Suspension love for one that's been sitting?

[justinmc89]

Bought my '70 and it'd been sitting so after going through the fuel system/carbs, etc she runs great but now it's time to look at the other wear items like the suspension. I'm 90% the front shocks are gone/done. I can see fresh marks on the control arms where I've been hitting the bump stops just driving it around and there certainly isn't much/any "shock absorbtion" left. Car is not lowered, etc. So I'll probably just get some KYB's until I can properly invest in a full set of JT68's bilstein/spring combos. So that brings me to the real question. Should I tear the suspension apart and clean out/off all the old grease and gunk (the upper/lower ball joints look "wet" as do the pivots)? Most everything is full of just gunk in general old dried up grease and the stuff that's clung to it over the years, etc. Any suggestions for flushing out all the old grease and and just how much gunk should I have built up around all the pivots, etc? Best way to tell when a ball joint or the control arm pivots are in need of replacement?

[redroadster]

See how much play is in the load bearing ball (lower ) ball joints by unloading them. . a floor jack out near the wheel lifting the control arm and a 5ft prybar then with a dial indicator on the wheel to measure the play , pry with only 2 fingers litely
The other joints look for medium or slight play. .040 -.075. Okay

[JT68]

Thanks for the shout out Justin! If it has literally been sitting you may be OK- sitting doesn't wear out these suspensions and all the parts are encased in grease. If you tear it down, there will be a strong urge to replace much more than really needs to be replaced. I'd say grease up everything, wipe away the extra grease and just make sure everything moves freely- then address it all when you tear it down later. Why do it twice?

[mraitch]

Justin,

grease everything till you see 'new' grease emerging. that's the easiest way to 'flush'

[justinmc89]

Thanks for the input and the good point of not tearing it down only to have to tear it down again later!

Anyone ever used a grease fitting "flush" tool? My concern being that having sat the grease has dried and crusted up and probably attracted a bit of dust/dirt... figure it can't hurt to hit em with a little ATF and flush it before I flush it with fresh grease?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007T9ER5O/re ... FL7TY?th=1

[greydog]

The problem is that there isn't much room. Most of the fittings on the front end are at an angle to the axis of the pivot so, when you attach the impact tool and smack it hard, you actually put a lot of force sideways on the fitting.
They are small, soft and not very tough so you can actually push the fitting sideways or, if you don't watch, begin to strip it out of the suspension.
So, if you want to try using this, I'd suggest you get a few straight fittings that you can screw in place of the angled ones.
Dan