Suspension woes!!!

Hey guys,

In my attempt at restoring the suspension on my 74 REPU I have run into a few snags. I am re-assembling the drivers side now with the proper length springs, new ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, etc...

What I am having a problem with is sort of two fold. First I don't have the special Mazda spring compressor so I am just trying to get the spring up in the upper perch, and as close to where it needs to be on the lower control arm. Then I get my floor jack under the castle nut on the lower ball joint, and jack it all into position. That has proven to be mostly successful, but the lower part of the spring isn't quite in the proper position in the rubber isolator on the control arm.

The bigger problem I am having though is with the spindle. With the spindle assembly bolted to the upper and lower ball joints and the spring mostly where it needs to be the spindle assembly will not turn in its steering motion with the suspension at full droop. It will move with the jack under the suspension and pumped up in the position it would most likely be in if it were on the ground with a wheel on it. Shouldn't I be able to swing the spindle freely with the suspension in either loaded or full droop? By the way I do not have the shock, or any of the steering system attached to the spindle assembly.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

Just guessing, but without the shock on there, I'm guessing that the "full droop" you're seeing now is lower than the "full droop" you'd see with the shock limiting droop, and that you're binding the ball joints, hence the binding of the upright. I could be misinterpreting what's going on...

I'm not quite getting the picture of why the spring isn't aligning correctly on the lower mount; without some picture of what's going on it's hard to guess at what to change. All I can say is that I hope this isn't in any way precarious; it could be that the spring has nowhere to escape to, and that's great. Uncontained springs being squished give me the heebie-jeebies. If it could slip off that lower mount while you're mucking about (or if the arm could slip off the jack) that thing could do a lot of harm in a big hurry...

If it would help, maybe instead of the special Mazda spring compressor, you could at least get yourself some additional working room by getting some of those "lowering clamp" type things that would allow you to suck a couple of coils together. It would only shorten the spring a bit, but maybe it would be enough to help you get everything aligned for assembly?

I will get pics. Do you really think the shock could limit travel?

Chris

Mazdax605 wrote: I will get pics. Do you really think the shock could limit travel? Chris

Yes they can.....the shock itself limits travel by how long its throw is.

Do these tell the story better? See how the upper part of the spindle assembly seems to be bound on the upper control arm? That appears to be the issues, but how do I fix it?

The other question I have is regarding the upper ball joint. It seems to me that if it were mounted on the underside of the upper control arm that it would work better, but the passengers side is mounted just like this with the ball joint on the top side of the arm. I didn't remember from dis-assembly, but left the passenger side alone so I could stare and compare.

-C

Mazdax605 wrote: Do these tell the story better? See how the upper part of the spindle assembly seems to be bound on the upper control arm? That appears to be the issues, but how do I fix it?

longer upper balljoint would do it.

But these are the proper ones for the truck or so my NAPA guy says so.

I suspect the suspension doesn't go into full droop once the shocks are installed. Certainly when compressed it appears that the suspension would be fine.

Finally, you didn't clean and paint the springs? WTH man? :)

+1 you're going past normal full droop and binding up the ball joints because there are no shocks. Shocks are what normally limit droop on production cars, and that's fine once you're not jumping the car.

turboswede wrote: I suspect the suspension doesn't go into full droop once the shocks are installed. Certainly when compressed it appears that the suspension would be fine. Finally, you didn't clean and paint the springs? WTH man? :)

I thought about it, but didn't think the paint would hold up on the springs. Will it?

Chris

Install the shock and see what happens. Can't hurt at this point. And did the old parts look like the new parts? Did you compare them before installation? Aftermarket is not always correct...

Would it be worth my effort to mount the upper ball joint on the underside of the upper control arm? It seems to me that it is doable, and maybe even the proper way, but my FSM doesn't specify. I know the passengers side is mounted on the top like I did on re-assembly here on the drivers side, but maye that is a wrong made by the PO when cutting the springs. Or maybe they did it due to the cut springs. I posted this to the REPU forum, but no replies as of yet.

I very highly doubt that's the proper way considering the design of the top side of the upper ball joint.

GameboyRMH wrote: I very highly doubt that's the proper way considering the design of the top side of the upper ball joint.

You highly doubt which way is the proper way? The way I have it or mounted from the underside? The upper part of the ball joint can fit throught the hole in the cotrol arm as it is designed from the under side of the control arm. I am just not sure if that is the way it should be mounted. I wish the Mazda FSM was more clear on this.

I agree with GameboyRMH that the ball joint should remain on top; the top of the ball joint doesn't have a flat mating surface where it would contact the arm if it were moved underneath the arm.

It would be great to confirm with Mazda documentation, but the design of the part sure suggests it is where it belongs...

The ball joint mounting surface does indeed have a flat surface for mounting on the underside of the control arm.

Right, I meant it should remain on top, even if it can fit through the hole.

Also consider this, in the current position if the balljoint-to-wishbone bolts break, the upright will still be held roughly vertical because the balljoint top holds it in and you could carefully bring the car to a stop. If you mount it to the underside, if those bolts break one corner of your car will do a BTTF2 flight transformation (which I can tell you from witnessing this first-hand, is quite a violent stop).

Mazdax605 wrote: The ball joint mounting surface does indeed have a flat surface for mounting on the underside of the control arm.

Okay, flat, yes, but barely larger than the mating surface of the nut that holds it down, isn't it? It just seems like if it was meant to mate with the bottom of the control arm it would be a broader surface, as I suspect the bottom of the ball joint is (though I can't see it in the pics...)

This looks like the ball joint should be under the control arm. Hope it links properly.....

https://www.google.com/search?q=1974+mazda+pickup+ball+joint+install&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Zmx&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=_kVkUZiUIorQyAGNgYHYDw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=620#imgrc=BL8oP816BHPkiM%3A%3BALPtfyAGDmDCqM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi1243.photobucket.com%252Falbums%252Fgg560%252Fspokanerxdude%252F0003.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mazdarepu.com%252Fboard%252Fviewthread.php3%253FFID%253D2%2526TID%253D2888%3B682%3B1023

That didn't work well, but there are two pictures in the 11th row that show it.

http://www.mazdarepu.com/board/viewthread.php3?FID=2&TID=2888

The top and bottom of the mating surfaces look the same as far as I remember. I will try to get a better picture of it later. I put out an email to a friend that has the same truck to ask him where the ball joint is mounted. Hopefully he gets back to me soon. At first glance I thought to mount it on the underside as that was what looked normal, but upon looking at the otehr side this is how it was mounted so I went with that. Not sure it is right or wrong, but just thinking out loud right now.

In reply to DeadSkunk:

Well that's interesting...

Thanks Skunk. My suspicions were correct. I had done some searching on the Mazdarepu site, but didn't find that thread. I am there all the time, so you would think I would be able to figure this out. I have also owned this truck a really long time(10+ years), and you would think I would know this stuff already.