xny1989

iTrader: (1)

In the process of replacing my front shocks/springs in 99 z/28. A manual I have says to disconnect spindle at lower control arm, another source says to disconnect at upper ball joint. What did you do? Seems to me that separating at lower ball joint prevents spindle from having to be supported to avoid stretching brake line. On the other hand, it seems that the upper control arm will come out with the strut, so disconnecting at upper ball joint, while still requiring supporting the spindle, makes it easier to take out the shock/spring assembly with the upper control arm.

Thanks in advance.

By the way, replacing stock springs w/AGX shocks with Strano/Str.t's. Rear already done.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

The UCA will come out with the coilover. Break the upper ball joint.

Majestic9C1

iTrader: (19)

take the castle nut off the upper ball joint and let the spindle rotate down... but still hold it with a piece of wire so all the stress isnt on the brake hose

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

Will do - it seems to make sense to do the upper ball joint - thanks

94FBIRD

iTrader: (5)

I've seen people advising breaking the ball joint to remove the shock/spring assembly for years. They are incorrect, don't do that. 4 bolts on the top and the 2 on the bottom and everything rotates out as an assembly.

_JB_

iTrader: (33)

Why is the ball joint method a bad idea?

pewter2002

iTrader: (4)

I didn't separate the ball joint either...just another step that was not necessary.

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

I turns out that the upper ball joint was easy to separate on both sides; several hammer blows on each side of the spindle. Since I had stock springs in there, I found it difficult to remove the assembly without separating the ball joint.

Passenger side is done, but did get a surprise when attaching the sway bar links - the original (15 years old) sway bar, at the point of attachment (the flat part), the top part just cracked and fell off! I put it back together just putting the cracked off part back just so I could drive the car when I'm finished with installation, but have ordered a new set of sway bars from UMI. I've run into a frustrating problem on the driver's side - I cannot get the front bolt to thread into the mount hole. The bolt goes into the hole fine when I have the the assembly removed from the car, so it must be an angle issue - all the other 3 line up and thread in fine. I've tried tightening all the bolts, leaving them all off and moving the assembly around, and no luck. I suspect that there is an angle problem (when looking down into the hole, it looks like it's lined up - and this is with Moog parts!. So today, I may install the bolt from underneath and put a nut up on top - we'll see if there is a clearance problem with the master cylinder.

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

OK, got it all done and installed. Have yet to go for a ride, which I will do shortly. I ended up using a long, grade 8 bolt with the same diameter and thread pattern as the original and bolted it in from the bottom to see the angle as it pushed out through the top, and it tilted a bit towards the rear of the car. It also seemed to chase the threads in the hole. I loosened up the other bolts and shifted the assembly a little bit to move the installed bolt a bit forward, and voila, got it done! The only other problem I ran into when putting everything back was the cotter pin hole for the upper ball joint - it got filled with debris and I had to drill it out. OK, off to start the car and run around a bit, looking for the first speed bump - LOL. ....and my knees are killing me, so a bunch of Aleve to follow. ... and awaiting my new sway bars - the rear looks to be interesting as there is a lot of rust in the sway bar link area - that has not been touched since the car was new.

94FBIRD

iTrader: (5)

Because it is unnecessary time and effort. 6 bolts total and 5 seconds later you can remove the whole assembly. Why would want to mess with the ball joint?

Corvett z07

iTrader: (2)

I'm curious to which shocks and spring combo you fit in there xny1989? (nvm just read what you're sliding in there...only if I could read.) I'm doing the front shocks on mine and have been searching around for tips and hints on this replacement and think I've got most of it down in my head. Also would love to hear how they performed vs stock (and the KYB AGX's,) that would be much appreciated

BlueBird346

iTrader: (13)

I think I did the upper, and the UCA came out with the assembly iirc. Been a few years tho.

Let us know how you like the shocks. Haven't heard any reviews about them.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

That got me once, and it turned out the threads in the insert on the new mount were not metric. I tried a different tap to figure out the threads and got the American bolts to fit. Glad to know it wasn't just me, but you'd think better from Moog to be honest

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

These are Koni Str.t's and Strano springs. Also sprung for new strut mounts and isolators, as I didn't want to have to dissemble to get them. The driver's side upper shock mount is a rusty mess; I expected that from what I've read on this forum.

Took the car for a quick trip and it was certainly firmer, but comfortable. Did fine over neighborhood speedbump too. Car is definitely lower; will add pics tomorrow. Also bear in mind that my front sway bar is cracked, so I don't know how that will impact handling. Should get them in over weekend or early next week.

jrwilliams95z28

i just did this, installed koni sa's and strano springs. easy swap, get a pickel fork for the ball joint and hammer the **** out of the upper ball joint. it will pop.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Probably don't even need to pickle fork the joint (that does risk damaging the boot). On both my old 98 and my 99 I loosened the castle nut and simply smacked the side of the spindle at the ball joint a few times with my 3 lb hammer. Bang bang pop. The one I did hit the end of the ball joint upward (used the castle nut to protect the threads) and a single hit popped it free.

xny1989

iTrader: (1)

I was surprised at how easy it was to separate the upper ball joint from the spindle. I used a regular claw hammer, 2-3 hits on each side and it popped off on both wheels. Never needed the pickle fork.

jrwilliams95z28

That's great if it works, when I installed my umi upper a arms with new ball joints I tried everything to get the passenger side apart, no luck I had to get a pickel fork and beat the **** out of it for like 20 minutes. Drivers side popped out with like 2 hits so it totally depends on the car. But just having the pickel fork is worth it they are 5 bucks and you may need one

_JB_

iTrader: (33)

I can't remember correctly, but isn't there 4 bolts at the very top (in the engine bay) and then two on the bottom of the shock? I couldn't get the assembly out unless I disconnected the ball joint. Luckily they came out very easy.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

Well if you were replacing the joints anyway then who cares about the boot, rip that thing apart