newbie front suspension help please

[wareaglescott]

Couple questions.

1. I have the red koni shocks. Per the instruction manual I mounted them shock body up. I see in other build threads the silver ones are mounted shock body down. Am I missing something? Do I have them backwards?

2. Castle Nuts - I see in the instruction manual there is a torque specification of 80-110 on the lower one and 75 on the upper one. The way I see it you pretty much have to get them tight and then tighten them enough to have the hole for the cotter pin line up. Once I have them tight I don't think I can get another 1/8-1/4 of a turn to get the hole to line up regardless of what the torque is. Am I overthinking this or do you basically just need them tight and the hole lined up?
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56108&d=1468447735

3. My sway bars are on backorder. I realize the lower shock attachment bolt needs to be longer to also go through the sway bar. I have installed the longer bolts and just not tightened that one down. Is there any problem with moving forward on the rest of the front end until the sway bar shows up? I know you can add that after the fact so I am assuming there is no problem. Is there any reason i would want to wait to bend the cotter pins around the sway bar?

Thanks for the help

[dmoran]

1. I have the red koni shocks. Per the instruction manual I mounted them shock body up. I see in other build threads the silver ones are mounted shock body down. Am I missing something? Do I have them backwards?


In general, the red Koni's can be used in either direction. I don't know specifically about the silver ones but I know some Koni's like the ones that come with the anniversary build have a specific orientation that needs to be maintained.

FRONT - Body side up is correct for the front based on the manual, FFR videos and Build School.

REAR - The rears are generally body side down for better clearance. The manual shows them body up but the videos and build school do body down. Most go body down on the back.



2. Castle Nuts - I see in the instruction manual there is a torque specification of 80-110 on the lower one and 75 on the upper one. The way I see it you pretty much have to get them tight and then tighten them enough to have the hole for the cotter pin line up. Once I have them tight I don't think I can get another 1/8-1/4 of a turn to get the hole to line up regardless of what the torque is. Am I overthinking this or do you basically just need them tight and the hole lined up?


I usually tighten to just below the lower torque spec and then tighten till the hole lines up. On my build, that hasn't caused the torque to go above the upper limit but I'm sure there is some margin at either side.



3. My sway bars are on backorder. I realize the lower shock attachment bolt needs to be longer to also go through the sway bar. I have installed the longer bolts and just not tightened that one down. Is there any problem with moving forward on the rest of the front end until the sway bar shows up? I know you can add that after the fact so I am assuming there is no problem. Is there any reason i would want to wait to bend the cotter pins around the sway bar?



Sorry, I don't have a sway bar but your logic sounds right. One reason to wait to bend cotter pins is in case you find a problem and have to take the front apart. How do I know that? I put my steering arms on upside down and had to take everything apart to fix it when I got to the steering...

Doug

[wareaglescott]

Thanks Doug!
Yup I will probably wait on the cotter pins. My confidence level isn't super high at this point in the build with my inexperience. Im pretty sure it is all correct but I could have certainly made a boneheaded move!

[CraigS]

Don't worry about a torque spec. I put a combination wrench on the nut, hook the closed end of another wrench on the open end of the first wrench end to almost double my leverage, and tighten as tight as I can and get a hole to line up. When you try to disassemble a ball joint you realize they don't need to be real tight.