Re: Rebuilding front suspension on my 120 any advice?

Posted by Ken_P On 2011/6/21 10:51:09

I just finished rebuilding most of the front suspension on my 115. The Kanter kit is good, it comes with inner bushings, torque arm bushings, upper wheel control bushings, lower wheel control bearings, a king pin kit, and outer tie rod ends.

Here are my lessons learned:

- Follow the procedure in the shop manual to disassemble the coil. Installation is the reverse. I initially rented a spring compressor for the job, but did not use it. Because of the frame to upper spring mount clearance, a spring compressor is nearly impossible to use. I simply put a long 3/8" bolt through one hole of the support arm inner bushing and compressed the spring with a floor jack.

- You will probably need to get a center post rebuild kit at the same time you order your front end kit.

- The kit doesn't come with inner tie rod ends or the cup and cone ball bearings on the intermediate arm. Not sure if Kanter has them; I'm currently trying to source the cup and cone ball bearings from my local parts store. The inner tie rod ends look like an easy part to find at any local store.

- I didn't rebuild the king pin or lower wheel control arm bearings as mine were tight, so no observations there.

- The torque arm ball recommends soap water to ease installation. I tried this, didn't have much luck, and instead used a very small amount of silicone grease.

Good luck!