[Nvts]

I was about to start to remove my trailing arm now that the semester is over, and I recall seeing some tricks when I looked into it a couple months ago. I can't seem to find the thread(s). I'm sure my worst issues will be dealing with the rust.

Take a peek at this, and see if I missed anything important, especially noting when I need to mark something for reassembly ( My half shafts, rotor, and brake calipers are already out )

1. Lift and support car.
2. Order new rear bushing set. 'Since I'm in the area' (First thought poly, think I'm back to a rubber set.)
3. Soak all bolts a couple times a day for a week or two with PB.
4. Place floor jack under leaf spring bolt and raise up a ways
5. Place a chain around the leaf spring and xmember. Clamp chain
6. Remove spring bolt
7. Lift leaf spring, remove chain, remove jack
8. Remove upper shock bolt
9. Remove lower shock bolt, and shock
10. Mark and Remove strut bolt (Trailing arm should be rotate-able at this point, right?)
11. Soak Trailing arm bolt another week with PB
12. Remove shims, and mark location
13. Remove frame bolt. Curse that it's rusted solid.
14. Find someone with a sawsall and buy a dozen blades for it and cut it off.
15. Take them to Gary's shop in North Austin.
16. Send arm to Van Steel who works magic.

Did I miss anything other then taking lots of pictures, and inserting places to curse? :laughing:

 

[gtr1999]

Read my stick post above on how they shouldbe rebuilt if you want the best job done.

I want to clearify this is not a flame on anyone in particular but rather general info for the owner ask some questions on how the job is done to whom ever he uses. A lot of places "rebuild" units but the work is not done all the same.

 

[80VetteGuy]

Send all of mine to Van Steel. One set has been on for over 15 yrs and going strong.

 

[lsejlowe]

I was about to start to remove my trailing arm now that the semester is over, and I recall seeing some tricks when I looked into it a couple months ago. I can't seem to find the thread(s). I'm sure my worst issues will be dealing with the rust.

Take a peek at this, and see if I missed anything important, especially noting when I need to mark something for reassembly ( My half shafts, rotor, and brake calipers are already out )

1. Lift and support car.
2. Order new rear bushing set. 'Since I'm in the area' (First thought poly, think I'm back to a rubber set.)
3. Soak all bolts a couple times a day for a week or two with PB.
4. Place floor jack under leaf spring bolt and raise up a ways
5. Place a chain around the leaf spring and xmember. Clamp chain
6. Remove spring bolt
7. Lift leaf spring, remove chain, remove jack
8. Remove upper shock bolt
9. Remove lower shock bolt, and shock
10. Mark and Remove strut bolt (Trailing arm should be rotate-able at this point, right?)
11. Soak Trailing arm bolt another week with PB
12. Remove shims, and mark location
13. Remove frame bolt. Curse that it's rusted solid.
14. Find someone with a sawsall and buy a dozen blades for it and cut it off.
15. Take them to Gary's shop in North Austin.
16. Send arm to Van Steel who works magic.

Did I miss anything other then taking lots of pictures, and inserting places to curse? :laughing:

looks to me like you've got a pretty good handle on things. Since you're doing a complete rebuild it won't be as key to mark your strut cam bolt and shims. You'll need a good alignment when it's all said and done anyway. Don't be too scared of all that rust. If you're really patient and soak everything once or twice a day with WD-40 or PB for a couple weeks you should be alright. :thumbsup:

When you're removing your shocks you might want to jack the arm up just a tad bit so the weight of it isn't supported by the shock. It'll make it a bit easier to pull out.

The outer shock mount bolt (the L shaped one) gave me a lot of trouble. That's another good place to soak while you're at it. They make special "removal tools" for 'em, but I'm pretty sure they're just charging and arm and a leg for a long nut. I ended up twisting mine in the process and ruining the D. Had to get new ones.

Good luck, it looks like you've already got a lot done!

 

[Mattydale]

...
The outer shock mount bolt (the L shaped one) gave me a lot of trouble. That's another good place to soak while you're at it. They make special "removal tools" for 'em, but I'm pretty sure they're just charging and arm and a leg for a long nut. I ended up twisting mine in the process and ruining the D. Had to get new ones....

It's not just a long nut... it bottoms out on the shock support, transfers the energy to the end of the threaded part, and therefore protects the threads from damage.... so you don't ruin an expensive part.

 

[lsejlowe]

It's not just a long nut... it bottoms out on the shock support, transfers the energy to the end of the threaded part, and therefore protects the threads from damage.... so you don't ruin an expensive part.

that makes sense, but couldn't you achieve nearly the same thing with 2 or 3 nuts threaded on back to back? Just tighten them on one after the other and it'll transfer through all of 'em. Not sure what the tool sells for, but a few extra nuts won't run you much... JMHO

 

[Nvts]

Since we all like pictures....

Step 6... Remove spring bolt

Here we go! Lifted it up to see what happens. Took a lot of lift for the rust to let go and the bolt to slide up. Blew out some rust, move the jack over and started working.

I pulled and pushed and grunted and pulled and nothing was happening, so I got the bolt red hot to burn the rust off and after more really hard pulling, I got the bolt out

My next question was if these bushing holders come out. Looking at the pictures, I think they are supposed to. Hard to tell, they are rusted solid into the frame, so it looks like one piece...

One bolt down. Hard to believe I get happy about getting one bolt off, but with the rust and past experiences still haunting me, the ~2 hours I spent on it seemed quick.

 

[Mattydale]

that makes sense, but couldn't you achieve nearly the same thing with 2 or 3 nuts threaded on back to back? Just tighten them on one after the other and it'll transfer through all of 'em. Not sure what the tool sells for, but a few extra nuts won't run you much... JMHO

Nope. The pressure is transmitted to the threads instead of the core of the shock support through the center. With just nuts, the threads take all of the force.

 

[mrvette]

Those steel springs have one hell of an arch, I find the easy way is to just get it far enough in the air...say 12-15" and cut with sawzall...let the spring snap...same for other side, hell with it....obviously stay the hell outta the way...duh....

:WTF :cheers:

 

[Nvts]

More bolts, so more Pics.

Step 8
Remove upper shock bolt
Step 9
Remove lower shock bolt, and shock


These two bolts were not too bad at all, compared to others that have come off. Getting one bolt chock full of 40 years of rust is always a good day, getting two is almost unheard of.

But, the shock came out.

Tomorrow night, the strut!
Well, I hope, at least.

 

[Trae1976]

Tomorrow night, the strut!
Well, I hope, at least.

Looks about like mine did. Hope you have an adequate supply of beer.

Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[75GlassShark]

Man, I remember those days (and will get reaquainted here soon) with all the rust on everything. Makes you wonder if rust is a better bonding agent than some of the glues we use.


Keep up the good work man, and definitely get some beer cold for the project.

Josh

 

[Nvts]

Nope. The pressure is transmitted to the threads instead of the core of the shock support through the center. With just nuts, the threads take all of the force.

So how does this thing work? it sure looks just like a nut to me

As can be expected, mines rusted solid. It does not even look like two separate parts


Edit:

So, since I am really attempting to get this thing off this weekend, anyone have a hint of the best way to get the shock mount out? Does the 'bolt' turn inside the holder? Looking at a pic of a new one, it appears that there is a flat side, so it's hard to tell if I can try to spin it out.

ReEdit

Tried to use the little sledge on this thing, and the torch. it's stuck tight as can be. I'm kind of at a loss of how to continue at this point.


ReReEdit:

Well, half an hour with the torch, and a bigger hammer did indeed work. the bolt isn't quite reusable I don't think, but at least it's out. Tomorrow..... The hard bolt.

 

[Nvts]

More Pictures. We all like pictures, right?




Well, after some torching and working, I did get the strut nut off, so now the bolt should slide right out. right?

Yeah.

20-30 minutes with the propane torch melting the rust, and 10 - 15 minutes with the big 4 pound hammer later however, it did indeed come out . I found out that there is a tube inside the mount that the bolt goes down. Interesting.


Today, I tackle the rough one, the trailing arm mounting bolt itself.

 

[gtr1999]

The tube is part of the strut rod bushing. There are 2 flanged head washers up in the bracket end of the Stut Rod. Be sure you get new ones and place them there when you re-assemble them. The bushings need to be replaced from the looks of them.
You have a fair amount of rust so look over that arm real good for rot, trailing arm jobs go up quick in price when arms or spindles are needed. Don't use cheap bearings or parts or it will come back to you.
Those shock mounts are gone as well. There is also a special bolt and washer for the shocks, be sure to use them. The 1/2 shaft flanges should be retained by French Locks. The GM locks are not too good and start to twist at 50 ft/lbs. I have great SS locks that will stay put at 70-80 ft/lb, if you need them.
Look at the frame pocket when you get the bolt out. tape the old shims together and mark them inside/outside L&R.

 

[Nvts]

Well, it's out. It's one crappy job, though for me, it wasn't as bad as taking out the half shafts. I might be able have gotten those off better now that I know to torch the bolts longer then I did, but that was a total pain.

Before the sawing begins...

The Shims. I saw some posts saying to just take a slim crowbar type thing and pry those things out before sawing. Are these the right kind of shims? The big ones are like 1/8 inch thick. The little ones are about paper thin, and I had both on the outer side. The replacement ones I see online don't have a whole through like these, but a U shaped slot.

And, the bushing. What a hunk of junk.


But, now it's all done, and I can get it all fixed up. All this, just because my caliper rubs the rotor. :smack I sure hope that when I put this all back together, it won't rub anymore.

 

[Mattydale]

So how does this thing work? it sure looks just like a nut to me

As can be expected, mines rusted solid. It does not even look like two separate parts


Edit:

So, since I am really attempting to get this thing off this weekend, anyone have a hint of the best way to get the shock mount out? Does the 'bolt' turn inside the holder? Looking at a pic of a new one, it appears that there is a flat side, so it's hard to tell if I can try to spin it out.

ReEdit

Tried to use the little sledge on this thing, and the torch. it's stuck tight as can be. I'm kind of at a loss of how to continue at this point.


ReReEdit:

Well, half an hour with the torch, and a bigger hammer did indeed work. the bolt isn't quite reusable I don't think, but at least it's out. Tomorrow..... The hard bolt.

It's not just a nut... it is solid on one end. When it is screwed on tight, the solid end "bottoms" on the threaded part of the shock support/strut mount. This is how it protects the mount from damage. It can save you both time & money. I have the tool... after ruining one mount & snapping one spindle support eye off.

 

[gtr1999]

Looks like someone may have been in there. The arm is bent where the bushing is and the caliper bracket is probably bent as well if the caliper is hitting the rotor hat. Rebuilding those arms may be an expensive job if the normally reusable parts are NG.

With the arms out take a picture of every angle and post them for us to see. Is there signs the arm is bent as well, commonly from sliding into curbs.

 

[Nvts]

With the arms out take a picture of every angle and post them for us to see. Is there signs the arm is bent as well, commonly from sliding into curbs.

Will do.


Dad liked to drink a whole lot, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if he slid into a curb or three.

 

[big_G]

What-ever you do, modify the frame (add cotter pin holes) to accept the newer (slotted) alignment shims. The 2-hole shims are a nightmare for the alignment shops.:thumbsup: