Ahhhh.... Good point. In my enthusiasm, I lubed everything!

 

At least it wouldnt hurt anything though!

EDIT - Using any petroleum based lube on rubber could cause never-ending squeaks later. Lube is NOT advised on rubber.
If it is really needed, use silicone lube.

 

nice wright up on changing the bushings, and it all looks great!.

 

Thanks... Suspension is ready for reassembly for the most part, as soon as the engine bay is reassembled!!

 

Will you be changing the front steering linkage as well? i just got thru aligning the front end on my car in the garage. Again, working before the chickens get up....

Now to align my F85...

 

Yes - I did not plan on it, but it was a big might-as-well...
The steering box and pump are out for rebuild and and all the new undercar steering parts are awaiting paint.

 

Hey Rob! I am doing this exact same project right now (minus the marker lights) on a 68 skylark. I have round lower control arm bushings instead of oval ones and I cant get the damn things in. Did you grease the outer shell that presses into the control arm? We'll see how it goes today...

 

I used no grease or oil on the round bushings but did use a light smear of oil on the ovals. I did not want the remote chance of the round bushing shell pivoting in the control arm.

A setup like this will get that sucker in.


Make sure you use a well fitting socket and breaker bar to turn the press with. A ratchet will not give you enough leverage. Putting the whole thing on the floor will help get even more leverage.

 

I got the bushings to cooperate today after a bit of persuasion, thanks for your help! I got the exact same tool from Aut-ti-zone and it worked very well. I didn't have a chance of getting them in without that press! I took a couple pictures of my work, the first is the control arms with the bushings installed. the second is some nuts I welded to the control arms to replace the original rinky-dink clips that the shocks bolt into. Now when I change my shocks I don't have to figure out how to hold the broken clips from spinning with the spring in the way!

 

I installed the lower control arm but did not torque the nuts yet.

Upper control arm was installed next, along with all new shims in the same amounts like I had removed. Shaft to frame bolts were torqued. After this I realized I had the WHEEL SIDE of the shaft facing the other wheel. Knowing that would not work, I had to disassemble it all, and flip the shaft around.

The boingers and spindles were brought out, ready to be wrestled in next…
Note the new Moog HD boinger on the right, old STD on the left…

Actually, the reduced free height of the FE2 type spring aided in installation.

The top of the spring was placed up in the frame and some plastic was used to insulate the spring from the frame and make it slide into place easier (and reduce frame scratches).
The bottom spring end was aligned with the drain hole as per the CSM.
I lifted up the control arm and rested the end on a 3.5” wood block. With a firm nudge from the size 9, the spring popped into place!

I rotated it enough to make it align with the control arm hole.
Great!
Rob – 1, Spring – 0!


At this point, there is very little compression on the spring (just enough to hold it in place), so I felt totally safe in doing this.


I lifted up on the control arm until I was able to slide a 6” wood block under the arm’s edge. Now I can get the floor jack under the spring pocket. I found a tire scrap works well between the arm and jack to protect the paint, conform to the surface, and not slide off.
For safety, take a long steel rod and drop it through the shock holes.

While holding the spring in, I jacked the lower arm enough to get the spindle on to the ball joints and install the nuts loosely.



However, the dust shield gave some interference to the control arm…


Next the ball joint nuts were torqued and cotter pins installed.

 

A month back, back, my rebuilt power steering pump and gearbox came back from Chip at Power Steering Services.

The dent on the pump should not be too visible – he did not have a replacement that was much better…
Looks like he does great work. It is expensive, but should be worth it. Since these were my old parts, they SHOULD fit!
And the gearbox did – bolted right in!

I held the box up there while laying on my back and the lady friend inserted the bolts. First bit of help she has ever gave me…..

Today another welcomed COLD front came and made 2 hours in the garage a fun experience. 75 feels great!
Hmmmm…. Puzzle time.

First the power steering pump was attached to the front bracket, then the bottom bracket to the engine, then the pump assy to the bottom bracket. Then the lower ALT bracket...




Tips: Do not tighten anything until it is all assembled! After the bolts are finger tight, then torque. Also, keep track of your bolts. I misplaced one for the lower front pump and had to use an upper ALT bracket bolt.

After all that was in, the pulley hole was cleaned of paint and was tapped onto the shaft and tightened.
So how do you get 60ftlbs on the rotating pulley nut? I set up a socket (wrapped in paper towel) onto the upper pump bolt and set the ratchet a the bottom of the radiator support. Worked great!


Next the rag joint went on.. Note the flat sides on each mate together. It went together with no issue.

 

The Bilstein shock was inserted from below and the top nut installed loosely. The bottom bolts were a bit tight. The Napa spring clip nuts are not suitable. I had to keep hammering them back straight as I put the bolt in.

Is there a source for CORRECT lower shock nuts??


So now the left side is complete!!
I did not have enough fun and torture, so I repeated all that on the right side…
Happily it ended in Rob – 2, Spring – 0.

Pre-assembled steering linkage was bolted to the frame and pitman arm.

This was like snake wrestling – trying to get all into place and bolt to the frame while each segment goes its own way... Eventually everything was attached and the nuts torqued and cotter pins added.


Great – so after those 7 hours, she is steerable now!
If only she could talk, she would be proclaiming "I have LEGS again!!"

 

Nicely done Obi Wan!
A cold front came in??? You gotta be $hitting me. 75° is a 'cold front'??? Today it was 41° all freaking day long with fog and rain. I thought I'd woken up in London

Got your info on the quick ratio. I'm going to call Chip and see about setting up the same thing you did. I think I'll just send down the steering box, my pump unit is fine, but I'll replace the lines. I can paint the pulley and pump myself.

Your build is really starting to take shape. I see you have learned to use the power of the Force. I'm going to be not too far behind you. With luck I should have my CA's all back together and start reassembly in the next week. Its turkey day up here on Monday so that means Long weekend and family time. Might get some work done in between I hope if the weather cooperates.

Want to see something funny? I got my UCA shaft bolts from ILT today. They had it packed and out the door within 4 hours of my call. Too bad I didn't realize I needed new CA bumpers, shock nuts and a few other odds and ends. I could have saved a bit. The new bolts are so nice I want to frame them... It would have survived the worst USPS could throw at it (hah) the bolts and nuts - all 8 pieces - had been knocked out of the baggie and were rattling around inside. Anyway this is what 12.00 packing looks like:

 

Hey Rob,

Great read !!!! Great Job !!!!!

Might of missed but did you have steering box torque upgraded ? I had my front end redone in Feb of this year & Chip was out a few weeks , Think his message said he was hurt or something so I wound up sending my steering box to Lee out in CA. They added 10 lbs of torque to steering ( his suggestion ) & I am very happy with the outcome. Ok so I cant turn lock to lock with my pinky anymore but man what a difference in road feel ! Anyway just wondering if you did similar or just left a standard rebuild.

Anyway great job ......!!!

 

(reprinted from "Into the Unknown")
On Sunday I got a late start to the day, so only got 5 hours in...
I cleaned up the rotor surfaces with a razor blade (to remove some paint) and then with brake parts cleaner. A few spiders were displaced and their webs eradicated…
Here is where nitrile gloves are great!
I started with greasing the inner bearings and packing the inner hubs with disc brake bearing grease.


I had both rotors in position and parts ready so I could do them both in sequence. After both bearings were dropped into place, I peeled off the gloves and tossed them. I tapped in the grease seals with a hammer.


Next I flipped the rotors over by holding them in the disc center and placed them hub down on a small block of wood to avoid any touching of the disc surface. The seals would hold in the greased bearings. I put on a pair of new gloves and greased the outer bearings, packed the outer hubs, and dropped the bearings into place.


The gloves were again peeled off and trashed.

With some new gloves, the rotors were carefully slid onto the spindles while I held the outer bearing in with the nut.
I had put a THIN layer of grease on the seal surface of the spindle and gently rotated the hub while pushing it on to avoid damaging the seal.
When it was on, I tightened the nut, spun the rotor and torqued per the CSM instructions. HOWEVER, on both sides, it seemed that I had to loosen the nut too much to get the cotter pin on.

I was unsure what to do here so I decided to take a break and do some cleanup in the garage.
As I picked up the old bearings to trash them, the outer bearings had big washers stuck to them! I’ll be darned – it is amazing at what you forget and loose in that dirty mess over 4 months of time... I cleaned them up, pulled the nuts from the spindles, inserted the washers, spun, retorqued, spun, loosened, hand tightened, and popped the cotter pins in with NO loosening! GREAT!!
Moral of the story – do NOT toss old parts until the job is complete and you have looked them over well for other needed parts!


Now to move on the brake calipers…



The new Wagner Thermoquiet pads specified that NO anti-noise compounds be used on them.
So the inner brake pad had its spring attached and it was popped into the caliper piston.
The outer pad was held tightly in the caliper (with clean gloves and rags) and the ears clinched with channel lock pliers to ensure a tight fit to reduce noise.

The caliper is ready to mount.
I had forgotten to remove the masking tape from the caliper mount sliding surfaces from when I had painted them, so the caliper was tight.

After discovering and removing the tape, cleaning and LIGHTLY greasing those slide surfaces with brake grease, the caliper simply dropped on. The ends of the hex bolts got some brake grease and hand threaded on. When both were on, they were torqued.

Hydraulic hose was mounted and brake line connected. I made sure the flare nut could be started easily by hand to prevent cross threading.

Lastly the grease cap was installed. At first, the cap was too loose – I could push it on and the air trapped inside popped it out again. I had to bend a few sections of the rim to get it to fit tight.

All done withthe left side.


This was repeated for the right side as well.


If this car could talk, she would be proclaiming “Look - I have LEGS again!!”



Swayin' to the music...

Installing a sway bar while listening to music that is…….

I put the bushings on the bar with slots forward. Note that old socks work well to keep the bar ends from scratching the chassis paint.


The bar was secured with the brackets and bolts but ONLY hand tight to snug it up for now.

So I discovered the Moog end links are taller than original. But what is original? Both of my old ones were different lengths than the moogies…

The top one’s cushions look newer though… Anyway, I was gonna give the moogies a try.

Upon installation, the clearances from the bolt to ball joint is close, but when the car is on the ground, the bolt will be away from the ball joint as the A-arms move.


End links were tightened and all seemed okay. Nothing is touching...


Another issue that came up is that the idler arm was contacting the sway bar. I had to loosen the idler, push it forward, and retorque it. I got almost 1/8” of clearance now.


So much for Sunday’s work…

On Monday, I evaluated what the brake bleeding process would bring me. The bleeder screws on both calipers were seized, despite looking very good (as in not rusty) and having been loosened 4 years ago. This stinks...

The left side finally broke free after a couple hours of WD40 soaking.
I used a 3/8" 6 point socket on a quarter drive ratchet and tapped it with a hammer. After a dozen light hits, it began to turn!
That procedure did not work for the right. Therefore, I sprayed it again with WD40 and waited another hour.
I put the heat gun on it on low for about 5 -6 minutes just to where it was too warm to touch. After another 10 light hits, it came free!

I would have been pretty POed if they broke, as I had just spent a lot of time and effort restoring the old calipers. Also, these are not cheap. 45 bucks was the cheapest from RA and then I woulda had to send the cores back for 15 bucks and wait and later they deny the core charge since the bleed screws were busted off in there.

Ironically, the rusty looking dirty nasty rear cyl bleeders came undone with some simple pressure on the little ratchet. Go figure...
Nice - disaster has been diverted (for now...)
Crap – an hour wasted on just getting the stupid screws loose…
Well, the only meaningful progress was getting her feet put back on and lowering her back onto them…

I rolled her around the garage a little and she rolls easily and quietly!

Hey - missed this post a while back...
I DID order the rebuild upgrade but have not had her on the road yet to try it. However, when sitting inthe driveway, I CAN turn it 3 turns lock to lock with my pinky. The old one was 3.5 turns. I hope I got the upgrade!

 

…and I do what she says!
On Tuesday, I got her upper control arms and sway bar torqued, now she is back on the ground. First I rechecked the UCA shaft to frame bolts. Next were the UCAs. The two rear nuts were a pain and inaccessible by torque wrench. I had to use open end wrenches and get them as tight as I could that way.
Air cleaner had to be removed and the steering shaft was covered to prevent paint damage.


The front ones were easily done with the torque wrench. I used these to get a “feel” (more like palm pain) of 55lbs with a wrench. I rechecked the back ones and tightened them a bit more.


Lastly was the sway bar to frame brackets.
Looking at the frame I am realizing the reasoning behind super-compressing an oversized bushing. There are indentions in the frame that the bushing will fill into when compressed. This will prevent the bushing form oozing out to the side over time and sway bar movement.
Here is the bushing uncompressed:


And here it is compressed with bolts torqued to 30lbs.


That ends another hour or so of fun…


On Wednesday, it started with bench bleeding the MC for an hour - I thought those bubbles would never quit.
The tiny foamy bubbles never really quit; I think it was drawing in air from the plastic adapter ports.
I did not have a vice, so I had screwed a block of wood to the bench top and supported the master with blocks of wood on the side like a cradle. I worked the piston SLOWLY with a nut driver. Hold your hand over the chambers, as one of them has a presure relief hole that will make a little GEYSER of fluid when the piston is worked! You do not want this spraying out everywhere!


I also had to remove bits of assembly grease that was coming out as I bled it.


Since the master’s fluid was only ½ full, I carefully bolted it loosely to booster so it could move some, aiding in the brake line installation. Bleeder lines were removed one by one and brake lines attached and snugged.

So now I torque the master down, fill with fluid, and get ready to bleed!
I started with the left rear but I could not get any fluid out the left rear cylinder (as in not a drop).
I stuck a drill bit in it and it is not blocked at all...

So I go to the right rear screw - plenty of fluid comes out. So I use the little vacuum pump bleeder and suck fluid out. I found that those vacuum bleeders REALLY suck. Suck air that is, from around the threads of the bleeder screws, so there is a continual stream of little bubbles and you do not know when to stop bleeding. I refilled the master 5 times and the fluid looked clean, but still bubbles...

I go to the front and it sucks air again. I hear odd gurgling sounds while sucking fluid.
After a master full of fluid I called it good. I get to the other side and found a puddle of brake fluid!
Some DA left the front right screw open... I wonder who THAT was…
So after another 4 oz of fluid, I called it quits and cleaned up the mess.

I ran through two bottles of fluid (and probably half a bottle on the floor) but still have a sponge pedal...
Looks like I need to get more fluid and summon a helper here tomorrow to do the ol' tried and true pump and hold method.

There was 2 hours shot to hell.

Better luck…

On Thursday I had a buddy come over to help me bleed. This seemed to go better than yesterday.

However, we could not even force fluid out the left rear screw. I removed it and it was clear. I gently poked a small awl into the hole and fluid started to flow. So we bled it and the fluid was dirty but not excessively.

We did all 4 wheels and got a better pedal feel, but what defines good pedal?
The pedal goes down 1" with engine off, vacuum depleted, and after that it is fairly firm (small amt of sponginess).
Does this sound right? With engine running the pedal travel seems more it seems - different than before.. Of course since the MC was replaced and booster was rebuilt, the feel could be normal... I will try it out soon...

 

I was hardly able to get the brakes in my truck (75 Chevy c10, disc and drum) much better than what you describe... I always wondered if there was room for improvement too, but it is hard to keep a helper patient that long around here.
I'm with you on the vacuum bleeders SUCKING... Except I mean it more figuratively. I myself, nor no one I have met, has had any luck using them to bleed brakes. HOWEVER, that tool is priceless for its usefulness as a vacuum pump/tester. I have diagnosed several issues with many cars with it. Keep it!

By the way, great job with your car, it looks like all the time you've spent has all paid off!

 

Forgot to finish this thread...

Last week on Thursday, the SPC 91000 alignment jig came in. I bought it from a ricer site since it was 20 less than Summit.

I feel a bit dirty from getting it there, but 20 bucks will buy me a case of beer…


Camber…
As soon as I got the jig out of the box, I set it on the ground right next to the left wheel and zeroed it as per the directions.

I popped it on the left wheel and it read a tad under +1*, within the factory spec!
I moved to the right side, zeroed it and I got a tad above +1/4*, again within factory spec!
The left is supposed to be +1/2* more than the left to factor in the weight of the driver.
That was under 10 minutes…

Caster and toe were more complex, so I waited to do them that Sunday in the driveway…

Toe…
Front wheels were rolled into small patches of play sand. Steering wheel was centered and locked.

I did not pay the extra 50 for the optional toe “adapters”, as they were just two metal arms that folded down with slots to hold a tape measure. I have lots of scrap metal already, so I made my own…

I screwed a shelving bracket strip to the bottom of the jig and attached it to the wheel, using a small bungee cord to secure it well.
I also set up a string line along the car to help me get the wheel straight.
Two tape measures were compared and verified to measure the same. The ends were clamped to the ends of the toe bracket I added to the jig.
Here is the contraption so far on the left side…




The rear track is about 0.7” narrower than the front, so this needs to be kept in mind.

The right wheel got just a straight edge attached, which was a length of angle aluminum held on by another bungee cord with thick hard foam spacers holding it off the wheel edge.
I used a caliper often to make sure everything was straight and lined up.
The tape measures were set on bricks on the right side and some wood block were used to support the tape mid section.
Right side jig looked like this:

Note the 1.25” of toe…


The tie rod clamps were loosened and I began by screwing the left side one to get the left wheel parallel to the string. Being new, the clamp turned easily in my hand. The wheels pivoted easily in the sand, but regardless, I tried to settle it as best as I could after each adjustment. Some oil on the tie rod threads is a smart addition also.

Despite over an inch of toe, small adjustments go a LONG way! Do only small adjustments and check the measurements often! Number of tie rod end exposed threads should be about the same.

When I was happy with the left side I finished up on the right. After the coarse adjustments, I went to doing the fine.
Here is when liberal checking of the jig’s alignment was done to make sure all was well. After tightening the tie rod clamps, I rechecked everything again.

In the end, I had less than 1/16” toe out, good enough for now. Specs were +/-1/8”.


Note the special fine tuning tools………….


One unusual thing I did…
When toe was set, the right clamp had its slot upwards, making a nice water and dirt depository, inviting some fast rusting.
I disconnected the tie rod end from the spindle and turned it and the clamp in opposite unison to where the length stayed the same but the slot was at the bottom.
Outer tie rod ends were torqued and cotter pins installed.
Clamp bolts were torqued as well.

Caster…
I followed the instructions, moving my straight line out and turning the front wheels out 15* to the line.

I zeroed the jig, turned the wheels to 15* inward, and read the caster. It was +2.25*.
I repeated with the right side and it was about +3.0.
Cross caster should be under 1*, so this was in spec, too.

The whole alignment process took about 2 hours, not counting the engineering of the jig and setup…

 

As requested, here are the final measurements of the front and rear...

Measuring from designated places in the CSM---
Front 10.25 and rear 10.75.

Front is about 0.25" higher than W29 spec and rear is about 0.5" higher than W29 spec.

But...
The front end is currently missing 40lbs of A/C stuff (will be installed next year).
The rear has HD springs, and it is now 0.25" higher than HD specs. I have the W29 springs to put in it later on so it may go down some then.
Also, tires may not be the same exact diameter as the belted bias ones...

 

Rob,

Your wheels look AWESOME, what type of paint did you use? I was thinking of using a corrostop metal paint, ( i guess its like rustoleum) it dries to a powdercoat type finish).

Also, Having a bamboo car, im not entirely sure what colour to paint my wheels. Cast grey like the SSII?? Or keep them black??

 

Thanks... They were powdercoated with an in-stock grey-white color, the back sides semigloss black. Came out nice I think! No trim rings for them though.
I think yours would look nice either in body color (maybe try no trim rings since the color is light), or black with trim rings for contrast.
I do not think the grey ones would look right with your body color...

 

Not black Tony. Have a look at this thread. Scroll all the way through this thread - there's even a pic of a 72 442 in Bamboo with matching wheels. You could also add gold or tan accents to the hood and sides? Some nice pics to consider when planning your wheel color? https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...or-choice.html

 

Well, not exactly. The left side camber should be more positive than the right side but not because of the driver weight. If you put weight in the car it causes the car to sit lower and that will shift camber more positive, not more negative. I was taught it was to offset road crown.

The reason for positive camber is the difference between curb height and ride height. A car in motion tends to rise up slightly, shifting the camber negative. The settings are calculated to give you about 0* under motion.

BTW, it would be simple enough to build the suspension with equal length control arms and maintain a 0* camber at all times. The problem with that is the wheels would swing in an arc and scuff the tires sideways. The long/short control arms are designed to maintain a constant wheelbase so you don't scuff tires as the suspension moves up and down.

Back when I did alignments I tried to set the left side camber a quarter of a degree more positive than the right and right side caster a quarter of a degree more positive than the left. Camber was targeted at the mid range of the specs and I like as much positive caster as allowed.

Just watch your tires and once and a while rub your hand sideways across the treads. Your tires will tell you if they don't like something.

As much as I'd like to have my own alignment setup, I'm not impressed with the SPC jig. I don't see any compensation adjustment for runout. If every wheel was perfect that would be fine. But wheels are generally out of true slightly and no compensation means you transfer any error into your adjustments. I didn't see that covered in their instruction video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu5xEFdDr7M


I'm also not hot on using a tape measure for toe. Tape measures tend to sag. The old school method was a toe bar. It was simply a bar with two pointers. You scribed a line on the tire tread by turning the wheel while holding something against the tread that would leave a mark. You put the bar behind the wheels and set the pointers to match the marks. Then you put the bar in front and checked the difference. I have done this at home using a board with a nail sticking through to scribe the tire and a stick with pencil marks to measure the toe.

 

WOW, that actually looks awesome, my car is going to look great when someone paints it properly

Hmmmmm, I'm slowly warming up to the bamboo coloured wheels...

Hey, you guys have spare tires,right? what colour are they?

 

Well that's a kind of personal question... BUT...my spare tire is the same color as the rest of my skin... Just don't ask what size it is

Oh! you meant on the car?? It's the same color as the other SS wheels - silver.

 

Hey Rob,

What do you mean by "Wheel side facing the balljoint??"

I see that there is a marking on my upper control arm shaft, but i have no idea which way to flip it around...

 

If there is wording on your shaft like "wheel side" marked on it, the words would face the wheel.

I did not have the wheel on at the time I wrote that, so I said towards the ball joint.
Actually I just like confusing others....

 

Hmmmmm, so this control arm shaft is not symmetrical I presume?

You have succeeded! I am dually confused :P

 

Right. The Moog parts are offset, so they can increase or decrease camber some without adding or removing shims. They are really used when you cannot remove any more shims if the frame sags...

 

My drivers side 'WHEEL SIDE' is upside down but still facing the tire (below pass. side is upright though). I don't think it matters though.

 

I do not think that matters, either.

 

Tony, relax. Your upper shaft is completely symmetrical. You could lay the other one over top of it upside right or upside down and they would be identical, right? I get what you're asking about. On my upper shafts there were letters punched on them too. That has nothing to do with wheel side, unless it's stamped 'wheel side'.

I asked the same question when I was doing my upper shafts. Turns out they are the same. Robs were different probably because it's a convertible. His upper CA shafts have little ridges close to the end where the bolts go through. That's also what helped him get the busings out easier!! Does that help unconfuse you? Gotta head out in a bit, but if you take a look at my brake thread (you know the one), I have pics of my upper CA shafts posted. You can compare.

 

Aha! Believe it or not i read through both yours and rob's ENTIRE thread today trying to figure out what the heck i'm doing wrong with my control arms...

AND YOU"RE RIGHT, it seems all convertible candidates have those broad stampings on the upper A-Arm shafts. I just recently got an extra upper A-Arm shaft from Scott and it looked identical to yours. It had just one letter stamped sideways on it...

So, Also.. i remember you told me a trick once upon a time, about how to loosen the ball joint from the knuckle of the spindle. What was that trick again? I don't want to destroy what good salvageable parts i may have...

 

The factory A-arm shafts were the same for verts and hardtops, and were straight - not offset. The replacement Moog shafts are offset to help correct the common problem of frame sag (at least that is how they advertise them). Not sure if I had any frame sag, but they worked well anyway...

 

Oh!

I'm using OEM shafts from Scott that were really clean. They needed a wirebrush and some TLC but they cleaned up REAL nice.

I put a coat of black rust paint on them, same shade as my control arms. I think the setup is going to look fancy.

 

I thought you were replacing all your ball joints and steering parts??? So saving any of those 40 year old parts just ain't worth it. Just use a pickle fork and separate them that way. I beat on mine with a BFH to break them loose. Take out the cotter pin, undo the castle nut about 3 full turn, and punch it loose with a pickle fork. Easy.

 

I meant trying to keep the spindles New BJ's are in the bag ready to go in.

I guess the spindles are probably made with pretty strong steel and they won't break if i beat on them?

 

Spindles are cast steel. They are really tough. I beat the hell out of mine and no problem. If I had known that I was going to end up replacing everything though, it's faster and more convenient to borrow a pickle fork from partsource. Rob will say otherwise, but from experience?

Pickle fork good! Pickle fork FAST!
Pickle fork good! Pickle fork FAST!
Pickle fork good! Pickle fork FAST!

 

I just did mine with PF ($9.99 @ Advance Auto). BANG BANG BANG ....... POP. Just remember to loosen castle nuts but don't take them all the way off, until you are ready to remove the springs.

 

Pickle fork thingie BAD! Hammer GOOD!