I just spent the last two weeks (I am retired) rebuilding my trailing arms. I bought all the tools and shim kits and had a dial indicator. I got the bearings and spacers in and I think they are correct( .003 to ..006) and at this point the spindles turned very smoothly. I bolted up the half shafts and everything got harder to turn, then I installed the rotors and new calipers, brake pads and I can barely turn the rotors by hand. Is this normal or have I missed something? Thanks, Dave.

 

Yep, If you got the specs right and it turned before assembly then you got it. the resistance you now have is the rear gears and stuff turning, if you have a posi then your trying to spin both sides. normal.

 

Do you mean .003" to .006" end play?

 

Sounds about right. I've got about a 2 foot bar with a piece of pipe welding on the end and a chunk of hose on the shark. It (the pipe) slips over a stud and the bar goes between the opposite studs (the hose protects the threads).

I made this up when I was shimming the rotor's since it was so hard to turn the spindles.
Also used it when taking off the u-joint straps, etc. Will come into play again in 2017 when I put the rear suspension together again.
Mooser

 

Thanks for the replys and measurement correction. I thought I had messed something up. Now on to the motor.

 

Ideally the half shaft would be disconnected from the spindles when taking rotor runout measurements.

 

Also... when measuring ENDPLAY, I found that there is too much variance when trying to get an accurate measurement on the car... I don't even bother anymore. I only sign my name to a measurement taken on the bench. The conical bearings and the uneven surface of the spindle throw the indicator off too much for my taste. I have a jig set up for this job.

 

Especially when their loose Last time I did mine on the car is when I found the bearing was toast, you couldn't spin it around once and get the same readings.

As for checking runout with the half shafts on, I agree that it's better to remove them (and easier to turn) but without going through the hassle, for a fairly decent check, I've found that blocking the T/A up at ride height (pretty close to level in my case) and then I run a clamp from the end of the T/A to the diff (found this was the only way to load the spindle and take the end-play more or less out of the equation.
You can pop the rotor on and off this way and it's very repeatable. Still not as good as free, but a lot easier/faster.

Without hi-jacking the OP thread farther, you use a fixture to check End-play, how does it work? I just did my new arms today and ended up using the mill, a work boot, three hammers, all my vise grips, two milk crates, dogs tail.... ok, so maybe just the mill and a couple of old valve springs, but it finally gave me a repeatable reading but what a PITA.
Mooser

 

[QUOTE=Mooser;1580113905...Without hi-jacking the OP thread farther, you use a fixture to check End-play, how does it work? [/QUOTE]


It's a set of threaded rods attached vertically to a base. The spacing of the rods matches the hole pattern of the spindle support. The spindle support is mounted to the rods and tightened down so it can't move. The spindle suppport is mounted so that the spindle face is on top and the spindle threads are at the bottom. The dial gage is placed on the face of the spindle.. at the top. Another device is fabricated to slide under the spindle and leverage is applied vertically to raise the spindle up & down for the endplay measurement. You still have to keep the tip of the dial indicator at exactly one spot... i.e.- don't let the spindle rotate or move during the measurement or the reading is way off. This is a technique that Gary (gtr99) and I have been using since dirt was invented. We compared notes many many moons ago over the phone. My fixture is made of wood... Gary took it a step further and made a nice steel version. The results are the same... perfect, exact endplay every time.

 

Thanks Tom, I think I saw pics of Gtr's on Digital.
I was just verifying mine once I torqued them into the T/A (not that there was anything I could do at that point)
Ended up mounting them onto the mill bed using an old valve spring to push the spindle up.
Put an indicator on the flange and used the quill to press the spindle down (against the spring)
Not pretty or even elegant but it repeated.
Mooser