Ok.. 82 Vette with 121k on the clock. I have a couple of differant noises comming from the rear so with that said I have decided to do a rear suspension rebuild. I have complete rebuilt trailing arms, 6 new U joints, new shock mounts, new rear spring shackle kit, new rearend front mounting bushing and new slotted drilled AC Delco rotors and pads. I also have a new 3.73 ring and pinion but that its a differant project or I could pull it send it off and have it done while I have the rear suspesnsion apart.

I have never removed and installed trailing arms. I need help and instruction. I now this is going to be a pain since I am working off jack stands and a creeper in my little 2 car garage at home.

Is there a book and or video I can buy that will show me how to do this? Anybody have a good detailed set of instructions other than whats in the service manual?

I understand the basics but I am concerned about shimming the arms right and getting the correct rotor run out. I am also assuming that the car will have to go to the shop for a rear alignment once the install is complete.

What special tools do I need?

Any GOOD advice and/or info is apprecaited.

 

Blue, the service manual covers just about all of it. Pull the differential while you have the suspension out, since you will have everything out of the way there will be no easier time. There are a couple of tricks that come to mine. I did all this in a 2 car garage on jack stands, so it can definately be done. Mine is a '75 but I think everything is about the same.

- When doing all this remove everything and then build it back up. I.e. pull the spring, shocks, struts, trailing arm, half shafts, drive shaft and then differential and to install reverse it.
- To drop the differential, with everything else (half shafts, drive shaft, spring, etc.) disconnected, loosen the crossmember bolts so they are only in by 1-2 turns. Then pry the crossmember loose. The bolts will keep the differential and crossmember from crashing to the floor. Then put your jack underneither and take out the bolts, and lower the crossmember.
- Your trailing arm bolts have a reasonable probability that they are frozen in place. If so you will need to sawzall through them. It is a pain and slow. If you can pull out the shims first you will save some time. Sawing through the shims make this job worse.
- Keep track of the # of shims you have on each side of the trailing arm. That way your alignment will be reasonable close when you put it back together.
- While you've got the differential down, check the pinion and rear cover seals for leaks. You will never have an better or easier time changing it than you will with the differential off the car.

- Take you time. This will go slow, the parts are heavy and awkward, work safely and carefully.

 

maybe I should do this in a storage unit so my wife does not go nuts over how screwed up and cluttered the garage is going to get. lol....Sounds like this will take several saturdays.....Thanks WJ.

 

You have a PM.

 

I know there are some of you that have done this please chime in.

 

I've done all of that. Not a big deal. I am a parts changer not a tech guy. Basic tools and did mine with jack stands and parked close to the wall so the wife could get in & out of her car without problems. If your going to do it, do it all at once and be done. Pulling it a part is no problem. Remove exhaust, drive shaft, rear spring, strut rods, half shafts then T/A's

The GM book is excellent, that's what the GM mechanic used. It gives you how to take it apart and retorque specs. I did T/A's myself, it would of been nice to have a second person hold them because of the weight. When you remove the T/A's pull the bolt first, remove T/A then remove cotter pin and then tape original shim packs for reference later. Take a pictureof the shims before you remove the T/A. Once the T/A is loose keep the shims seperate from inside and outside. Tape the inside and outside shims packs. This way you can see what thickness you need with your new shims when you reassemble. On the tape I wrote left inner, left outer etc.

The car will feel like new when done. I have a Keisler 5 speed and blamed some of the vibration on the 5 speed. I was wrong, it was the wheel bearings in the T/A's. Car is like new, running 90 mph this weekend and no problem running the car up into the 100's. My car is rock solid and no vibrations.

Just take your time and do one step at a time. Stay focused, it easy to get over whelmed

 

We have a video on how to remove all the suspension parts. It won't show how to rebuild though.

 

I just did mine last week. I looked at the sawzall option. Didn't really like fighting it with such limited clearance. Best thing I did was go to Northerntool (or comparable) and purchased a heavy punch about a foot long with a 4 pound shop hammer. It made short work of getting the bolts out. (Maybe five minutes) I have read of someone using a air chisel and a flat punch attatchment on the end. I was going to give that a shot but as usual, my air chisel was frozen up. Intertia is your friend with these bolts.

 

I changed the left trailing before storing my 82. The bolt was frozen I heated it with the torch.

I'll be watching this thread to trigger my memory since I'm replacing the right t/a and next week.

 

I did this a couple years ago. I went with the full set of offset trailing arms, bearings and all.

I agree with what’s been said. Except that you have an aluminum “bat wing” diff support which is a lot easier to get at than the earlier cross-member, if you decided to do that now. I found that on several 82’s the U-joint bolts have been 12 point 1/4 inch spline, not torx, like my 81. You need a good 12 point 1/4 inch socket in 1/4 inch and extension to get to get them off, and they mess up easy.

To crack the nut on the inside of the bearing assembly I jammed the rotors against the brake calipers with a large screw driver. This keeps them from turning and makes it pretty easy to crack the nut.

When I pull the brakes I have a couple blocks of wood the thickness of the rotors. While holding the blocks in place, I slide the caliper, capturing the block between the pads. This keeps the pads and pistons in place for easy replacement. Unless you’re doing a brake job, it saves a little time.

As said before, a digital camera is your friend, take photos as it comes apart. A box of zip lock bags and a marker can help keep it all identified (what shims went where, which end was which on the struts, etc.)

On removing the front TA bolt. Sometimes they come out, sometimes they’re fused in with rust. Lots of penetrating lube. Definitely, remove the shims first. With the cotter pin out and a bit of prying the shims should come out. Keep ‘em together and mark where they came from as others have said. If the bolt is stubborn try turning it by the head (inner side) to see if it’ll crack loose. If it turns and brakes free from the sleeve, you can probably get it out without cutting. If all else fails, cut the bolts. Think of it this way, you aren’t going to put those cruddy bolts back in anyway. Two cuts per TA, one on each side in the middle of where the shims were.

If you do cut the bolts use a good bimetallic blade in a recip saw. Keep the blade cool and the blade will last longer. I went a little extreme there, but it worked. I used a can of air duster (for blowing the dust off computers, keyboards, etc) But upside down it blows out really cold liquid propellant. I would saw for 10 or so seconds and then douse the blade, repeat. Both bolts, 1 blade. A note of caution, don’t go too deep or you’ll bang against the back wall of the pocket, that will bend the blade real fast.

If you decide to pull the diff, you may have difficulty accessing the U-joint bolts just in front of the diff. The 80-82 Dana 44 rear has a cast in nose support that makes getting to those U-joint bolts a PITA. I ended up undoing the rear trans U-Joint and then disconnecting the bat wing and then with the diff on a jack rolled it back with the driveshaft attached, until I could get to those bolts.

Good luck.

 

I am doing a frame up on a 1982, just go straight to the sawzall. I wasted alot of time with hammer, pb blaster and hand held torch with no luck. all on a frame with very little rust

 

I watched Van Steel's DVD before I took apart my rear suspension and found it very valuable.

 

Thanks for all of the info guys. I think I can do this. I will need to order the Vansteel video. i think it will give me a good visual of what i need to do to make this work. I will be installing new rotors...If I get the TA shims right then will the rotor run out be right or is there something else i need to do to get that part correct?

 

 

What busynick said.....

if they've been removed before, maybe you won't have a hardened bolt. Funny thing ....when I removed mine...I spent too much time trying to remove the bolt that when I finally broke out the sawsall, it took 30 seconds on each side.

Good luck!

 

i just pulled the TAs off my 69. took more time taking the Ebrake apart then it did getting the ta bolts out. just screwed the castle nut on backwards and hit it with a hammer till it wouldnt go any further. after that a small punch and a hammer and they popped right out. and this was on a very heavily rusted frame.