Brakes are fine. It’s everything else. The lower control arms have rubber bushings that begin to crack around 100k. The 10” control arm through bolts seize into the body. Shops charge $1500-2000 to extract. Some shops simply refuse because they don’t have the know how. I wanted to do it at home and get some antiseize in there just in case something happens on the road and it needs to come apart. The bushings were also cracking. The Bilstein B6 struts are a solid, German unit. I could’ve got more time out of them, but it was less than $200 for the pair so I swapped them out while I’m in there. The upper strut bearings have had a more durable upgrade from Ford so they got replaced. The front end takes a lot of abuse in the back country….things wear out and break quicker. The van has 105,000. Struts aren’t that difficult to replace. It’s an afternoon job with a proper spring compressor. Although for morons it can be a dangerous task with that spring under a lot of pressure and much energy to release. Finally the ball joints. I just put in new ball joints last summer. One was already bad. No grease from the factory. Duh. Most of the stranded folks I’ve encountered in the desert or mountain back country have had suspension related failures. Just trying to stay ahead of the game.
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spin_dry ·
