I would not continue hitting it with a big hammer because you will eventually damage the shock mount bracket on the trailing arm. Usually in cases where people have this much difficulty removing their shock mounts, the culprit is the strut rod sleeve. Over time, the sleeve rusts to the lower shock mount, and when this happens, your options are limited and none of them are good.

You can't drill the shock mount out because there is a flat side on the shock mount that keeps it in proper position. If you round out the hole on the shock mount bracket, you'll have to get another trailing arm spindle housing. Here are your options as I see them.

Send the trailing arms in for a rebuild, and let them deal with it.

Or you can cut the strut rod off of the trailing arm, but you have to be careful not to damage the shock mount bracket. I suppose you could do that with the trailing arm on the car, but it would be easier to remove the trailing arm.

To cut the strut rod off, you need to use a small cutting wheel and make two cuts on opposite sides of the knuckle approximately 90 degrees from the rod. It's easiest to do this from the "bottom" of the shock mount bracket. Once both cuts are finished, you should be able to remove the strut rod and cut away the bushing. Once the bushing is gone, you will see the inner sleeve likely rusted to the shock mount. I don't know if you can get the sleeve off the mount or not, but if you cut the center out of the mount, you should be able to remove it from the trailing arm. Good luck.

 

Im not for sure about your issue with the skid marks, but I do know that if you plan on changing the struts soak the shick mount bolts and the cam bolts in penetron, buy a spare set of each and be informed that the shock mount bolts are sided in the sense that theres a left and a right, dont ask me how I found that out. Good luck.

 

I got one side done with a big fu#K HAMMER NEXT SIDE

 

I'm just starting to dive into my rear because of bad bushings and I've been following this. I might have missed it but can't the rear axle yokes throw off the rear camber as they wear?

 

That's good news. How big was the hammer? I used a two pound on mine and was afraid to use anything bigger. I hope the next side goes better.

 

In many C3 rear ends (mine included) the differential yoke wears down as the the splined shaft rides on the center pin. There is a retaining clip that eventually comes off if the shaft wears far enough (about 1/8 of and inch or so). You'll know this has happened when you jack the rear of your car up and the weight of the tires pulls the yokes out about 1/4 - 3/8 inches or more and you can see the shafts. Once this happens, you need to change the yokes or the dust shield will begin rubbing against the differential case.

With the camber properly adjusted, and the weight on the car, the tires push in on the yokes. So as the yokes wear, the camber becomes more pronounced. If the shop you take your car to only aligns the front wheels, then eventually your camber would be out of tolerance. However, if they also align the rear, I would think they could compensate for the yoke wear by adjusting the cam bolt on the strut rod.

 

5 pound hit it 3 times POP

 

With the car on jack stands, use a jack to raise the trailing arm to normal ride position. You mave have to disconnect the spring to do this. When the trailing arm is at full droop, the strut rod is in a bind and this can make it difficult to remove the shock mount.

 

Good to know.... Thanks!!!

 

update side 2 is bad did not move with big hammer!! cut s rod off of s mount, cut s mount in 2 used a puller to get it off of the ears

 

Glad ya got it, it took a b.f.h. to get them out on mine.