So I am wanting to take on the task very soon to preload all my suspension. I do not have access to an alignment rack. I will be measuring a distance from wheel hub to fender. And with car on stands i will lift 1 corner up at a time, loosen all nuts/bolts, and then retorque everything back to spec.

Question:
Is this a proper way of going about this?
And should the sway bars be connect or disconnected when doing this??

Have replaced everything under the car over the last 6 months and i never did a proper torque or preload.

 

I've done it a few times recently because I've been doing a lot of suspension work on my car. This is what I do:

Rear:

-disconnect the rear sway bar and loosen all bolts that go through bushings (outer UCA, inner LCA, shock bolt, outer LCA, inner and outer compensator)
-measure hub to fender ride height
-lift the car and remove the rear shocks
-raise the hub to measured height and torque the UCA, LCA and compensator bolts to spec
-lower the hub and put the shock back
-lower the car and tighten the shock bolt
-reconnect sway bar

ALTERNATIVELY: you can tighten all the rear bolts with the car on the ground and without removing the shock, but it's not necessarily easier. You can reach the UCA bolt around the wheel if you have the correct size socket extender, and you can reach all the LCA bolts fairly easily from under the car. The compensator bolts are the tricky part, but you'll need an alighnment anyways so you only really need to worry about the outer bolt. To reach that bolt you need to lock two combination wrenches together because a socket wrench will not fit.

Front:

- disconnect sway bar
- loosen inner LCA bolt and shock bolt
- remove lower ball joint castle nut
- measure hub to fender height
- raise car and separate lower ball joint (this will make it easier to do the next step)
- remove the front shock
- raise knucle to ride height
- loosen and re-tighten UCA bolts
- tighten inner LCA bolt
- lower knucke and re-install shock
- take the car off jackstands and tighten the shock bolt

It's also possible to tighten the inner LCA with the car on the ground, but it's virtually impossible to do anything with the UCA bolts unless the shock is off. You do NOT need to mess with the compensator, as it spins freely within its washers.

Edit: reminder: you MUST get an alignment if you mess with the compensator bolts

 

Can just remove sway bar by disconnecting it from endlinks right, dont have to remove the whole thing.....

And do you loosen/remove stuff before u get the measurement??
Is taking out shocks really necessary on the rear?

thanks for the help

 

Yeah, just remove the bolt that holds the endlinks to the LCA -- sorry I was unclear.

Technically if the bushings are straining at ride height they are acting like springs and affecting ride height, although in practice it's not a big difference. I guess do whatever feels easier or safer.

Taking out the shocks is not necessary on the rear, provided you can access all the bolts with the car on the ground. I've done it both ways. Which is easier depends on how easy your shocks are to remove, what your ride height is, and what tools you have. You could practice getting to the bolts on the ground (with the wheel on) to see if you think you could do it. In general the LCA bolts are fairly easy to reach. The trouble spots are the compensator bolts and the UCA bolt, which is hard to reach around the wheel.

Some people also leave the shocks on and jack up the hub until the spring starts pushing the frame off the jackstands. But you'll still have the hub 1-2" lower than at ride height, so you'll have a strain on the bushings if you tighten them with the suspension in that position.

 

Well i might just get to all the bolts i can with the car on the ground, and when i order my AMR suspension do the rest on install.

 

i just did my front bushings, rack, lower bj, with poly kit .used good shocks and springs waiting on front uca/rear lca kit. i reassembled the welded subframe on a bench torqed flat sway bar etc. i had to hang the fresh ex hubs brakes caliper etc with the car on jack stands. the rear shocks as well .
at this poin it rides like a rlly car Lol about 2 inches higher id say.
i havent aligned it yet , but i did set the oter tie rods to 8cm from th bootie collar on the inner tie rod , def toe out right now. better than toe in,witch makes it darty,nervous and squealy/ screechy . stock rim/tire size.
i read many years ago about a suspension cheat for stock class scca? neway no suspension mods were permited. i believe other than shocks/stock height springs maybe bushings. it was a while ago so dont quote me .
neways the guy put his car on a level rack and and loosen all the bolts that Gagner mentioned it the post above , then re-torqe .
the gntle man in the article re loaded the car with his weightnd a byass wieght in the pass side . ? poor mans corner wieghting ? but he pretty much tucked his tires
i will be doing this later today with some hd truck tires i have kicking around my yard . to serve as my "rack"
my ride now is tire to fender lil over 4" frt driver 3.5" frtpass 3ish passrear 4ish pass driver . stock height springs shocks i will not be crackng the front ball joints . untill i get the lac uca kit

 

lost a little over an inch on each corner , i put three 5 gallon buckets filled with water , in the spare tire well. then two on the pass side floor and one on the driverside . i had to do the rear and front seperatly . so now i have to wait for the springs to settle and maybe another inch .