How to Rebuild the Front Suspension on your 1997-1999 OBS 4X4: Step by Step

[1998Suburban]

Any keywords you can think of that would have made it easier to find? How much rust did you have to contend with on the 'hoe?

 

[jiggie]

Awsome write up!!! This has given me some ideas on how to replace most of this stuff. Im replacing all my front end stuff so i wont be pressing out anything other than the torson bars. Questions for ya, 1. What brake rotors and pads did you use and where did you get them 2. Whats the difference between the hd torson bars and non hd bars and 3. Those notches you said to knock out in the upper control arm mounts what are we doing that for?


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[dkknaebel]

I'm gonna bookmark this. It's our project this weekend. Thankfully my truck has only seen red clay, it looks like rust but is just mud/clay.

 

[1998Suburban]

Jiggie:
-Brake pads are the ceramic pads from AutoZone, rotors are Centric brand that I picked up from Amazon.
-HD torsion bars have a higher spring rate. With extra weight on the front (snow plow, etc) the front end wouldn't be as far down. They also prevent the front end from porpoising on uneven roads with big dips, which is why I installed them. Ride quality isn't really affected as compared to the softer torsion bars.
-Removing the knock outs in the frame gives the alignment shop more range to set the front end alignment.

Dkknaebel: How did your front end rebuild go? Any additional issues that you ran into.

 

[dkknaebel]

Our rebuild went well. The biggest issue we ran into was the ball joints being different than what we expected. The hubby said he should have jacked it up and looked at the lowers but with my LCA being stamped, it should've used pressed in joints. Nope, riveted ones. And getting those hot pressed rivets out was...well I think my hearing is still damaged from the air chisel/hammer. My sway bar stabilizer snapped on the left side, so we just replaced those and my truck runs great. I'm getting my alignment tomorrow so the toe should be correct then.

 

[1998Suburban]

Glad it worked out well . Interesting yours had the older style LCAs. I guess GM was hesitant to throw away anything that was still usable. What's the build date on yours?

 

[4myfreedom]

Are the two door lower control arms different from 4 door?


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[Squirrelsmith]

I too am just pointing in a general direction! Guess its time for some work

 

[1998Suburban]

Squirrelsmith: Did you start on your front end rebuild?

4myfreedom: According to the Hollander the same LCAs were used on the 4X4 2 dr & 4 dr. 512-1195L and R.

 

[Squirrelsmith]

Just did this too. Thanks for the write up!