hello HT,

forgive me for posting suspension in the tech forum, but i am not getting any responses in the suspension forum.

anyways, im afraid of stripping bolts when im working on the suspension, or breaking something. i absolutely cannot have any down time after the suspension install.

my car has been down south for most of its life, so i dont think it has seen any rain / snow. will i have any problems with the bolts being seized or whatnot?

when working on suspension is it always better to use air tools? or will hand tools work? like i said before i dont want to run the risk of stripping any bolts and screws.

and heres the original post i had in the suspension forum:
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today i was taking my s techs out of the box, and i noticed that one of them sounded different than the others. its hard to explain so i made a short 5mb vid and its uploaded ( http://media.putfile.com/spring-sound )



i think the weld from that part is loose... it shouldnt affect anything right?
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thanks guys

 

air tools are superior

not quite necessary, but i wouldn't do any work without them

 

hand tools will work fine, air tools just make it easier and faster. i'd heat up all the bolts when you take them out, they'll come out easier

 

i'd have to agree that, unless you want to spend WAYY to much time doing the top shock tower bolt, by hand the bolt will spin, and only an air toll will spin it fast enough to get it lose

 

i agree. hand tools will work but if you want the job done fast air tools are the way to go.

 

To keep things from breaking, soak them in PB Blaster - not WD40 - overnight the night before you plan on doing the work. Be liberal with the stuff.

Also, I do most of my suspension work with hand tools and my electric impact gun. The gun is the strongest electric one I could get at my local Craftsman store and it was on sale for $140. It puts out 250ft/lbs of torque and plugs in to a regular wall outlet. I can zip axle nuts off without a problem using it, and most of the time crank pulley bolts come out just as easilly.

Good luck and be patient.

 

air tools with suspension stuff speed things by.. but of course dont use air tools when your changing ur brake pads

 

soak the bolts with PB blaster definitely, pre soak them a day or two before.

When i changed my suspension i did hit bumps in the road mainly with the rear struts. the bottom two bolts siezed to the bushing and not the shock so i had to cut it all out and get new bushings and bolts. call your dealer and make sure they have the parts the day of the build because that's where i was screwed.

its suspension so its always exposed to the elements. so it will rust and it won't be easy to remove, just prepare for that and you'll be fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by john666 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">air tools with suspension stuff speed things by.. but of course dont use air tools when your changing ur brake pads </TD></TR></TABLE>

why not?

I am a certified technician and I have never NOT used my air tools for anything that I can reach.....unless it has to be torqued at a specified torque.

 

anybody know anything about the crack in the weld? i think it should be ok

 

air tools
ive done suspesion work w/o air tools mang it took forever just to take out an old bolt

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DirtySol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

why not?

I am a certified technician and I have never NOT used my air tools for anything that I can reach.....unless it has to be torqued at a specified torque.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well, I know that the use of air tools on vehicles equipped with the old style asbestos brake pads isn't recommended, because it gets the asbestos all stirred up and can get into your lungs. Other than that, I've not seen a lot of compelling reasons not to use air tools on brakes.

 

as long as i have the tools needed to do thge job i dont care if they are hand tools or whatever, but yea air tools are the shiz

 

that won't be a problem

is that even a weld, that could just be a crack in the powdercoat.

regardless, i don't think it will be a factor

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ev13lf &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that won't be a problem

is that even a weld, that could just be a crack in the powdercoat.

regardless, i don't think it will be a factor</TD></TR></TABLE>

dunno i was just afraid that there was a crack elsewhere cause the spring sounded diff. but after i found out it was at the top... i think its ok.

thanks for replying.

 

just dont break bolts..then youll be pist.
if a bolts giving you trouble..try some heat

 

Using air tools cuts your work time in half. Why wouldn't you use them? Just be careful not to break or strip bolts.

 

its the whole breaking bolts part that scares me...

is there anything i can do to prevent them from breaking? do bolts usually break under too much torque?

 

LIKE i said before...heat them up, use wd40 or special rust breaking lubricants.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honduhh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">LIKE i said before...heat them up, use wd40 or special rust breaking lubricants. </TD></TR></TABLE>

heating the hardware makes it softer and more prone to shearing off. I suggest only heating the SURROUNDING area as a LAST resort.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by qat727 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

well, I know that the use of air tools on vehicles equipped with the old style asbestos brake pads isn't recommended, because it gets the asbestos all stirred up and can get into your lungs. Other than that, I've not seen a lot of compelling reasons not to use air tools on brakes. </TD></TR></TABLE>

that is why I wear a dust mask when I am working on old pieces of ****.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redline_EG6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i agree. hand tools will work but if you want the job done fast air tools are the way to go.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

ait tools are too expensive, just breaker bar it.

 

If you have a floor jack with a two piece handle, use one of the handle halves over top of your ratchet. Makes for an excellent breaker bar and saves the skin on your knuckles.

Oh, and PB Blaster ftw!

 

I'm with Arch, Dirty, and Cuda.

Spray all the bolts you're going to be taking off with PB Blaster the day or night before you're going to work on it, and once more once you get the car off the ground and get the wheels off.

I'd use air tools to take the stuff apart, but I'd use hand tools to re-assemble things.

1) Air tools are SO much easier to work with
2) I've heard it's better to use an impact as opposed to a ratchet because of the motion each one uses. There's a better chance of twisting or breaking the bolt using a ratchet. (Or so I've been told.)

I use hand tools for reassembly because I can torque them to where I want withoug having to worry about over-tightening or stripping them because I had an itchy finger.

PB Blaster/Liquid Wrench &gt; WD40 + Heat.

Also, use anti-seize during re-assembly. Makes all those suck-*** bolts less suckass next time you do suspension work.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Everyones Hero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm with Arch, Dirty, and Cuda.
2) I've heard it's better to use an impact as opposed to a ratchet because of the motion each one uses. There's a better chance of twisting or breaking the bolt using a ratchet. (Or so I've been told.)
</TD></TR></TABLE>
This is definitely true... with an impact your putting brief spurts of high torque versus continual high torque with a breaker bar.

Unless I've had it apart before I always have spare bolts for the rear lower shock mounts... if they have even a slight bend you can replace em... if you're really paranoid and can't suffer any downtime then spare bushings and nuts in case all hell breaks loose...