Hi, I have a 79 vette L82 and I am in the process of changing out my old trailing arms with rebuilt ones....My first problem is that the pivot bolt is froze in the bushing and i cant get a straight shot to hit it because of the fender in the way. and the shock mount bolt is frozen in the strut rods. I have tried using a balljoint tool to remove the shock mount bolt and i just bent my tool. Any suggestions on the easiest way to remove the bolts without damaging the trailing arm?...I am assuming I will have to buy strut rods anyway. My major concern is the front pivot bolt.

Thanks, Chip

 

You are addressing 2 of the hardest things to remove on a Vette. The best thing to do for the trailing arm bolt is cut it out on both sides of the bushing with a SawzAll. Buy good bi-metal blades (9" IIRC). Figure on 1 blade per cut. For the shock mounts, you could try buying pipe caps at the local home center that will screw on to the mounts and beat the crap out of them with a sledge hammer. That may or may not work and it might break the bearing mount so it might be better to just saw off the strut rod and return the core with the shock mounts attached. The vendor will probably just torch them off. Shock mounts aren't all that expensive when you figure in the aggravation factor. Buy grade 8 bolts for the trailing arm.



Rick B.

 

Easiest way is a sawsall with a good quality blade.Cut the bolt on both sides of the trailing arm.Save the shims,figure out the thickness of the shims on each side and then order the s/s replacment shims with the slots instead of the holes(much easier to install)

 

cut the pivot bolt. it is the only way!! get new ss shims and pivot bolts. shock mounts you can buy a removal tool with some of the vendors on this forum.

 

Sawzall for sure. Get a 8 or 9 inch GOOD bimetal blade 18 tooth and have at it. A 14 tooth will do if no 18s are on the shelf. A little cutting fluid helps a lot also. I'd prefer Lenox blades since I have been selling them for 25 years.

 

I never thought of a sawzall, Thanks, I was gonna start torching but i didnt want to light stuff on fire and ruin my trailing arm.

I was looking at the adjustable strut rods works like a turnbuckle im assuming? Are they any good?

 

I used a good two-jaw puller on the shock mount. It has to be a fairly big one. The one I used was a very old Snap-on tool that worked like a charm. Lots of forum members have used the adjustable camber rods. I've never heard any complaints. When you re-assemble everything, use lots of anti-sieze. Future removal will be much easier.

Temvette72

 

Yes Sir; When you take the old shims out, lay them in the same sequence as you take them out, keep the outer & inner separate on each side. Use new shims & bolts and reinstall the same size and number as you took out. Trailing arms should go right in place of the old ones. If you use Polyurethane, the spacers will be different. Locate a good frame shop that understands how these new units should be aligned. Some shops want to bend the Arms. This is not the right way, and my understanding is that they might even bend the frame pocket. There are a lot more experienced people on this form.. Listen to them. Have a great day. gene

 

Well I used a ball joint installation tool to try to break the shock mount free. My buddy that is helping me is one of the top mechanics at a dodge and chevy dealer and I'm a machinist and it had both of us stumped. We put ALOT of force on that mount and it wouldn't budge. Sooo I think im going to try to run the arm in a mill and cut the strut rod to get the old shock mount out.

I REALLY appreciate all of your help I will have to make another stab at it

 

I had to cut/grind my shock mount bolts off to get the dang strut rods off. What a P.I.A. that was....... I got a lot of great advise like above, but I had to end up bring out the big guns to get them off. And yes replace with adjustable strut rods from VB@P
Good luck...

 

 

Just a note, I don't believe it's been mentioned--don't try to cut throught the sleeve of the T/A bushing with a sawzall. If your shims are still installed, the temptation will be to cut throught the rubber of the bushing inside the keeper washer; the blade will fit in there and cut right through the rubber, but I ground two expensive blades into nubs and only polished that sleeve! I have read that others have had the same experience. After spending almost 2 hours sawing out the first one, I cut the nut and washers off the second one with a cutoff wheel in an agle grinder then hosed everything down with Kroil, and put a slight "s" bend in some bar stock; I used the bar stock as a punch to drive out the bolt. The bend allowed me to swing a small hammer at it. Worked for me.

For the shock mounts, I disconnected them from the bracket under the differential, and pulled the T/As out with the strut rods still attached. I used the pipe cap trick, but was only able to get them loose by soaking with Kroil, (a lot of it) then standing on the T/A and taking full swings at the pipe cap with a three pound hammer. Be sure to tighten the cap every few swings; it will want to back off and then you'll ruin your threads. The puller trick would probably work, but I found that a puller capable of doing the job would cost more than 2 new shock mounts. Cheap pullers will not work, and might even be dangerous...ask me how I know...

 

Well i couldnt get the helocentric bolt out of the front of the strut rod either. So im gonna start cuttin'!

 

Can confirm. I tried at first with some generic metal cutting blades I had around the house and after struggling for a bit decided to go to Lowe’s and get the best metal cutting blade they had and it cut through the first bolt in about 30 seconds. One blade did all four cuts without issues and the last cut I had to go through, half of the bushing to get to the bolt and still no problem.

Scott

 

Northern Hydraulics carries carbide blades for ur saws all. They out last the other plain metal cutting blades. It takes time to cut thru the bolts so have patience.
I soaked the shock mounts with Kroil for a couple of days n used a heavy duty rivet gun n shocked the mount loose.

 

Ahhh, 14 year old thread! Ya think he's still workin on it? Or maybe again all these years later.

 

Forum member has problem, searches Forum for answer, finds it in 14 year old thread, and posts an update that it works. We should encourage this feedback!

Good job @ScottEwine! I had similar results with a different brand of carbide blade when I did this 6 years ago.

 

Might have taken that long working thru therapy to recover from the experience. It does leave scars!

 

My '71 has the adjustable, and yes just like a turnbuckle. You have to think a minute when loosening the locknuts! But they work very well. Just remember that you'll need full weight on the ground to determine how much camber adjustment to make. There's a little trigonometry to do to guess-t-mate how far to adjust for your first stab at it. Not as much as you'd think. Over the years for one reason or another mine were about 1-1/2" in at the top (negative I think) but I only needed about 5/16 adjustment of the strut rod to get them looking pretty good. Shooting for '0' degrees vertical. I haven't driven it yet; may need another tweak, fingers crossed; but hoping avoid going to an alignment shop.