Topic: 65 suspension rebuild

[Chris]

The front suspension for my 64 1/2 is squeeking all the time. I put it on the lift yesterday and greased every zerk fitting I could find, did not improve the squeeking at all. The car is a 260 V8 with power steering.

Couple of questions:

1) If I want to stay original and not hunt forever to get correct replacement parts (i.e., NOS parts), can I rebuild the front suspension...if so what's involved with this effort?

2) How do I tell what needs to be rebuilt/replaced?

I've attached pictures of the suspension. It isn't pretty. I've only started my resoration by having the engine and transmission rebuilt, now I'm looking at all things undercarriage. Thanks for the assistance.

[suskeenwiske]

I noticed that the Outer Tie Rod on the Drivers Side, picture 4, appears to be the only correct part in that it does not have a grease fitting; all the rest appear to have been replaced at some point as they do have grease fittings.

I did not see any grease fittings on the Upper Control Arms, picture 5; the Upper Control Arm Bushings are a common source for suspension squeaking. Lower Control Arm Bushings are another possible source.

The Sway Bar Bushings are shot, badly cracked, and definitely need to be replaced. They're inexpensive and can also cause squeaking, and cause poor sway control.

The Leaf Springs, Upper and Lower Control Arms, if original, can often be rebuilt. I prefer to keep as much of the original car as possible intact by rebuilding parts if possible; nothing like originality...just my opinion.

To keep things original as far as Tie Rods, Adjusting Sleeves and the Idler Arm are concerned, NOS or known good original parts from a Donor car are the only options I know of. It will or may take more time to find these parts and certainly will cost more; just depends on what you ultimately prefer to do and how much time you have.

Take Care,

Ray

[Rsanter]

Do you still want to drive the car? If so then I think hunting original parts is a waste of time and money.
Install good quality replacement parts, save the old original parts ( any that are still there) and have fun with the car. There are mane good replacement parts that will appear close enough to original to not bother most people.
If you want to show it then that's a different story

Bob

[J_Speegle]

From the pictures we can see that the upper a arms have had the ball joints replaced.

The tie rods (all except maybe one or two) replaced

Lower A arms have been replaced  as well as your idler arm

Looking at the one spring perch it looks like the bushing is gone - picture is rotated counter clock wise but the shaft on the right side appears to not be centered but just could be the angle but worth checking.

Since your inner bushings on your upper a arms appear not to have any zert fittings or maybe no provision for the fittings they may be dry and worn as mentioned in the first response. Those will need to be inspected as well as the A arm to see if its original and can be reused (new ball joint and original style rivets installed since you stated you wanted everything to look factory.

You'll be shopping for either original or reproductions that look exactly like original lower arms, sprig saddles/perches, tie rods and idler arm.

Once you get them you can look elsewhere here for methods and practices to refinish them to look original - No they don't always come ready to slap on the car out of the box

[Chris]

Here's some parts I found, do these look correct? If so, aside from the springs that I don't plan to change out, what else would I need to replace?

Steering Tie rod 65/66 V8 PS  set of 4, inner & outer pr, steel ring boots

Steering Tie rod sleeve adjuster 65/66 V8 PS lh Fomoco

Steering Tie rod sleeve adjuster 65/66 V8, PS rh

[jwc66k]

Chris,
I don't think the RH and LH power steering tie rod ends and sleeve are the same. The RH is the same as manual steering, the LH has larger tie rod threads, a larger sleeve, different clamps and a pair of hex bolts with a square shoulder under the head. The nuts may be either with a nylon "pin" lock or a stamped deformed "pin", round or rectangle.
Jim 

[suskeenwiske]

Concur, if the photo is of the actual parts, they are incorrect; the LH parts are larger and if you price them individually, you'll find that the LH parts are far more expensive. The primary reason for the cost difference is the ratio of LH parts sold compared to cost of manufacturing. The RH parts are the same whether PS or MS and on manual steering cars the LH parts are the same as the RH as well; three times the parts makes for lower manufacturing costs.

You may also need to replace the Idler Arm Bushing or the complete assembly.
The Sway Bar Bushings, (End Links), need to be replaced.
As mentioned in an earlier response, check the Coil Spring Perch/Saddle Bushings.
The Upper A-Arm Bushings may need to be replaced if they are the source of the squeaking.
Also check that the Coil Spring Insulators are OK; located on the top of each Coil.
And you may also want to look at the front Leaf Spring Bushings as well as the Shackles and their Bushings.

All of the parts you're looking for are available from NPD, possibly others, and are the closest in appearance to stock that I've seen so far. Just my opinion as I've certainly not seen every suppliers parts.

Ray