Rear Suspension progress
Work has been steadily progressing on the rear suspension. I finally finished up all the bushing work on the rear subframe and the trailing arms and have bolted the subframe back up under the car.
Taking a step back, here's how the work went:
Getting the suspension assembly out from under the car was no easy task; it was also a precarious balance to have the differential sitting on the floor jack and being the sole pivot point on which the whole assembly was balanced once all the fastenings were removed.
Once the assembly was off the car, I supported it additionally using two jackstands on the two ends of the crossmember which was actually quite stable. So, now it was time to rip stuff apart.
Off I went to Home Depot and got me a good ole propane blow-torch. This proved to be an absolute miracle-instrument. All I had to do was heat the outer end of each side of the crossmember and keep prying at the lower flange of the original bushing with a big screwdriver until there was a bit of movement (you have to heat for quite a while to get there). Once the rubber was "sizzling" (and stinking like crazy) and there was movement, I was able to place the big screwdriver on top of the metal center of the bushing and give it a few taps with a rubber mallet, which caused the bushing to drop right out.
The trailing arm bushings came out almost the same way, except that they had to, of course, be pulled out the side of each trailing arm (there are two on each side).
Once the metal had cooled, it was quite easy to put the new bushings on, since the new ones were poly-eurathane and didn't need to be press-fitted. The silicone grease that came with the trailing arm bushings was really effective in silencing what would have otherwise been a real "squeak orchestra". Once the trailing arms were bolted back into place, it was time to put the rear supension assembly back on to the car.
In trying to do so, I noticed that the main crossmember would not go up quite all the way, although the bushings were properly in place. It finally turned out that there is a big flat washer on top of each subframe bushing, which was slightly too small for the shaft that passes through it.
I was a bit stumped at first, but once I figured it out, it was just a matter of taking each of the washers and filing out the hole a bit. That's about all for now, stay tuned for more!
P.S. I'm on a different computer now, I promise I'll have pictures up soon.
Taking a step back, here's how the work went:
- Remove wheels
- Remove rotors
- Remove parking brake cable assembly
- Disconnect hydraulic lines for rear brakes
- Remove the 4 nuts that hold the drive shaft to the differential
- Remove differential mounting bolt from rear of differential
- Remove rear suspension assembly from the car
Getting the suspension assembly out from under the car was no easy task; it was also a precarious balance to have the differential sitting on the floor jack and being the sole pivot point on which the whole assembly was balanced once all the fastenings were removed.
Once the assembly was off the car, I supported it additionally using two jackstands on the two ends of the crossmember which was actually quite stable. So, now it was time to rip stuff apart.
Off I went to Home Depot and got me a good ole propane blow-torch. This proved to be an absolute miracle-instrument. All I had to do was heat the outer end of each side of the crossmember and keep prying at the lower flange of the original bushing with a big screwdriver until there was a bit of movement (you have to heat for quite a while to get there). Once the rubber was "sizzling" (and stinking like crazy) and there was movement, I was able to place the big screwdriver on top of the metal center of the bushing and give it a few taps with a rubber mallet, which caused the bushing to drop right out.
The trailing arm bushings came out almost the same way, except that they had to, of course, be pulled out the side of each trailing arm (there are two on each side).
Once the metal had cooled, it was quite easy to put the new bushings on, since the new ones were poly-eurathane and didn't need to be press-fitted. The silicone grease that came with the trailing arm bushings was really effective in silencing what would have otherwise been a real "squeak orchestra". Once the trailing arms were bolted back into place, it was time to put the rear supension assembly back on to the car.
In trying to do so, I noticed that the main crossmember would not go up quite all the way, although the bushings were properly in place. It finally turned out that there is a big flat washer on top of each subframe bushing, which was slightly too small for the shaft that passes through it.
I was a bit stumped at first, but once I figured it out, it was just a matter of taking each of the washers and filing out the hole a bit. That's about all for now, stay tuned for more!
P.S. I'm on a different computer now, I promise I'll have pictures up soon.