Best trailing arm rebuild kit?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 174
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Best trailing arm rebuild kit?
So I'm getting ready to rebuild my rear end.
I've got all kinds of problems, grinding, squeaking, clunking, and why not? Its 32 years old and the trailing arms have never been rebuilt.
The bushings are crumbs as far as I can tell. I rebuilt the half shafts, and replaced the shocks and that took care of about half my squeaks, but it still feels very loose and there is still very disconcerting sounds so that's where I'm at.
Also the parking brake barely functions at all and I'm looking to rectify that, and I figure I may as well replace the bearings while I've got the arms out.
So what is a kit that has just about everything that you would recommend?
I've got all kinds of problems, grinding, squeaking, clunking, and why not? Its 32 years old and the trailing arms have never been rebuilt.
The bushings are crumbs as far as I can tell. I rebuilt the half shafts, and replaced the shocks and that took care of about half my squeaks, but it still feels very loose and there is still very disconcerting sounds so that's where I'm at.
Also the parking brake barely functions at all and I'm looking to rectify that, and I figure I may as well replace the bearings while I've got the arms out.
So what is a kit that has just about everything that you would recommend?
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 2003
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From: Sitting in his Nowhere land Hanover Pa
2024 C2 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,093
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From: long beach California
average guestimate b/w 700-800 bucks to send them out
if your gonna do it yourself it will cost you more b/c most people have to buy tools to do the job i.e spindle protector to press the spindle out of the bearing housings, shop press, sand blaster or have someone sand blast them + the rebuild kit i tore mine all apart and tore up one of my spindles and it was crazy expensive when it was all said and done
you need the bushing kit the bearing kit the crush sleeve the parking brake rebuild DO NOT bend anything which is very easy to do it is worth the piece of mind, time saved and lack of cussing at the damn things to just send them out
if your gonna do it yourself it will cost you more b/c most people have to buy tools to do the job i.e spindle protector to press the spindle out of the bearing housings, shop press, sand blaster or have someone sand blast them + the rebuild kit i tore mine all apart and tore up one of my spindles and it was crazy expensive when it was all said and done
you need the bushing kit the bearing kit the crush sleeve the parking brake rebuild DO NOT bend anything which is very easy to do it is worth the piece of mind, time saved and lack of cussing at the damn things to just send them out
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 5,941
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From: Was New Orleans but swam to Baton Rouge LA
Cruise-In IX Veteran
I get a lot of my rebuild stuff from Van Steel. They have timken bearings in their kits, which I prefer. The big issue with trailing arms is having all the right tools to do the job and get the runout and play setup correctly. That is why most folks will have a shop or vendor rebuild them.
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Racer
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 300
Likes: 3
From: kempton park Gauteng
trailing arms rebuild
just a few words of encouragment. I am in South Africa , and did not have the choices available to me that you guys in the states have . I could only import a complete set from America or r-build the units myself .
I am handy with spanners but worried that the task was outside my capabilities , but i looked up all i could from the forum and emailed Gary Ramedi . The guy will assist and put me on the right track on a few occasions until i got it correct .
It is not the run of the mill stuff , but if you read up everything you can and maybe try to get some advise from Gary , you will be able to do the job as well ,if not better than some of the units that you can obtain from the vendors .
Dont rush or take short cuts and make sure the engineering company skimming the shims with the surface grinder , grind both faces , they will tell you its not necessary , thats bull and will end up giving you a bum job if you dont watch and make sure that they surface grind all the shims require parallel as required.
I would give it a go , i have never done this type of job before , but i think my arms turned out really good , and i will be doing my arms on my 73 very soon .
Good luck
John
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2011
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Hey so I actually just got around to buying the kits I will use, decided to go with Van Steel's kit and have a local shop do the work for me
http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...p=1801&ID=3045
I figured I would then get this kit to finish the rear rebuild. http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=24375
However, I think some of the hardware would be redundant if I bought that kit and I'm hearing adjustable strut rods save a lot of headache. Any feedback on what I should buy to supplement the parts I get with the Van Steel kit? I'm wanting to replace all the bushings/non metal hardware on the rear end that needs replacing
http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...p=1801&ID=3045
I figured I would then get this kit to finish the rear rebuild. http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=24375
However, I think some of the hardware would be redundant if I bought that kit and I'm hearing adjustable strut rods save a lot of headache. Any feedback on what I should buy to supplement the parts I get with the Van Steel kit? I'm wanting to replace all the bushings/non metal hardware on the rear end that needs replacing
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2023
Posts: 38
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From: Metro Detroit
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 1,159
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It would be better to just open a new thread on the topic, as you rightfully called out, that this is an old thread. The moderator would likely agree, as it's generally taboo to re-open threads that have seen no action in well over a decade.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 5,236
Likes: 898
From: Myrtle Beach SC
I'll add that when I talked to Bair at Carlisle about my 56k mile 78 and rebuilding the trailing arms...he indicated he would leave them as is and probably don't need it. Of course your symptoms might suggest otherwise.
Tech Contributor
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 15,188
Likes: 4,010
From: Connecticut, USA
While I can't say your TA need rebuilding without inspection, I can say I have had in very low mileage original TA, 45-50 years old, and the grease was gone.
