Front Suspension - Chrysler Stratus RHD 1999 Electronic Service Manual

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DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
BALL JOINT (FRONT UPPER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
BALL JOINT (LOWER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
FRONT SUSPENSION SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
HUB AND BEARING (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
LOWER CONTROL ARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
SHOCK ASSEMBLY (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
STABILIZER BAR (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
STEERING KNUCKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
UPPER CONTROL ARM (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . 10
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING
BALL JOINT (FRONT UPPER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
BALL JOINT (LOWER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
HUB AND BEARING (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
LOWER CONTROL ARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SHOCK ASSEMBLY (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
STABILIZER BAR (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
STEERING KNUCKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
UPPER CONTROL ARM (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . 11
SERVICE PROCEDURES
LUBRICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION
HUB AND BEARING (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
FRONT SUSPENSION SYSTEM
This vehicle's front suspension is a short long arm
design used in conjunction with a gas pressurized
shock absorber and coil spring assembly.
The upper control arm of the vehicle is mounted
using rubber isolation bushings to an aluminum cast-
ing which is attached to the shock tower using 4
mounting bolts. This aluminum casting is also used
as the upper mount for the front shock/coil spring
assembly. The shock absorber assembly is also iso-
lated from the aluminum bracket using a 2 piece rub-
ber bushing design. The lower control arm is
mounted to the vehicle's front suspension crossmem-
ber using 2 through bolts per control arm. The lower
control arm is also isolated from the vehicle using 2
rubber bushings of unique design for the front and
rear mounting location. The bottom of the shock
absorber is mounted to the lower control arm by a
clevis bracket which is part of the shock absorber
assembly. The clevis bracket is mounted to and iso-
lated from the lower control arm using a rubber iso-
lation bushing and a through-bolt. The front steering

FRONT SUSPENSION

INDEX
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DISASSEMBLY AND ASSEMBLY
SPECIFICATIONS
SPECIAL TOOLS
knuckle is mounted to the vehicle by a ball joint
located in the upper and lower control arms. Steering
of the vehicle is provided by a rack and pinion steer-
ing gear which is connected directly to the steering
knuckle by an outer tie rod.
lowing components: A rubber isolated top mount, an
upper spring seat, upper control arm/shock absorber
bracket, jounce bumper, dust shield, coil spring,
lower spring seat and the shock absorber clevis
bracket.
attached to the front steering knuckle. The outer C/V
joint assembly is splined to the front hub and bear-
ing assembly and is retained by a nut, nut retainer
and cotter pin.
SHOCK ASSEMBLY (FRONT)
vehicle is supported by coil springs positioned around
shock absorbers. The springs are contained between
an upper seat located in the upper mounting bracket
and a lower spring seat on the shock absorber.
LOWER CONTROL ARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
SERVICE WARNINGS AND CAUTIONS . . . . . . . 12
SHOCK ASSEMBLY (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
STABILIZER BAR (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
STEERING KNUCKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
UPPER CONTROL ARM (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . 24
WHEEL MOUNTING STUDS (FRONT) . . . . . . . . 29
BALL JOINT SEAL BOOT (FRONT UPPER) . . . . 34
BALL JOINT SEAL BOOT (LOWER) . . . . . . . . . . 34
CONTROL ARM CLEVIS BUSHING . . . . . . . . . . 38
LOWER CONTROL ARM FRONT ISOLATOR
BUSHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
LOWER CONTROL ARM REAR ISOLATOR
BUSHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
SHOCK ASSEMBLY (FRONT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
STABILIZER BAR BUSHING (FRONT) . . . . . . . . 39
FRONT SUSPENSION FASTENER TORQUE
SPECIFICATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
FRONT SUSPENSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The front shock absorber assembly includes the fol-
A sealed for life front hub and bearing assembly is
The front shock assembly and suspension of the
SUSPENSION 2 - 9
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