Nathan's 626 - Suspension Work Part 1 of 2

Nathan here again, this post will be part 1 of 2 on the front suspension work that has been done to the 626. This post will cover control arm replacement (including the 2 bushings and ball joint), front sway bar links, and inner & outer tie rods (as well as new dust covers for the inners).

While working on the car one day, I realised that the control arm bushings were flogged out. The ball joints had bad dust boots and were very loose, and the rear control arm bushings were ready to come apart! So we went out for a long drive out west and bought new ones. We decided that the next ‘stage’ of the work on the car would be steering/suspension/bushings. Replacing all the old, worn parts, with nice new ones! Pictures Below:


The new control arms they came with a new ball joint, as well as new rear and side bushings:

Taking the old arms out and the difference between the old and new ones! 

Old rear bushing:

New rear bushing:

New arms in:

Video of Old Ball Joints:

Video of New Ball Joints:

Next was new sway-bar links and to install the inner and outer tie rods that we had bought a while back, along with the steering rack rubber boots.

We did this on a friends work hoist (since they had an inner tie rod tool) and also installed some new exhaust hangers so the exhaust wouldn't move around while driving (which fixed it!) No pics of exhaust hangars but it’s easy to imagine what it would look like, it’s an easy job:

Exhaust hangers look like this: Their job is to hold up the exhaust system to the body. When they get old the exhaust will move around more than is acceptable and create funny noises like rattles etc. They are very cheap to buy so we replaced all 5 on our car.

New sway bar links:

Up on the hoist:

Outer tie-rods removed and prepping the inner tie rod removal tool:

Inner tie rods removed:

Unfortunately my phone ran out of battery just after the last pic was taken, so no pics of installed inner or outer tie rods (or rubber boots) :(

We got a wheel alignment the next day as the car had barely any castor after the suspension work, and it was back to driving! Part 2 of the suspension work will cover front strut replacement. It will also be the last post by me on the blog.

- Nathan