BJ Spacer Question?
 

Yes I searched this website first and I was wondering what all goes into installing bj spacers, when I look @ Roger Brown it sayes to remove the ball joints, which I am guessing is the bottom ball joint, in my mannual it sayes to remove the streeing knuckle which I think is not necessary because you have to remove the hubs and the rotor to get to themI know you have to grind out part of the a arm but what else is there to do? Thanks

Try here http://sdori.com/SDORS%20spacer%20page.htm

anyone done this before? how long did it take?

are there any complete write ups on this process? i would hate to pay someone to do mine. i looked at the above link and the pics suck and it doesnt do a very good job of explaining what to do.

there are some bolts holding the upper balljoint..... heres how to do it..... you jack up the vehicle side you are working on, let the wheel hang above the ground, now let the frame sit on a jackstand... remove the jack... place jack under the lower control arm and jack up, once the suspension is under pressure and all travel is out.... remove the upperballjoint.... slowly release pressure on the jack so the wheel slowly droops down.... put the spacer in between the upper balljoint and the balljoint and reverse removal process..... all done.....

not trying to hijack, but i'm getting ready to order a set from roger and was wondering if someone could post some pics of there's installed

bj's
 

its pretty easy...maybe a few hours with a buddy

let me know if you have questions..i just did mine last weekend

Hill61@telus.net

Looks like your tires come real close to rubbing the UCA or is it just the camera angle?

Mine took forever BUT... that was because I decided to do pretty much the whole front end. It was one of those jobs where one thing kept leading to another. I did control arm bushings (upper and lower), tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arm rebuild, new shocks and steering stabilizer, plus the spacers. I also spent ALOT of time cleaning up parts and sanding and painting stuff. Since it's not my DD I could afford to take my time though. I think you could do it pretty quickly if you are just placing the spacers. Personally I would remove the torsion bars and pull the whole upper arm off the truck to do the cutting every time. I can't imagine trying to do it with the arm still on the rig. I'll try to get some pics but not sure if I'll have time soon.

I wouldn't take off the t-bars if I could help it. Those things are a pain to get back in.

A die grinder should take care of the UCA trimming on the truck pretty easy. Maybe you can trim the spacers easyer than the UCA.

I had more trouble getting them off in the first place than re installing them. I think it had more to do with the fact that none of that stuff appeared to have been touched for the 19 year life of the truck. Now everything is nice and clean and lubricated and if I don't let it slide for another 20 years I should be in good shape. Thank goodness I don't live in a rust belt area.

When I took my t-bars off I didn't have a bodylift, it may be easyer now with a little extra room from a bodylift. I made the mistake of getting the indexing one tooth off and got the t-bar jamed up. It was a real fight to get it unstuck so I could get it on right.

ok so all that helps thanks but what about the trimming of the UCA, what should I use? I have an agle grinder with a griding wheel , will that work I heard I need a cut off wheel what is that?

I just used a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a wheel for metal. I had to putz with it for a while to make it smooth and pretty, but it went easily enough. I could see wanting to use something smaller if you plan on leaving the control arm on the vehicle. That's one reason I didn't mind pulling the t bars. I was able to walk completely around my work. Besides, I had to in my case anyway because I was doing the UCA bushings. As a side benefit my t bars got got thoroughly cleaned, lubed and the torque arms and anchor arms got cleaned sanded and a nice shiny coat of paint.

sdori's site has a writeup of the trim process

The Ball Joint spacer install is pretty straight forward. The instructions are not too bad at explaining the process but I'll tell you from doing several sets now I wish I would have taken some pictures so I could post them and show you how easy it really is. You will need a cut-off wheel and if you take your time it still shouldn't take you but a couple minutes after you take out the old BJ. You may unbolt the CV, shock and pull the entire spindle out of the way. If you do that it will make it much easier to get in there with the cut-off wheel. Alot depends on if you are using a lift or floor jack and stands. If the BJ spacers are all you will being then you should be able to do the entire job in less than 2hours and that's if you go real slow. Hope this helps...........

I feel the same way, wish I had taken pics... but I was solo and it would have been: stop work, wash hands, take pic, check pic, back to work... stop work etc. Here are some I just took with everything all done.

http://img254.echo.cx/img254/5741/dsc009829dz.gif

http://img254.echo.cx/img254/9282/dsc009859tg.gif

http://img254.echo.cx/img254/7893/dsc009863hn.gif

http://img254.echo.cx/img254/6458/dsc009875su.gif

http://img254.echo.cx/img254/6571/dsc009881xn.gif

Looks great! I am sure the others will appreciate the photos.

Yeah great pics. :great:

Quick Question, if I install the BJ spacers... Which I probably will soon... Should I do the BJ spacers and the Rear Coil Spring Spacers at the same time? Or could I just do 1 and then the other, or does it even matter?