Not sure if this is normal or something to worry about. On my 71 when I Jack up the Vette, with the rear wheels hanging, I can grab the wheel at 12 and 6 and feel movement..maybe an 1/4 of an inch. Both sides are about the same. There is no movement side to side. It looks like the movement is coming from the bushing at the front of the trailing arm..time for bushings? Thanks, Bill

 

Movement in what way? Are you pulling 12 and 6 at the same time so that the whole unit is moving out 1/4 inch? Or, are you pulling 12 and pushing 6 and getting 1/4 inch movement? If the former, I would think that to look at the side yokes. If the later, sounds like wheel bearings. I'm not expert but I don't think that you should be getting that kind of movement from bushings.

 

12 and 6 pushing and pulling..the only thing I can see moving is the bushing end on both sides. Movement is about the same on both sides.

 

If you push the trailing arm in and out does it move - arm in / out.(not side to side) If not the bushing is good. Assuming the rubber is not detreated / torn.

The front of the trailing are is designed to move. (slightly) If the alignment is good I would loosen the bolt that goes through the arm and put 2 shims in - one on each side ( equal thickness).

You will have to remove the large carter pin also.

Tighten the bolt. put the carter pins in and call it a day. Torque the pivot bolt to 50 '/#.

 

thanks, I will give it a try

 

When you do the 10:00/6:00 test, if you can't see the spot where the side yoke enters the diff, ask somebody to look at it for you. If the play is in the yokes, you can see it, and it will clunk. Caveat... you really have to **** on it to get it to move. Put your back into it.

 

OK...first off when you are feeling this movement...as 'Tom454' somewhat mentioned....it ALL has to do with how much effort you are applying to be able to fell this movement. If your effort is somewhat slight and you are not raising the wheel and pushing it in at the 12;00 o'clock position.,...then I would either feel that it is a wheel bearing issue...or universal joints just behind your spindle assembly.

Liek Tom mentioned.....in order to get your side yokes to go back into your differential...you REALLY have to put your back into it...and that is assuming your leaf spring is good.

When you feel this movement have someone what it carefully and see if they see the backside of the spindle area where the universal joint is mounted move and pivot there. More than likely..it is wheel bearings...

I (personally) would NOT mess with your trailing arm bolts area and the shims there. The reason is that is your toe setting and you can screw things up by messing with these shims.

Now...if you can post a VERY GOOD CLEAR photo of what the trailing arm shim/bushing areas looks like....I have been doing this for a very long time and I have serviced more trailing arm bushing than I care to remember,...and because I have done countless of them...and I can often times just look at the condition of the bushing and tell if they are bad...and YES..I can do that....because I know what they look like when they are bad.

DUB

 

Thanks Dub. I did check and the movement is definitely coming from the front of the trailing arm. Both sides, movement is about the same. I don't have the 71 at my house, it's in a rented garage. I will get some pictures asap. Also, thanks again for all your help with my wipers. Everything works perfect. You and Alan71, along with many other members, really go out of your way to lend a hand. Thank you! This forum is the best hands down!

 

Trailing arms....... when they develop slop, due to deteriorated bushings, will steer your car without driver input.

A road test with this is mind can reveal it as long as you are sure the front end pieces are in good shape. Acceleration and then lifting a foot off the gas shouldn't be felt in the steering wheel at all.....of it is......you're probably looking at having to replace those bushings in the front of the arms.

Wheel Bearings.......someone else can probably tell you better than I can what amounts to too much side to side play........but for me it was noise that let me know it was time to replace them.

 

If the bushings are shot, they have to come out. While they are out, rebuild them, and it's over with.

 

What kind of noise?

 

FOR WHAT THIS IS WORTH:

If a person is going to try to install the rubber trailing arm bushing....you need to have the correct tool that compresses then so the inner sleeve can be staked. THEN....DO NOT FORGET to file the inner sleeve FLAT and so it is NOT poking out past the surface of the thick washer. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!! You will know you are good to go when you lay a thick shim over the washer and it lays flat against the surface of the washer. IF the inner sleeve sticks out past the washer...then you WILL have problems in the future due to that extended material will effect your 'toe' setting....which you will find out is IMPORTANT!!!!!

Also...DO NOT FORGET about the strut rods. I prefer to ONLY use the grease-able heim jointed adjustable strut rods....and NOT use the rubber or polyurethane bushing strut rods that are also available. I have seen the rubber bushing and the polyurethane bushings in the strut rods fail sooner than I like...due to the X,Y, Z movement that the strut rod has to travel. The heim jointed ones just do what they need to do and are the way to go...in my opinion. It will be some of the best money you spend on your Corvette. OR....Wonder why your new tires are getting eaten up and have to replace them again. And YES..I am aware that many people can have either the rubber or poly in their car for years and do not have a problem...but I have seen otherwise..and THAT is what I can commenting on...due to I work on numerous Corvettes a year...and many of these Corvettes have 5, 10, 25K miles put on some of these parts and I can see what is failing.

When aligning up the rear end...you want to get the camber set first...thus this is why the strut rods are important...then you go to the trailing arms and set your shim packs. I knwo from experience that If I went and set the trailing arm shims to set the toe and the CAMBER was not set. When I adjusted the camber with the strut rods...it completely threw off my toe setting and I had to do it all over again. SO....this is why your struts rods are also important. If the bushing go bad...it throws off your toe setting...and thus...the car can track different and under high speeds it can feel like you a have steering wheel in the rear of the car....REGARDLESS ON how perfect your front end alignment is.

The rear wheel bearing take special tools for set-up and installation..and the wheel bearing run-out should be from .001" to .003" in my opinion. I do not set them up above .003".

AS for the noise that a wheel bearing can make...it can be a squeak or a crunching sound. the universal joints can make the same sound also when they are running dry and needing to be replaced. Sometimes the wheel bearing may not make a noise...but when the half shaft is removed and you can feel the spindle when it is turning you can just tell that it is not right...because it is not fluid. You will also want to have the caliper and rotor removed when checking it if this is new to you.

DUB

 

To add to what DUB said - I have found the new bushing kits have side plates with too shallow of a recess to receive the flare, thus the flare projects out too much and needs filing flat. I suggest you try to save and re use your original side plates. I did and the sealed flare was perfectly flush. I have a flaring tool if you want to borrow, pay ship both ways

 

Thank you...I may take you up on that!

 

Bearings, when they dry out.....in my experience they just howl......I really don't know how else to describe it........the noise isn't overwhelming but it's steady and it definitely comes from the back and unlike a rear gear that is bad.....when it's a bearing making the noise you should notice it's coming from one side rather than just generally speaking the back of the car.....as you'd probably expect the pitch changes with speed......quiet and almost nothing at all at city speeds.......but above 40 MPH it's impossible to miss.

I chose to just wipe out the problem with one big HIT....... no messing around and trying to squeeze out extra mileage out of pieces that may have had some life left in them......I just did complete rebuilt arms on both sides and an alignment........one and done. That was 10 years or so ago. Given the limited use the car sees these days......I don't expect to have to ever do them again. Polly bushings in the front should hold up way better than original rubber bushings for sure. The bearings probably won't see enough miles to go bad again anytime soon.