Okay so I'm looking for opinions....
. My trailing arms are pretty much destroyed the spindles are thrashed from completely sloppy worn-out bearings having been driven on for God knows how long by the previous owner and my parking brake assemblies are garbage the bushings are gone also the torque arm brackets are bent the arms are worn out in every way they need to be torn down blasted painted an all parts replaced would it just be smarter to buy new trailing arms volvette, j&d corvette and a few others sell them completely rebuilt ready to go for b/w 350-400 a piece is this the smarter way to go or should I rebuild my current arms*

 

I would try to reuse whatever is still in good condition. One of my arms had so many cracked welds, it was cheaper to get a new one than repair the old one.

 

About 16-17 years ago, I followed an article in one of the Corvette enthusiast magazines of the day, and totally rebuilt the trailing arms on a '79 'Vette that my wife owned at the time.

Having access to a machine shop, that was part of my employer's complex, made the job a lot easier and cheaper. But in retrospect, I probably would have been better off simply paying the money and purchasing "factory rebuilt" units.

 

If they have no structural damage, ship them out and have them rebuilt by the pros.

 

*Breathe*

 

Check the welds very closely. I had my trailing arms rebuilt locally by a classic corvette specialist, and after he tore my trailing arms down and started to blast them clean, it was apparent mine were toast. Luckily he had another set of arms at his shop, so he just refurbished those, but in the end, if I had tried to send them to be rebuilt, any good rebuilder would have thrown them out. So before sending them out and paying $ for shipping, inspect what you have to work with first. Just my 2 cents.

Good Luck!

 

I just did the rebuild of my trailing arms and it wasn't that bad of a job. The benefit of doing it yourself is you know exactly what is going into the trailing arms. Also that $350- 400 prices is just parts and labor so add in the core charge of ~$300 and the total cost is more like $700 per arm and the way you have discribed your current cores I doubt you will get the all $300 back for each core so you can expect to pay more than $350 - 400 for each trailing arm. So if you have the tools and the willingness then rebuilding them yourself is more rewarding. The only thing I farmed out when rebuilding mine was reloading the supports to the factory tolerances. That job was doen by Vansteel and I was very pleased with the results, it ended up being about $65 per support which was almost the price of the tool you need to do it yourself. The only other must have tool you will need is a 12 ton press and that I got for $89 at Habor Frieght when it came on sale and the right coupon. It also doesn't hurt to have a welder to weld the whole seam on the arms and if you think you might ever go larger than 8.5" width tire/rim then move your parking brake cable bracket as well to the top of the arm.

I think the total cost per arm ended up around $350/arm for all the parts and labor (trailing arm rebuild kit (included bearings, seals, parking brake parts, new rotor cover), reload supports at Vansteel, new slotted/drilled rotors, new Toms spindles and por15 paint). So I really didn't save much by doing it myself but I do have the satisfaction of knowing what parts are in them, what the real tolerances are, doing a few extra things like welding the whole seams, moving the cable bracket, painting every part that could rust, anti seize joining parts so it will be easier to take apart later if needed and other minor tweaks.

Good luck ...

 

Just send yours out as exchange for another set already rebuilt. The downside of that is if some of your critical parts are 'toast'. The rebuilder will charge you additional money for having to replace parts that he will not be able to use in another rebuild.

If you can do the work, that is always the least expensive way. But, if this is something you don't really feel comfortable doing, swap out your T/A's or have yours rebuilt.

 

 

I rebuilt mine myself. Bought the rebuild kit from VBP. They use timken bearings, only about $100 per side. For all bearings, seals and shims. Bought the p/b kit too. And a setup tool from another source for $65. Blasting and powder coat all the pieces was handled by a local place. About $35 per side. I also had a local machinist true up the spindle flange face, $35 for both.
Digital corvettes has a great tutorial posted by GTR99
All in all it went well. Luckily my parts were all usable as this car lives in the desert. I read that tutorial several times because of the great information and questions raised by other
posters.
Now, did I save a lot of money. Yes.
All the parts were my original pieces, which is neat.
And I really feel I did a good job. Total runout is well within specs.
You mentioned some of your stuff is trashed. You may be better off buying rebuilt assembly's.

 

i did not want to learn how to rebuild the trailings arms or buy the tools to do it .this is a job that i want to do one time .for me it was better to let some one else do it .i would recomend some one who is close because shipping both ways is not cheap.for me i usedhttp://www.muskegonbrake.net/they gave me the best price and were close .call several shops and ask about free shipping.

 

does any one have pics of their arm rebuild i have mine apart for the most but i need to know how to get the spindle out of the bearing housing i have a 12ton shop press but i don't see a way to or a position that would be good for using the press on the spindle to press the spindle out o the bearings

 

I would use Mike Dyer PM me if you need #

 

I did rebuilt arms last spring, used East Tennesse Vette. Each arm cost $170 without the rotors. Core was $300 each. You can save the core by shipping him yours first, shipping was about $60 each way.

 

If you want to do the TA rebuild, then you start here:

http://www.lbfun.com/warehouse/tech_...rm_Rebuild.pdf

 

Thanks mike
For the price an what I need I think I'm gonna just swap them out for a pair at j&d corvette if they will take my cores if not them I have to redo them myself I don't expect they will take my cores but we'll see I am however reguardless of cost gonna buy the kit an rebuild my diff my self after that all I need is to put the composite spring on and the rear will be done