Suspension Rebuild

[VX MileHigh]

I am at a crossroads; the front suspension components (upper and lower control arm, knuckle and calipers, among others) are very rusty. The question is do I take the front suspension apart and take a grinder to all of the parts and then spray them with rust converter. Or do I start looking for the parts in the local salvage yards clean them up and paint them? I have a small sand blasting cabinet that will handle most of the parts. I will replace bushings and ball joints as I put things bad together. I have been looking and it appears that Rodeo, Trooper and Ascender parts are interchangable. The only thing that I am concerned about is are there two different knuckle/spindles for 4X4?
I will very likely take the stabilizer off and clean it at the same time and put new bushings on at the same time. Basically, everything on the front suspension is going to be cleaned up. Then I will start to work on the rear suspension. So back to my question, does it make sense to spend a lot of time taking the rust off of the current parts are get ones that are not in as bad of shape. This by the way is more than simple surface rust, it is pretty scaled.

[VXorado]

This by the way is more than simple surface rust, it is pretty scaled.

I believe that's your answer. Used Isuzu parts are so cheap it's worth getting clean suspension parts for rebuilding.

I frequently visit the local pull & pay in Denver and they always have Troopers with VX matching IFS. I know the spindle should the be the same for the last gen Troopers (not sure for rodeos/axioms) and the only difference might be auto hubs vs. our TOD hubs.

Good luck.

[SilverBullet75]

Or, source your parts from the Southern-west states. (Desert climate).
I've been real surprised at how night and day the difference is in rust between the regions.

I can say I have almost NO rust on my VX.

[VX MileHigh]

I had kind of come to the conclusion that I was going to go with "new" parts because I can probably take the old off and put on "new" before I could get the other parts cleaned up. Where is the pull and pay that you go to VXorado? I know where there used to be some but I don't know if they are still around. There some down around the National Western complex that I went to years ago.

[VX MileHigh]

I spent the weekend under the VX and got most of the stuff done I had planned. However, the rust on the front suspension made it very difficult at best. I did get the left side ball joints replaced and the control arms cleaned up and painted. When I was taking the suspension apart, I discovered that the shocks were the original type with the heat exansion chamber. The sad part is that trying to take the right one off, the top mounting bolt snapped. The left side is nearly done, I have the upper ball joint on and the lower is unbolted and ready to come off, I just was too tired to finish Sunday night. I need to get new sway bar bushings and links and I should be able to put it all back together this evening. Then I have the hood insert to sand and repaint. I will have a nice vehicle when I get through with all of this work.

[VXorado]

I forgot to get back with you on the pull & pay lot. Its near the I-70 & US36 junction. Let me know if you ever want to make a trip, I'll join you if i'm free.

[VX MileHigh]

Another weekend working on my VX. When I replaced the ball joints and dropped it back down I discovered that I had a huge amount of negative camber. I spent most of this past weekend trying to remove the bolts from the upper control arm to remove shims and get rid of the negative camber. I was using a 25" breaker bar and I could get the bolts to break free, I could not get the bolts to come out. I tried using my impact wrench and that was about useless. I did get a few other things done that I needed to. I got the bumper brackets off and I have nearly gotten the hole in the front cladding done, I have to wet sand and put the final coat of bumper paint on it. I got the rear shocks installed and have the hood insert off, sanded, primed and painted. It needs a wet sand and a final coat of black satin paint. As I was taking the insert off, three of the studs broke off. I took the "daisies" off drilled out the stub and put news one. I am going to have the VX towed to the shop to have the alignment done because I wore myself out and smashed a couple of fingers in the process and without a bigger impact wrench I am not going to get the bolts out. The saga continues.

[VXorado]

I am going to have the VX towed to the shop to have the alignment done because I wore myself out and smashed a couple of fingers in the process and without a bigger impact wrench I am not going to get the bolts out. The saga continues.

I would flip the upper ball joints before getting the alignment. The flip causes positive camber.

[catskilljay]

I would flip the upper ball joints before getting the alignment. The flip causes positive camber.

what do you mean by flip?

[VXorado]

what do you mean by flip?

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles...p/Spacer_Howto

caused too much positive camber on my VX...

[Maddawg]

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles...p/Spacer_Howto

caused too much positive camber on my VX...

Nice article. I was wondering how to get around the close to nothing clearance with the bump stop. I had considered removing and re-welding.

[Maddawg]

http://www.planetisuzoo.com/articles...p/Spacer_Howto

caused too much positive camber on my VX...

Does the ball joint "flip" cause any change in suspension height? If you have done this, was there any problems with camber readjustment. I have a 3 inch lift so, just asking.

[Scott Larson]

Where did your VX come from originally? I'm assuming from the "Rust Belt". That damn metal-rot is a real PITA!

[VX MileHigh]

It came from Mississippi by way of Ohio. The frame and suspension are pretty rusty but the boby has almost none.

[H3_VX]

If you get new parts invest in some sort of undercoating before you install.