I recently decided to take my 72 Duster off the road for awhile. What clenched my decision is the fact that the front tires tried to fold under the car while i was driving...chewed up the side walls pretty good. I'm thinking an extreme case of bump steer but the problem is more than just that....I'm going to be replacing every steering/suspension component under the front end of my car...torsion bars are shot too. I've already done lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rod ends, and tie rod adjusting sleeves. next I'll be doing idler and pitman arms. i'll probably replace the torsion bars when I replace the strut rod bushings and upper/lower control arm bushings.

If anybody has any advice for me on the things I haven't done yet, I'd greatly appreciate it.

-Don

_________________
Forget the flowmasters...here come the good ol' GLASSPACKS!!!

Hey Don,
You may want to check the undercarriage, especially around the torsion bar cross member, etc. for rust.
Rob

well I bought everything I need other than the shocks and torsion bars recently...cost 360 bucks, round-a-bout. I removed the upper control arm and spindle/brake assembly. first off, the upper control arm bolts(camber bolts) were loose as could be. then while scratching my head and looking at the mess lying in front of me, I noticed it...the lower control arm bushing was probably only an 1/8th of an inch in the lower control arm and looked like it started pushing through the k-member towards the front of the car....the lower control arm shaft looks bent, most likely from the previously stated carnage.

I haven't removed the lower control arm yet, but from what I see, the k-member looks like it can be repaired with a little welding...I'm not too sure about the lower control arm though. does anybody know where I could get a lower control arm without having to be lucky enough to find a scrap yard that has old a-bodies that are probably stripped already?

no more "discount driveway alignments" for me...had I have taken it to an alignment shop they probably would have noticed the problem and/or been able to prevent damage. once again...any advice is greatly appreciated!!!

-Don

_________________
Forget the flowmasters...here come the good ol' GLASSPACKS!!!

I have spare control arms, drop me a private message if you still need one.
DD
http://www.slantsix.org/parts/list/susp ... rm-set.jpg

Well, I got the LCA and torsion bar out of the pass. side last night. The LCA bushing and the bushing in the K-member were so bad that all that was left was the steel inner sleeves. The LCA shaft is severely bent. The strut rod bushings were so worn they are paper thin...lol. If this car wasn't a classic Mopar, I'd have called the junkyard to take it away...I've done it many times before...lol. All I really need to buy now is the torsion bars which I'm getting from Jack's Auto Parts in Howell, NJ(www.jacksautoparts.com) and shocks....oh yeah, I gotta get a LCA too...you'll be getting a private message real soon Doc.

-Don

_________________
Forget the flowmasters...here come the good ol' GLASSPACKS!!!

Well I finally got to press out the old bushings and get the new ones in on Saturday. My old LCA was so screwed up I don't know how it didn't fall apart. I got the UCA ready to go back on and I just need to put the LCA bushing in the new arm Doc sold me....while removing the strut rod out of my old LCA, I cleaned it off and found that underneath all the grease and grime it's all tristed and mangled...no way it can be straightened. Things are slowly coming together and hopefully it'll be done by spring.

anybody have a pair of strut rods they can sell me(Doc)???
if so please give me a private message and let me know...


Thanks in advance,
Don

_________________
Forget the flowmasters...here come the good ol' GLASSPACKS!!!