Front Suspension - Chrysler 1998 Voyager Service Manual

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DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
BALL JOINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
COIL SPRING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
FRONT SUSPENSION DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . 9
HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
LOWER CONTROL ARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Mc PHERSON STRUT ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . . . . . 10
STABILIZER BAR ATTACHING LINK . . . . . . . . . . 10
STABILIZER BAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
STEERING KNUCKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
SUSPENSION CRADLE (CROSSMEMBER) . . . . . 9
WHEEL MOUNTING STUDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING
BALL JOINT (LOWER) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
LOWER CONTROL ARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Mc PHERSON STRUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
STABILIZER BAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
STEERING KNUCKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION
FRONT SUSPENSION DESCRIPTION
An independent Mc Pherson Strut type front sus-
pension is used on these vehicles. Vertical shock
absorbing Mc Pherson Struts attach to the top of the
steering knuckle and to the front strut tower. This
interconnection between the steering knuckle and the
body of the vehicle, provides for the correct steering
knuckle position. This steering knuckle position pro-
vides for the correct front Caster and Camber set-
tings for the vehicle, at the time the vehicle is
designed.
Lower control arms are attached inboard to the
cast aluminum front suspension cradle and outboard
to the bottom of the steering knuckle. Attachment of
the lower control arm to the steering knuckle is done
through a ball joint in the lower control arm.
During steering maneuvers, the strut and the
steering knuckle (through the ball joint and a pivot
bearing in the strut's upper retainer) turn as an
assembly.
SUSPENSION CRADLE (CROSSMEMBER)
This vehicle uses a one piece cast aluminum cradle
for the front suspension. The cradle is used as the

FRONT SUSPENSION

INDEX
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SERVICE PROCEDURES
SUSPENSION CRADLE THREAD REPAIR
REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION
BALL JOINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
FRONT WHEEL MOUNTING STUDS . . . . . . . . . 28
HUB AND BEARING ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
LOWER CONTROL ARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Mc PHERSON STRUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
REAR WHEEL MOUNTING STUDS . . . . . . . . . . 29
STABILIZER BAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
STEERING KNUCKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
DISASSEMBLY AND ASSEMBLY
BALL JOINT SEAL BOOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
LOWER CONTROL ARM FRONT BUSHING . . . . 34
LOWER CONTROL ARM REAR BUSHING . . . . . 35
Mc PHERSON STRUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
STABILIZER BAR BUSHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
SPECIFICATIONS
FRONT SUSPENSION FASTENER TORQUES . . 36
SPECIAL TOOLS
FRONT SUSPENSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
attaching points for the lower control arms, stabilizer
bar and steering gear. The cradle also has the power
steering hoses and the chassis brake tubes attached
to it.
The cradle is mounted to the front frame rails at
four points, two on each side of the vehicle. The cra-
dle is isolated from the body of the vehicle using four
isolators, one located at each mounting bolt location.
WARNING: If a threaded hole in the suspension
cradle needs to be repaired, only use the type of
thread insert and installation procedure specified
for this application.
The threaded holes in the cradle that are
used for attachment of the lower control arm
rear bushing retainer, power steering hose and
chassis brake tubes can be repaired. The repair
is done by the installation of a Heli-Coil
thread insert which has been specifically devel-
oped for this application. Refer to the Mopar
Parts Catalog for the specified Heli-Coil thread
insert to be used for this application. The pro-
cedure for installing the Heli-Coil
insert is detailed in the Service Procedures sec-
tion in this group of the service manual.
PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SUSPENSION 2 - 9
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thread