I've been hearing a clacking sound in the rear when on rough roads that has been getting louder lately. I suspected my shocks are shot and took the rear wheels off to investigate. The shocks look to be very old, possibly original, same with the leaf spring. I heard a loud intermittent creaking noise on the passenger side wheel when jacking the frame and then raising and lowering the wheel after tire removal to flex the spring, though I couldn't figure out which part is making the noise.

I've researched shock replacement on this forum somewhat and I've read a few posts about the shocks being extremely difficult to remove, and mentions of special tools, cutting, etc. From what I can see in the Haynes manual and just from looking it seems like you just remove two bolts and swap the shock with a new one, but I'm a total newb and never worked on cars - though I've replaced motorcycle shocks/springs.

I want to order new shocks today (Bilstein HD seems to be highly recommended here) and am wondering if I should order any accessory parts? All the rubber bushings in the rear suspension look shot so I'd like to replace them all of it is feasible to do myself. Also, I can't tell if my leaf spring is in okay shape or if I should just replace it now. The layers between the metal are fraying but I dunno if that matters.

My corvette is my daily driver whenever the weather is nice so I want to minimize down time. I have no plans to race it so I don't need anything fancy but I don't mind paying for quality stuff that will last.

Any advice on tools/parts that I might need, and any tips? I could take it to a shop to get this done I guess but I'd rather do it myself if it isn't too hard.

Vansteel has a suspension rebuild kit but it's pretty expensive so if I don't need all that stuff I'd rather spend the money elsewhere.

rebuild kit:
http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...&SubGroup=1865

shocks:
http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...&SubGroup=1882

here's some pictures of the passenger side suspension parts:

 

The shocks can be a real challenge to get off, and from the looks of your suspension, I suspect you might have a challenge getting these and other parts off and replaced. As you're new to working on cars, I'd suggest you find someone local, maybe from this forum or a local Vette club to give you a hand. Besides, chances are you'll need more than a jack, jack stands and a wrench to do the job. Besides, if you get someone with knowledge, you can probably learn what actually needs to be fixed or repaired. Oh, and ditch the Haynes manual for a GM Service Manual...

 

Your first purchase needs to be a good service manual. Your next purchase should be penetrating oil, to help loosen the rusty parts. You need a good quality 1/2" drive ratchet set. And maybe, sometime, air tools. And if you don't know anything about cars yet, you will when you are done.
Be careful. It's easy to get carried away when you start a job like this.
You can spend a lot of money on your car. And by making different compromises than the factory engineers, you can make your car different. It's not too easy to make it better.
Good luck. Be careful. Have fun.

 

I already have a 1/2" socket set and a 1/2" torque wrench, also an air compressor. I'd really like to give this a try if it isn't foolhardy as it doesn't seem terribly complicated.

I can get a real service manual if the Haynes isn't good enough.

 

Are you freaking kidding me? I could swap my C3's shocks out in about 10 minutes. Now the shock MOUNT can sometimes be a bear if it's rust welded into the TA ears, but you don't need to remove it if you're just swapping out shocks.

With that being said, the OP's rear does appear to need ... well .. everything.

 

Looking at that rear, I would suggest maybe you look into entire front and rear suspension kits. It'll save you money in the long run...AND time. You can do this. It's not "hard", but it will Ty your patience, bust some knuckles, induce sweating, etc. But, when you get done, what a feeling! Buy PB blaster, and for a couple days before you start the tear down...hit all the bolts and nuts with it a couple times. Should come apart pretty easily. Also, buy your model years AIM manual. Best 30 bucks you'll ever spend.

 

Oh...and yes when the divider sleeves start to slide out on the rear leaf, it's only a matter of time before the individual leafs start to splay out as well. And the clanking you hear over bumps is likely a bad or missing rear end tongue bushing.

 

I think I am going to order a full rear kit and do as much as I can, and take anything remaining to an expert if necessary. Ordering the AIM now, also

Question about shocks, though. I saw a post from VanSteel ~2010 saying that Bilstein HD's aren't manufactured anymore and they are no longer listed on the VanSteel site. I do see them various other places... are these still easy to come by or likely sold-out and not updated? If unavailable, any other high quality rear shock recommendations for a street car?

I'll think about front end in the near future, it isn't as rough as the rear.

 

You can get all the parts you need for your 'street car' from one of this forum's supporting vendors. Mention that you're a CF forum member and get the 10% discount.

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductD...GR-SR&CTitle=&

 

Yep, I'm afraid it's time for a suspension overhaul, and I feel your pain as I've started into doing another one myself (tho modding). The TA bushings will be a PITA, as well as the diff x-member ones, but don't put either of them off if they too need replacement (likely). And, while it's apart inspect everything including the side yokes and stub axles for excessive play.

On the Bilstein HD's, I'd recommend you go ahead and grab a set if you can find them, as they're one of the top 5 best upgrades most will ever make to their C3. As for options, KYB's are a decent value, tho not quite on par with Koni's or QA1's, and a few have found Edelbrock's to their liking.

Before you get too discouraged, you might find it inspirational to check out a few suspension rebuild threads posted by other CF'ers. Whether you choose to upgrade or simply restore things (different topic), do it up right and the results are going to be well worth the effort.

 

Here is my process.....

Tear Down.....
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...down-pics.html

Clean up.....
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...hase-pics.html

Re-assembly
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...mbly-pics.html

 

Thanks for the info. Yes, I've been reading all the suspension threads. I think I am going to get the bilstein HDs, a light composite spring, and one of the rebuilt kits with all the bushing, bolts, etc.

 

Okay KevinK, what the heck is a tongue bushing? All the posts I can find on this forum that mention it are from you, and I can't find anything on google.

My AIM hasn't been delivered yet...

I'm still going to redo my rear, but I'll be pissed if I do all this and the noise is still there. I can push down and bounce my car up and down from front and rear while parked with no noise, it only happens when I go over small potholes or rough patches in the road.

 

I spent less money choosing Vette Brakes and Parts over Vansteel. Vansteel is just reselling some of VBP's stuff at mark-up.



Also, don't buy your Blistien's from Zip, or any of the other Corvette places, they're also selling them over priced. I matched the same ones for 20$ less with Amazon Prime free shipping.

VBP is also running a sale right now on spring kits and the strut bars. The rear spring if you go composite is usually $360, right now they're $314.

My rear-end looked just like your's the shocks where actually easy with a rubber mallet to remove. The hard part was getting the stupid struts off my car.

Once I got the major crap off it looked like this:



The one part I didn't need to service where the trailing arms on my car. They looked as though they'd been done in the past as the bushings where all very new in appearance and in god condition.

Everything goes back together easily enough. Good luck!

 

Any rear suspension kit will come with that bushing. I had never ever heard of it before, and likely the reason why your search is not yielding many results is, I'm likely the only person that calls it the rear end tongue. I call it that, because that is what it was called in the computer from the person that I ordered the replacement part from. The rear end tongue is just a piece of metal that attached to the frame, and then connects to the front of the diff, with that bushing sandwhitched in the middle. It's a PITA to do with all the suspension together, so MAKE SURE YOU REPLACE IT right after the tear down....MUCH easier...ask me how I know...

Also, trust me when I tell you, YOU can do this. It's gonna SUCK, because it's hot as ***** out right now, but so long as you can get past that, for the most part, rebuilding the rear is actually....kinda relaxing, almost therapudic, in a way. EXCEPT for the rear shock mount. The rear shock mount can go to hell, for all I'm concerned. And the bushings on the TAs. Plan a day JUST for those TAs...not PHYSICALLY hard, just frustrating. Highly so. Take your time, any part you are gonna reuse, hit it with the drill/wire brush bit combo to clean it nice, paint it, and when you are done, it's gonna look good as NEW, you're gonna take pictures, post them here, and everyone is gonna congratulate you on a FANTASTIC job, and all the new people to the forum are gonna look and lament about your superior mechanical skills, etc. Take that, combine it with a beer, and trust me, you're gonna feel pretty good.

 

OK, the rear end tongue is that piece just in front of the differential...The bushing for it is between a tab on the diff and a little "cup" to hold it on the tongue/connector piece. Make sure that, if you plan on replacing the rear cross member bushings (advisable), that you replace that one at the same time...

 

The rear spring looks pretty bad I broke one in my 75 while hot rodding! It's no fun let me tell you the the wheel just collapses into the wheel well at speed in a turn....
Everything is mostly bolt on except the control arm bushings but if they're not bad, just bolt on spring, shocks and all the other bushings you can get too.

 

Okay I'm diving into this. Ordering everything now. Wish me luck.

 

Good luck, but you don't need it.


It's a good call to do it yourself, and you're not gonna regret it, I promise.

Just make sure that you take your time, and plan the work. As in, when you get your stuff, see what all you have, and what all you are going to need to reuse. For instance, the kit I ordered, came with everything BUT the rear shock mounts. I nearly screwed myself out of a couple of bucks, and a couple of days of work, due to that...because, I banged the CRAP out of those things to get them out, WITHOUT a nut or anything on the threads to protect them, which in turn made putting a NEW nut on them, with the new shocks in place, pretty hard. A little filing and a little patience saw me through that, but you can bet I was a LOT more careful there after!

 

Is this the bushing you were referring to? This isn't mine, just an image I found in another thread



Also, from what I've been reading here replacing the trailing arm bushings properly (rubber) requires a hydraulic press and either buying or fabricating a custom tool. Is this correct? If so I guess I'll have to send them out if they're shot.

I'll look at them out with a flashlight tomorrow and check for play when I do the other work.