1968 Coronet Spindle removal and replacement

[twinzaks]

I am new to this site and new to mopars. Having been a 59-64 GM guy for 20 years, i just bought a 1968 Coronet, an original 91,000 mile car from AZ. i need to change the front spindle out and was wondering if i could get some advise on doing so. i realize that these cars do not have a loaded front coilspring like i am used to work on the GM's, but need to know what i need to do to safely change the front spindle. (or where to relieve the torsion tension?)

thanks for any help.

 

[D575]

Jack it up under the control arm and have at it. Jack it under the crossmember. let the suspension hang, loosen the upper ball joint nut, break it loose from the spindle, dont remove the nut yet. now jack under the control arm . the lower ball joint is 2 bolts . remove those and remove the spindle.
Oh yeah, you have to remove the brake drum and hardware first . unless you have discs .

Somebody will come along and explain it better . Piece of cake.

 

[Cranky]

I've done it that way before too....but only used a floor jack under the lower control arm. The most safest way is to unscrew the torsion bar. If you do that, clean, clean, clean and lube the adjuster bolt well before you try to unscrew it and jack up the car with the cross member letting the suspension drop all the way...ie, no load on the torsion bar. There's still some load on it at that point but not so much. It's pretty much like a coil system only it's horizontal and uses an adjustment screw to unload it instead of a spring compressor.

 

[moparmarks]

The T-bar front end is probably the easiest to work on next to the McP. strut.
As stated before you can change the spindle under loaded conditions like with the coil spring suspension.
Or like stated you can un-load the LCA by the T-bar adjuster bolt in the LCA. This is the safer way but will have to re-set the height so take some measurement before hand.

 

[D575]

If you go the route where you loosen the torsion bar lube it up real good. depending on the condition of the bolt. it may gall on you, then you'll be running around town looking for another one. Mine are tight as hell, I should have replaced them and put them back with anti seize. but I wanted to get the car back on the road as soon as I could.

 

[twinzaks]

thank you all