After completing the rear leafs and springs last week I started the front today. Following the great write up posted on this site and using my electric impact gun I got everything taken apart and the D44 supported in less than two hours by myself.
As I started looking at what I took apart I see one of the possible reasons why my steering was not the best. C Bushings were completely dried out and one was even cracked.
The biggest problem I see is cleaning up the radius arm, caps and wedges on the differential. I beat them with a BFH and chisel, but still didn't get all of the crud off. Would it be OK to hit these areas with a grinder and then wire wheel?
After the chisel I used a small grinding wheel on my dremel and that cleaned it up but takes a long time. My Harbor Freight took a dump on me so I need to go pick up another one. You can see the difference between the side I was working on and the other.
Finally, the studs on the radius arms do not appear to be in great shape. I assume that I can just wire wheel these and spray everything with paint and reinstall, but it would have been nice to have a new set.
Squid
As I started looking at what I took apart I see one of the possible reasons why my steering was not the best. C Bushings were completely dried out and one was even cracked.
The biggest problem I see is cleaning up the radius arm, caps and wedges on the differential. I beat them with a BFH and chisel, but still didn't get all of the crud off. Would it be OK to hit these areas with a grinder and then wire wheel?
After the chisel I used a small grinding wheel on my dremel and that cleaned it up but takes a long time. My Harbor Freight took a dump on me so I need to go pick up another one. You can see the difference between the side I was working on and the other.
Finally, the studs on the radius arms do not appear to be in great shape. I assume that I can just wire wheel these and spray everything with paint and reinstall, but it would have been nice to have a new set.
Squid
