Rambler American Front End Rebuild

I finally broke down and committed to replacing all the wear parts on the front end as they seem to be going one after the other.  I purchased the Kantor kit, it includes:

-lower ball joints

-outer tie rods

-stabilizer link kit

-strut bushing kit

-bushing, upper

-bushing (inner?)

-poly trunnion kit

With everything coming off, I might as well replace any wear parts and I noticed a few were missing:

-coil spring upper and lower rubbers/isolators

-coil spring bumpers

-sway bar bushings (most likely not in the kit because not all had a sway bar.

I'll get these from Kennedy

I do have a few questions.

-Does the trunnion kit eliminate the bearing that sits under it on the steering knuckle pin? Does it need to be replaced, or left in place with the new kit? (I didn't see bearings when I opened the box but obviously will open the package fully to double-check)

-Am I missing any other rubbers or wear parts?  I did grab a new pair of shocks as well.

Thanks

That's a thrust bearing and holds all the weight of the car. Without it the steering would be hard to turn and you'd wear the bottom of the trunnion housing... if it would go together correctly, which it won't. AMC used a sealed bearing, but there is a generic that works. IIRC it's slightly thicker and not sealed on the bottom, but keep it greased and any dirt keeps pushed out, and any water that goes up has to come down. I've been running that generic since I rebuilt my suspension in 2000. Was a daily driver for seven years with 5-7K a year on it, not driven so much now (maybe 2500-3000 a year). Bearing still works fine.

The rebuild kit is so expensive because of the upper trunnions. Did yours come with rebuilt trunnions or a big polyurethane bushing that goes in your existing housing? I think Kanter provides a refurbished trunnion, but they may have switched to the bushing. You cna't torque that bushing down as much as the TSM says -- it works differently than the original. Torque it down that much and it won't turn or turns very hard. Just snug the nut down, and you might want to use some loc-tite on it for peace of mind.