After completing a long, and drawn out spring/rear swaybar install, i found out i need, MORE new parts.

But back to the beginning, after snapping the head off the drivers side pinch bolt, breaking an easy-out off in said bolt, i ended up replacing the steering knuckle, ball joint(which was also frozen to the old knuckle) tie rod, due to a stripped allen head on the bolt. I also need a new abs/speed sensor, because it too, is stuck firmly in the old knuckle. no biggie, i can handle that.

after i put her all back together, 1 week after starting this project, i go to get an alignment. my front control arm bushings are shot. looks like i get to rip the front end apart all over again. bad end to a rough week.

Anything else i should check for in the front end while i have it apart again?

 

I did mine with http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=36704 and love them. Theres also a few good Power Flex threads on NAM to help too. Might want to do the ball joints while the arm is out.

May your Father Rest in Peace.

 

Ouch, not on a lucky streak are you?

Are the springs you installed lowering springs? If so, you may find it hard to get a good rear alignment without adjustable rear control arms. The front will be fine, but the further you lower the rear the more the geometry changes, and the stock components only adjust so far.

When reading of your pinch bolt problem I didn't notice you have an '02.....which version of '02 is it? After all you've been through I assume you've already learned about the suspension changes early in the '02 model year, yes?

 

haha yep, had to take a closer look when i found out about the changes, she has a build date of 05/2002. and yes, they were lowering springs, TSW's. the adjustable control arms are on my list, little bit further down then they should be, but i cant afford to do it all at once.

 

Welp, I just learned that I should have replaced the wheel bearings in the front when I did the Getrag-6 swap on my car... I just went through tech for our track weekend @ Eagles Canyon and found that my driver's front bearing had a bit of play in it - I still passed tech, but I am going ahead and swapping them out before this weekend anyway. It's an easy job that I should have done when I had everything apart - I mean, I had to change the axles and everthing and just should have thought about replacing the wheel bearing/hub assemblies (which would have taken about 5 minutes). Now, I have to pull the wheels, calipers, rotors, wheel speed sensors and do the bearings/hubs. Oh well...

If/when I have to drop my front subframe again, I would also check all balljoints, tie-rod ends, power steering lines, fan, etc. Dropping the subframe to replace the wheel bearings/hubs isn't required and I just checked all the balljoints and tie-rod ends...

 

Looks like another thing you could add to your 5>6-speed swap write-up; "optional items" or some such.