McGaughys Spindle Installation Questions

gr8ridn · Apr 3, 2012

I have decided to go with the McG Deluxe Kit.

My question to those who have done this install is what method was used to separate the ball joint studs and tie rod from the original spindle?

I was thinking penetrant soaking and striking the spindle with a hammer to loosen the taper fit. I would use heat if it became necessary (heat gun).

I keep hearing about ball joint separator tools but hope that isn't necessary. Don't want to use the pickle fork and damage the boots.

Thanks for any tips you learned from this job.

Trupiano · Apr 3, 2012

It's a new truck so it should be easy. Mine was very easy! Just needed a couple taps with a hammer. Penetrating oil wouldn't hurt either.

gr8ridn · Apr 4, 2012

Trupiano said:
It's a new truck so it should be easy. Mine was very easy! Just needed a couple taps with a hammer. Penetrating oil wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks for that. I got a HF ball joint separator just in case. I figure apply a bit of pressure to the stud and give the spindle a couple of raps with the 3 pound hammer with another hammer held against the other side should do it without damaging anything.

03lowram · Apr 4, 2012

The lower ball joint is a ***** my friend! Doesnt matter if the trucks new.. Or whatever. My truck had just over 5K miles on it when I did my drop. Pre soak all the nuts and bolts. Tie rods, ball joints, sway bar, and other stuff.. cant remember. Sorry im so tired right now. Dont use heat... Just hit that ***** with a hammer and wear ear muffs. lol. Your gonna need to use a pickle fork.. I did. I ****** up both of my boots, but just taped with back. Ill replace them later on.

The rear is so easy! If your on a time crunch. Do the front first.

gr8ridn · Apr 4, 2012

Hopefully the ball joint separator will help with that lower ball joint job. Thanks for the feedback. :wave:

WhiteExpress · Apr 4, 2012

I've never seen a ball joint separator used without ruining the boots. I have removed about 4 pairs of spindles (different vehicles) using nothing but a mini sledge.

knock the crap out if it. When that doesn't work.. KNOCK IT HARDER.
I don't think a heat gun will help much, it'll take a LOT to heat the spindle.

gr8ridn · Apr 4, 2012

I just found out the ball joint seperator will not fit this truck due to the very long tail piece of the ball joint. Looks like a BF hammer and if desperate the ole pickle fork. The soaking with penetrating oil has begun. Kit will be installed, I hope, early next week.

scotts2012ram · Apr 5, 2012

If u put the flat part of the fork against the boot and make shore not to pinch it. The boot should be fine use one all the time now I have one. I took the front end of my 95 gmc 1500 apart with a pry bar and bfh. Put the pry bar between the a-arm and spindle put little pressure on the bar. Then hammer on the spindle. Worked grate

gr8ridn · Apr 5, 2012

Actually I was planning to used the separator as a source of pressure while using a hammer. Now that the tool doesn't fit I will try a pry bar as suggested or pickle fork if the shock waves to the knuckle don't do it. Thanks for all the ideas.

Hopefully I will be reporting next week how well it worked out.

gr8ridn · Apr 8, 2012

I put in the kit yesterday. The ball joints were easy, a couple of strikes with a 3 pound hammer and they just popped off. I did find there was no clearance between the lower ball joint and McG spindle. I took a grinding wheel and a die grinder to the spindles at the point of interference and now all fits well. Of course this meant the first spindle had to be installed and removed twice. Even with that the front took about three hours.

The rear I read was super easy. Of course for my truck that wasn't the case. First I had to remove the rear calipers because the brake lines weren't long enough to drop and remove the springs. While I like the panard relocation bracket it didn't fit well, the 1/2" holes had to be reamed to line up. With all the monkeying around the rear took about as long as the front.

I won't be driving it till next week when I can get the front end aligned. Camber and toe are way off. I expected this with the component changes. I was a bit surprised with the difference in weight between the stock and McG spindles. I will have the get some miles in before I know if the added unsprung weight is an issue. It probably won't be noticed considering the wheels alone weigh around 100 pounds.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I think the pre-soaking with penetrating oil really helped make the ball joints easy. No special tools needed.

HemiBabe · Apr 8, 2012

Sweet! Any pics?

gr8ridn · Apr 8, 2012

I will post pictures later, the truck needs a good cleanup and I have a few other jobs before that.

Not sure what is involved to post pictures but I will get that figured out.

blackout11 · Apr 9, 2012

Weird you had to remove the cals on the back i dropped my rear with not 1 issue and the spring came right out

03lowram · Apr 9, 2012

Its amazing the weight difference in the factory spindle and mcgaughys huh?? lol

gr8ridn · Apr 9, 2012

blackout11 said:
Weird you had to remove the cals on the back i dropped my rear with not 1 issue and the spring came right out

Yep,
The right side line got tight first and the springs weren't ready to leave the house. Don't know why my lines were shorter than others, but there was no way to remove the springs without taking off the calipers and not causing damage. Build date on my truck is 1/17/2012. For some reason the upper left caliper bolt was blue locktited causing extra effort to remove it even after the bolt was backed off. In some ways these trucks are very individual.

gr8ridn · Apr 9, 2012

03lowram said:
Its amazing the weight difference in the factory spindle and mcgaughys huh?? lol

I weighed them and the McG's were 29 pounds each and the dodge aluminum were 15 pounds. I'm not saying my scale is the most accurate, but the relative difference is there.

Oh well, I knew going in I was increasing unsprung weight. Like they say, 15 lbs of unsprung weight has about the same effect on handling as 150 lbs of sprung weight. At least I should pick up some handling by lowering the CG. The Hellwig sway bars will help this as well.

03lowram · Apr 11, 2012

Im wanting to add a sway bar to mine as well.
How much do the Hellwig go for?

gr8ridn · Apr 11, 2012

For now I am trying the Hellwig rear with the stock front bar. The rear cost me $179.00 shipped from Amazon. They seemed to have a good price when considering what other dealers charged for the bars and shipping. This cost included free 2 day shipping and they were here 2 days later.

gr8ridn · Apr 12, 2012

Today I finally got a chance to align the front end and drive the new suspension a bit before the massive storm coming in.

Conclusion?

The truck drives straight and true. Much of the front width change has been reduced with proper alignment. Factory specs for caster, camber, and toe were reached. The actual ride is very slightly firm, but most agreeable. No rubbing on turns and the measured rear travel from at rest to modified the bump stop is almost 4 inches. I didn't want to cut the frame bump stop cups as suggested by McG so I could reverse the suspension to stock if desired or if required for best trade in. I really like the change in stance and retention of the excellent stock ride characteristics.

After a short jaunt around the lake I returned home to install the rear sway bar. I set it up in the middle end-link position and the difference around many of the mountain curves here was remarkable. The truck stayed very level through transitional turns and a slight understeer that was stock is now a slight oversteer at the limits. Much better control when hustling around curves with a more balance and forgiving feel. The sway bar in the rear was a VERY worthwhile addition. The truck is much more balanced in lateral weight transfers while driving mountain roads. No difference in ride comfort when simply highway driving. Next mod will be Bilstein shocks like my previous five trucks. That can wait a while. If you are thinking about a Hellwig rear sway bar I think you will really like how it tightens the handling when used with the factory front sway bar.

R

Firehawk · Jul 30, 2012

gr8ridn said:
Today I finally got a chance to align the front end and drive the new suspension a bit before the massive storm coming in.

Conclusion?

The truck drives straight and true. Much of the front width change has been reduced with proper alignment. Factory specs for caster, camber, and toe were reached. The actual ride is very slightly firm, but most agreeable. No rubbing on turns and the measured rear travel from at rest to modified the bump stop is almost 4 inches. I didn't want to cut the frame bump stop cups as suggested by McG so I could reverse the suspension to stock if desired or if required for best trade in. I really like the change in stance and retention of the excellent stock ride characteristics.

After a short jaunt around the lake I returned home to install the rear sway bar. I set it up in the middle end-link position and the difference around many of the mountain curves here was remarkable. The truck stayed very level through transitional turns and a slight understeer that was stock is now a slight oversteer at the limits. Much better control when hustling around curves with a more balance and forgiving feel. The sway bar in the rear was a VERY worthwhile addition. The truck is much more balanced in lateral weight transfers while driving mountain roads. No difference in ride comfort when simply highway driving. Next mod will be Bilstein shocks like my previous five trucks. That can wait a while. If you are thinking about a Hellwig rear sway bar I think you will really like how it tightens the handling when used with the factory front sway bar.

R

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