| 1. Jack the rear then the front of the
vehicle off the ground until the tires are ~ 2 inches off
the ground. Place jack stands under the rear axle and under
the frame rails on the front of the truck just behind the
front cab body mount arms. |
| 2. Be sure that the vehicle is resting
securely on the jack stands, then remove both front
tire/wheels from the truck. |
| 3. Using a pair of needle nose pliers remove the cotter
pin from the upper a-arm’s ball joint, save cotter pin for
re-installation. |
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| 4. Loosen ball joint nut until there is ~ a gap of
1/16” between the nut and the spindle arm. |
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| 5. With the small gap between the nut and the spindle
arm, strike the face of the spindle arm to release the taper
on the ball joint. The spring force in the strut will help
release the taper on the ball joint. Strike until the ball
joint taper releases and the spindle descends until it is
resting on the nut. |
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| 6. Remove the A.B.S. feedback wire and the brake line
from there body mounts so the lines are loose and will not
be stressed as you drop the lower control arm. |
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| 7. Place the floor jack below the lower control arm and
raise arm until the spring pressure is reduced and the
tapered ball joint is loose in the spindle arm. Remove the
nut from the ball joint, then lower the lower a-arm as the
ball joint slides out of the spindle arm. |
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| 8. Drop the lower arm enough to release the spring
tension in the strut and enough to remove the upper a-arm
ball joint from it’s taper. |
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| 9. Support the lower a-arm with the floor jack or by
strapping it to the shock tower so it does not droop out so
far that the A.B.S. and brake lines are stressed. |
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| 10. Remove the upper a-arm pivot bolt nut. |
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| 11. Remove the top plastic clips holding on the
body/frame mud skirts on both sides of the shock tower and
allow the skirts to fold down. |
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| 12. As you slide the upper a-arm pivot bolt forward you
will find that it interferes with the body’s inner/outer
fender well seam. |
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| 13. You must bend the lower rolled seam of
this joint out and away from the center of the truck. You
must only bend down the lip of this seam. When the lip of
this seam is bent down in the area the bolt will pass by,
slide the bolt forward. |
| 14. In order to slide this bolt all the way out, you may
need to drive it from the rear side of the truck using a
tapered punch and a ball peen hammer. It is not necessary
to drive it with hard strikes, just tap it forward. Make
sure that you have enough clearance with the body seam and
the bolt. Do not drive the bolt so far forward that it
contacts the radiator. |
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| 15. As the bolt clears the a-arm remove the upper a-arm. |
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| 16. Loosen the lower strut bolt/nut on the lower a-arm.
|
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| 17. Loosen all three upper strut bolt/nuts. Remove the
nuts from the bolts. |
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| 18. It is not necessary to remove the double
nutted upper shock mount. |
| 19. If you cannot droop the lower a-arms enough to
remove all spring compression in the strut, you may have to
compress the spring usings strut compressors (available for
rent at most auto parts stores. Use as directed by the
manufacturer. Using the floor jack to compress the spring
will make it easier to compress the strut springs. |
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| 20. By lifting or lowering the lower a-arm until there
is not shear load on the lower strut bolt, you will be able
to remove the bolt towards the rear of the vehicle. |
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|
21. Remove the strut from the lower mount point then the
upper mount point. |
| 22. If removal is difficult the sway bar can be
disconnected from the drag link on both sides of the truck
by removing the nut of the back side of the sway bar/lower
drag link joint., then rotate the sway bar out of the way.
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