Front suspension done

Here are all the parts for the sway bar link.  I have two of these to do.

Here is where the sway bar link goes.  Looks like it should be easy enough.

Or maybe it will not be.  That is not lining up very well.

Jacking up the axle got things in position.  Then I installed the hardware and repeated the operation on the other side.

Next are the shocks.  NAPA had them in stock.

I screwed up when I went hardware shopping and forgot to get the nuts that mount the upper end of the shock.  So I fished out the two best original nuts and used them.  One is like new, the other is decidedly not.  I will pick up new ones soon.

The shocks fit perfectly and went in with no trouble.

The final step was to crawl around and verify every single nut an bolt was tight and all cotter pins installed.

I put the wheels back on and lowered the car.  It might be my imagination but it seems like the front of the car is sitting a little higher than before.  That might be the new shocks.

Here are all the old rubber and hardware bits.  This all went straight into the trash.

Next step was a test drive.  The car is much, much quieter over bumps and seems to handle a lot better.  The difference in the rear shocks vs. the front shocks is very noticeable.  When we got back I took a picture of the Jeep with my Simplicity 717 lawn tractor.  Both were made in 1967 and both are 50 years old this year.  The Jeep has more power but the tractor has a better shifter…

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