Suspension Parts Woes

[Calmg0d]

Greetings forum. I'm trying to swap out my suspension for the 2000 S and have almost all of my parts. I'm waiting for partsgeek.com to figure out where my lower control arms are since they show as being shipped but FedEx is still waiting. Then to make it even better, partsgeek sent me an email with a return authorization telling me to send the parts back to them! I still don't have the damn parts!

I know we're sponsored by pelican parts but have you had good/bad luck with any particular supplier? I've found the same parts, same manufacturer, for so many different prices it's hard to keep track. Who should I go to in order to get future parts?

Second question is do any of you have any tips and hints for keeping the alignment somewhat straight until I get it to the shop for alignment.

Thanks for your help.
Cheers!
Thom

[NewArt]

You can do a string alignment to get you to the shop. Otherwise it may be undrivable!

[Calmg0d]

Originally Posted by NewArt

You can do a string alignment to get you to the shop. Otherwise it may be undrivable!

I planned on taking pictures of the threads that are present, and I also was going to use a sharpie so I can attempt to get everything back to where it was.

So what is the string alignment? I'll check out the Google machine to see if I can find out more.
Thanks
Thom

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by Calmg0d

Greetings forum. I'm trying to swap out my suspension for the 2000 S and have almost all of my parts. I'm waiting for partsgeek.com to figure out where my lower control arms are since they show as being shipped but FedEx is still waiting. Then to make it even better, partsgeek sent me an email with a return authorization telling me to send the parts back to them! I still don't have the damn parts!

I know we're sponsored by pelican parts but have you had good/bad luck with any particular supplier? I've found the same parts, same manufacturer, for so many different prices it's hard to keep track. Who should I go to in order to get future parts?

Second question is do any of you have any tips and hints for keeping the alignment somewhat straight until I get it to the shop for alignment.

Thanks for your help.
Cheers!
Thom

Most important thing is to jack up the car evenly as possible & level so that the triangular sheet aluminum plate in the rear comes off & back on easily. If you don't you will have to do a lot of prying to install it.

[Traco]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

Most important thing is to jack up the car evenly as possible & level so that the triangular sheet aluminum plate in the rear comes off & back on easily. If you don't you will have to do a lot of prying to install it.

I’ve never been able to get mine on and off easy even when lifted straight up.

I’ve found running a ratchet strap through the rims and a slight bit of tension to pull them together and it drops right off. Same putting it back on.

Don’t go mad on it - just a little bit of tension.




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[Calmg0d]

Originally Posted by BYprodriver

Most important thing is to jack up the car evenly as possible & level so that the triangular sheet aluminum plate in the rear comes off & back on easily. If you don't you will have to do a lot of prying to install it.

I appreciate that hint. I've had that off before when I changed both transaxles and water pump & thermostat. I used a rubber mallet to get everything back into place.

One good thing is I have access to a variety of lifts so I can get the entire car up at the same time with or without pressure on the tires.

Thanks again.
Thom

[Geof3]

I’ve had hit and miss luck with partsgeek and the other big online company (the forum deleted the name). They ship from 92 different warehouses and sometimes I don’t think their systems talk to each other. Having said that, I’ve never had an issue with Pelican in over 20 years of using them.

[steved0x]

I've got the Pedro bar/technobrace and a side benefit is that it is always easy to get that plate on and off. The time I took it off before that bar i seem to recall I had to use a rubber mallet to "help" it along.

[Starter986]

Upon Pedro's site... the technobrace... not available for Tiptronic equipped vehicles.

Why? Anyone?

[Calmg0d]

Well, I changed the suspension stuff this past weekend. I wasn't able to take pictures because of the time crunch. I only had from 4-6 Friday and 9-5 on Saturday to use the lifts and tools because that's the only time the garage is open for the shade-tree mechanics.

It was fairly straight forward on getting everything out except for the front and the tie-rod ends; I couldn't get them to release from the wheel carrier at all. But finally replaced all four lower control arms, all four struts and front drop links.
All of that still DIDN'T solve my thumping issues. I figured the tire was so badly cupped it would be trash. After the alignment at Firestone, before I purchased two new rear tires, the dude told me that my bearing was jacked and ruined.
So I am now going to replace the bearings this weekend.

Does anyone want to help? LOL. I'd love some tips for this though. I have another thread that I'll be trying to update.
Cheers!