control arms in the preferred position. The thick, case hardened washers will be what gets welded to the crossmember to hold the control arm bolts in place once the new positions have been set. Then the new longer bolts with tighter tolerances to the ID of the bushings will be used to hold the control arms in place while not restricting the movement of the control arms up and down.

That's where I'm at now, will update once again once more progress is made. Wish me luck on it all going smooth...

Lance