I have read some posts and some books on trailing arm rebuilds. I have never done this before, and I want to redo the parking break assembly and bearing while I am at it. Would you recommend this for a newbie?

Would you recommend buying the tool to set the bearings correctly?

Thanks Again

 

www.bairs.com
When you get those trailing arms back with the new rotors riveted on (the only way to surface the rotor correctly), you won't believe how beautiful they look and might think twice about putting them back on the car.

Worth the money.

 

GTR1999 (Gary Ramadia) from the forum here rebuilt my arms, top to bottom and did an A CLASS job. He has some crates he can send you so you don't have to build any. I think the total cost was around 1200.00. I had a trashed spindle from a bearing that seized while driving, so I had some extra costs to acquire a new spindle.

I have access to an arbor press and the tools to do this job, but even my friend at a commercial alignment shop said it was not an easy job. Getting the bearing clearance set on an interference fit can be tricky and I thought that it best left to someone who has done hundreds of them. I replaced the rotors as well, and they must be under .003 run out or you will pump air into the brake caliper.

I think Gary's standard fee is around 800.00 for a set plus the shipping. Rotors and the spindle added to my bill.

I am do most my own wrenching, but this is a finicky job that must be done right. Pick your battles and farm this one out.

Mark

 

There are several tools that are required to do the job correctly, and even then, it takes some skill to set them up properly. I agree with the comments above - better to send them out and have them done, but - check the lateral clearance before you reinstall them to make sure they were set properly. I believe the spec is .002 to .008, and I would shoot for .002 to .004.

Bob

 

You can do this on your own - if you do decide to take this project on. If you're comfortable with your wrenching skills it's not too difficult, IMO. I bought all parts, including brand new spindles, and the spindle set up tool from Duntov Motor Supply. The set up tool can be used and sent back to Duntov, for a rental fee. Duntov also has a 'how to' article on their website that will help walk you through the procedure.

It sounds like you have a disc brake car. The information I have is that disc brake cars, because of the heat generated by the brake rotor, tends to 'weld' the inner/outer bearing races to the spindle shaft making it much more difficult to separate the assembly. In my case ('64, drum brake car) I was able to separate spindle and bearing races, on car, by use of a 3-jaw puller. The Duntov article mentions use of a 'spindle knocker', but I didn't use it. The trailing arm end will need to be secured if a spindle knocker is put to use. The only other way (after trailing arm removal) to remove a stubborn spindle/bearing assembly is with a serious force shop press.

After setting up the puller jaws on the trailing arm end just so, it still took some 'doing' - as in tighten bolt against spindle end and hammer whack the bolt end as a 'spindle knocker' for some extra force vibrations, to help things along. A bit 'bubba', but it got the job done. The 3-jaw puller (cheap POS) was expendable, anyway. In the process I think the bolt got bent a little bit. No big thing.............bend it back..............good as new! .. Haven't used it since.

The easy part of the job is reinstalling the inner/outer bearing(s) and spindle assembly. The bearing clearance will need to be set first, though. This is where the bearing set up tool comes into play. The set up tool acts as a sort of 'quasi' spindle for the new bearing assembly. For reinstallation the shim, along with the spacer and inner/outer bearings are reinstalled into the trailing arm housing, along with the set up tool. The works is torqued to specification. A dial indicator is used to measure end play. Proper shim thickness can now be determined from this measurement; the final clearance specification being .001-.008 thou .. The idea being to get this clearance in 'range', shims come is various thicknesses. I can't remember for sure but I think these shims vary around .004-.005 thou between one size and the next.

A replacement shim of just the right thickness will likely not be the case if one is shooting for the minimum clearance specification, or .001 thou .. In my case I was going for the minimum clearance. This means taking a shim that is a bit thicker than what is needed and sanding it down to get it just right. This was done on a flat glass surface. The shim was rotated in a 'figure 8' pattern until just the right finish thickness was reached. Needless to say a micrometer or caliper must be used here.

Some don't recommend the use of a bearing set up tool. In my case it worked out fine. I ended up .0015 thou end play on one side and just under .002 on the other.

Just my experience as a DIY'er.

 

If you haven't done it before and don't have the proper special setup tools, a press and outer bearing remover, and precision measuring equipment, I'd send them to Bair's. This is one of the few jobs that's better left to the pros that do it every day; they have the parts, tools, machining capability, and experience to do it right.

 

, Unless you have a well equipted shop and have had experience with this sort of thing and want to be able to say "I re-built my own trailing arms" and think you will be doing more of them in the future, I would definitely send them to a Professional. It is tricky to get the stuff apart and to get the bearing clearance set properly, which is VERY IMPORTANT, and also take care of any rotor run-out you may have, which is also VERY IMPORTANT, but with the proper tools and equiptment and knowledge of this sort of thing, it can be done. If this is the only set you think you will be doing, I would definately advise that you send them out.

Chris, CWPASADENA

 

I had to remove the entire arm and press the spindles out on a 50 ton press. The removal tool would not budge them. Ran that tonnage gauge up higher than anything that I have ever had on that press. If you are not a profesional technician, with a well equipped shop available, I recommend as the others do, and either send them out, or purchase rebuilt arms from a reputable source. These things are way too labor intensive to have to do twice. If I have to do it again, I'm buying them. The bushings are a lot of fun to do also. Rich

 

Send em out it's worth every penny. Shemp