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Sequence for easiest assembly?

Crossram413

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Good Morning folks,
I'm replacing ball joints, tie rod ends and sway bar links in my 72 Challenger. The shop manual treats them all as separate jobs. I'm wondering if there is an order to do these that is easiest. The center link and tie rod ends are already removed from an unrelated repair. The lower ball joints I bought include new knuckle arms.
Doug
 

Chryco Psycho

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I would separate the tie rod ends first as they attach to the lower ball joints , on the other hand if both are being replaced you can leave them together & just unthread the tie rod sleeve from the outer tie rod , loosening the upper ball joint before separating the spindle is easier as it will remain more stable as you apply pressure to unscrew the upper joint . you will need to remove the brakes to get to the 2 main bolts holding the lower joint to the spindle.
In a nut shell remove the sway bar links then loosen the upper ball joints first then remove the brakes , separate the upper joint & unbolt the lower joint & split it from the lower control arm.
 

moparleo

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Just a few obvious tips from experience. Have a clean organised work area. Round up all of the tools that will be needed to do the job you are working on. Have a helper and a nearby cell phone..just in case of injury. Lay out your parts, if your FSM is a download, print the pages that apply to your job so they can be handy to refer to. Use common sense as you decide your sequence of reassembly. Bottom up in this case. Ball joints, center link, tie rods, sway bar. Pre assemble the center link, inner and outer tie rods/sleeves. Install as one assembly with you helper.There is more room work when installing each part in that order. If the tie rod assemblies are still put together use the old parts to measure how many turns you will need on each sleeve to get approximately the same spacing. This will get you toe setting close to the original settings. Make sure they are equally adjusted on both right and left tie rods.

65-72 suspension torque specs.png
 

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