Hello all,

I am in the planning process for a major upgrade to my ’86 245’s suspension and braking components. It currently handles “like poop,” shall we say, and with 275K, its time again for some new parts.

The problems are:
My P-brake doesn’t work properly at all (even though I have tightened the breath out of it, and the lever feels very firm, it won’t hold much at all), my shocks and struts are dead, my brakes work moderately well but whine when they are used and hot, and PA state inspection attempts from the local garages have told me I that need to replace my front brake hoses and my lower right ball joint is bad.

So my plan is to divide the work into front and rear axel groups:
Rear:
New brake hoses ($9/ea)
New rotors/drum (ATE or Zimmerman?)
New parking brake shoes and whatever other parts may be required
New brake pads (PBR or whatever)
New shocks (Boge Turbo Gas, already purchased)

Front:
New tie rod ends, both sides ($8/ea)
New ball joints, both sides ($15/ea, 1 already purchased)
New steering rack boots
New struts (again, Boge Turbo Gas, already purchased)
New vented rotors (ATE or Zimmerman or whatever)
New brake hoses (already purchased)
New brake pads (PBR)

So now the question is, does any of this make sense to you guys? I have done my best to read all that I can from previous posts, and shop around for the best prices and whatnot. What advice do you have for things like brands of rotors, other repairs I should do at the same time, etc.? Any more resources for how to actually do all of this (aside from the obvious: Bentlely, Haynes, old posts)? Thanks a ton…

-colbi