Hours for shadetree first timer to R&R front suspension

[funcrew]

Lets say, hypothetically, that a guy was about a third-tier mechanic by R3V standards, and was working with basic hand tools + a spring compressor, in a garage with jack stands. And further assume that said guy was doing E30 suspension for the first time.

Assets this theoretical person had include a Bentley manual, an extra set of empty wishbone brackets, and not much else. Liabilities would include a bad back that gives out quickly when put into weird contortions under old POS automobiles. Car would occupy garage space normally reserved for guy's wife. Guy might not get laid until said space was vacated after repairs were complete.

In this scenario, how much time should be budgeted to a full front suspension job, including all bushings, strut mounts, control arms, sways, etc.? Would this person be better off driving the car and crate of parts five hours across state lines to an E30-friendly mechanic with a happy prior track record?

[ldsbeaker]

You'd probably come out ahead in time alone.

It might hit your pocket a little more, but if your mechanic is really happy, maybe he'll let you watch.

As far as the sex, I can't offer a verdict there. :D

[Farbin Kaiber]

Buy everything all at once, have all your parts together with all fasteners, and set it out. Rent an engine support for up top, and pull the complete suspension with the front subframe. Then you drop it out, roll it out in front of the car, swap each component, blast it with some degreaser, hose/pressure wash it all off, let the garage dry overnight, roll it back under the next morning, bolt it all back up, then tow it to an alignment shop. Bada bing, badda boom, badda done.

This prevents a bunch of hunched over work in comparo to working under the car the whole time.

[kronus]

Rear springs/dampers is cake. If you're doing rear bushings, plan to be there for a while.

If you have a pickle fork, front is not bad.

I think it took me about 3 hours with some help to do the front control arms, which involved a lot of hitting things and pulling one strut completely to get the outer balljoint the hell out of there. Would have been a lot quicker with a pickle fork, and definitely would be quicker the second time around now that I know wtf I'm doing.

[jlevie]

The first time you do a front suspension figure on 6-8 hours. The second time 3-4 hours (faster if in a hurry).

[Lunner]

Redoing the front suspension was my first ever project on my e30, and my first project ever on any car. I did fine (eventually), so I wouldn't be afraid to give it a shot were I you.

Sounds like you've got generally enough advice, so I'll add a couple things I wish I knew ahead of time, that ended up holding me back quite a bit.

1. Always grease the threads on your spring compressor. Always.

2. Use polyurethane control arm bushings, they require no effort to press on the control arm. I ended up having to make a damn tool to get the oem rubber ones on. No fun. Especially with a bad back I'd assume.

3. Get a second pair of lollipop brackets before you start, and have the fresh bushings pressed in there. Then you'll have another set for when you replace them again.

4. If you aren't replacing your control arms / tie rods, have new dust caps handy, or those bearings will be exposed after you destroy the oem boots with a pickle fork. And do make sure you have a pickle fork. And a big hammer.

5. Don't mess with the front sway bar if you can help it, haha. Maybe it was just me but getting those brackets with new bushings on was a reaaaaal bitch, and thankfully something I won't need to do again for a long time because I used polyurethane. The links are a piece of cake though.

Good luck,

-Brett

[funcrew]

Thanks to all for the good tips.

Buy everything all at once, have all your parts together with all fasteners, and set it out. Rent an engine support for up top, and pull the complete suspension with the front subframe. Then you drop it out, roll it out in front of the car, swap each component, blast it with some degreaser, hose/pressure wash it all off, let the garage dry overnight, roll it back under the next morning, bolt it all back up, then tow it to an alignment shop. Bada bing, badda boom, badda done.

This prevents a bunch of hunched over work in comparo to working under the car the whole time.

I like that idea. So it's not advisable to support the engine from underneath at the pan? My pan has taken a lot of pothole hits & is still intact. I would also plan on replacing the (rubber) engine mounts in that case.

[FredK]

I would not suggest removing the front subframe. You'd still have to spend some time lying on your back disconnecting the steering rack in some fashion, and it's certainly not THAT easy to reinstall the complete subframe and front suspension back up while its teetering on a floor jack.

Definitely use a pickle fork.

This job would be a lot easier with a pneumatic impact wrench. You could take the inner ball joint locknuts off in the blink of an eye on a 24v car. All of the balljoint nuts, in fact, would be easily removed. In the absence of an air impact, consider getting one of those $180 electric impact wrenches from Home Depot / Lowe's, some impact swivels, and sockets. The number of stressed positions you will have to hold will be greatly diminshed, and this will make all the difference to a bad back.

[funcrew]

I already have a picklefork from doing muscle car suspensions 30 years ago, and R&R'd the struts on a Japanese econobox 5 years ago. So this job is more involved & I've never had to deal with CAB's. Those electric impact wrenches are pricey. Makes more sense money-wise to get a Harbor Fright compressor and a real impact wrench. Every clunk, squeak, and shimmy is motivating me to get this job done.

Thanks to all for your tips.