xi MacPherson Strut Front Suspensions. . . . . . . . . 78 Upper Strut Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Lower Strut Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Other MacPherson Strut Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 MacPherson Strut Variations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Conventional Independent Front Suspensions . . . 83 Short-Long Arm Suspension Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Conventional Suspension Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Solid and I-Beam Axle Front Suspensions. . . . . . 87 Ball Joints or Kingpins? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Solid Axle Front Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Twin I-Beam Axle Front Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Ball Joint Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 MacPherson Strut Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Conventional Suspensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Solid and Twin I-Beam Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Chapter 6 Front Suspension System Service . . . . . . 95 Checking the Front Suspension . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Suspension Part Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Cautions for Spring-Loaded Suspension Parts . . . . . 96 Checking Suspension Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Visual Inspection of Suspension Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Manual Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Checks with Measuring Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Replacing Front Suspension Parts . . . . . . . . . . 102 Check Replacement Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Strut Cartridge and Shock Absorber Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Ball Joint Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 Control Arms and Control Arm Bushing Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Solid and Twin I-Beam Axle and Bushing Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Strut Rod and Strut Rod Bushing Replacement . . .111 Stabilizer Bar and Bushing Replacement. . . . . . . . .111 Spring Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 Torsion Bar Replacement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Kingpin Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Chapter 7 Rear Suspension Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 119 The Job of the Rear Suspension . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Types of Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120 Solid Rear Axles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Non-Driving Axles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120 Driving Axles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Independent Rear Axles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Non-Driving Axles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 Driving Axles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Semi-Independent Rear Axle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Air Adjustable Rear Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Air Supply Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 Chapter 8 Rear Suspension System Service . . . . . 139 Checking the Rear Suspension . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Safety Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Checking Rear Suspension Parts . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Visual Inspection of Suspension Parts . . . . . . . . . . .140 Manual Inspection of Suspension Parts. . . . . . . . . .141 Inspecting Shock Absorbers and Strut Cartridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141 Checking Air Shock Absorbers and Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141 Replacing Rear Suspension Components. . . . . 143 Replacing MacPherson Struts and Shock Absorbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143 Replacing Control Arms and Stabilizer Bars. . . . . .145 Replacing Ball Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 Replacing Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149 Adding Helper Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152 Replacing Solid Rear Axle Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . .152 Servicing Air Shock Absorbers and Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154 Adding Air Shock Absorbers to a Vehicle . . . . . . . .155 Chapter 9 Steering Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 The Job of the Steering System . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Common Steering System Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Steering Wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160 Steering Columns and Shafts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162 Steering Arms and Ball Sockets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164 Types of Steering Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Steering Ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168 Rack-and-Pinion Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168 Conventional Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170