There is play in my rear bearings. I have been reading what i can find and have determined that rebuilding this is not a job for me.
I will replace the entire assembly with new or rebuilt units.

As I understand it, there are shims at the trailing arm mounts to set the rear toe. If I am replacing the arms with new offset units.
Will the shims go back in as they came out or am I starting from scratch with the new arms and the toe setting?
- is there a link, post or video on getting the assembly removed and then getting the toe right upon reassembly?

Is this a tough job? I currently have limited garage space in which to work. I am a competent mechanic but very new to Corvettes and do not want to open a can of worms in a tight space mid summer.....

Can this be done in an afternoon?

Thanks all!

 

Being a competent mechanic, it's not a tough job unless you make it so. Don't bother with penetrating fluids. Go right to the sawzall and cut the ta bolts right through the shims. A couple shims may be rendered useless. Buy a stainless steel shim pack. Buy new ta bolts. The toe will need to be reset and camber. But keep track of the old shims combined thickness for each side of the ta to aid in getting the toe dialed in. You can adjust the toe and camber yourself but it can be done. Some use cell phone apps for measuring angles. Not difficult. Not likely done in an afternoon though. Maybe a full day if it goes smooth working by yourself.

 

On my 71 I soaked the TA bolts with Freez-off for a week, every morning and after work. Then I was able to take the nuts off and remove the bolts.

Replace the shims with SS shims and put back the same thickness on each side. When all done get a wheel alignment.


A trick to get the bolt in - is to use a string through the carter pin hole and pull it through the assembly. Thread the string ( Masons line or fishing line -20# ) through the assembly before you assemble it. I coat the bolt with Never Seize as I slip it in.

I would use new French Locks, bolts and shims

I sent mine out to a local shop that has the proper tools do to the trailing arms. Cost me $350 each, rebuilt and painted. That included new parking break hardware.

 

I did this last fall on my '80 which I've owned since new. Item 1, there's a good chance you won't be able to get the old bolts out. They rust themselves solidly to the bushing sleeve. You'll need a sawzall style tool to cut through the bolts. And you'll need a good blade designed to cut hardened steel. I used a diablo carbide with I think 8 or 9 TPI. Here's a link to the thread covering my ordeal with these. You may be able to get the old shims out before cutting the bolts. But maybe not. I got them out on one side but not the other. If you don't get them out, you need to cut through them.

As for using the same shims or replacements, even if you get them all back in, they likely won't have the toe set correctly. I found I could not get the same amount, i.e. same total thickness, of shims as were there with the original TA's. I know on one alignment back pre 2000 they needed to change the shims during an alignment. Maybe they added some due to the originals being worn and rusted, maybe the new set was a little thicker than specified (e.g. maybe the 1/8" shims were really .130 instead of .125), whatever. But I installed 1/8" less total shim stack on both the driver and passenger sides. I intentionally reduced the inboard shim stack more than the outboard to shoot for some toe in. But when I brought them in for alignment they had slight toe out on both sides. So this leads me to the conclusion that just replacing them might get you close but they'll still need an alignment to get right.

As for an afternoon job, if you are able to get the car up high enough for really good access and the bolts don't put up a fight and the shims don't put up a fight and the struts don't put up a fight, and the shocks don't put up a fight, well you get the picture. A couple afternoons though should do it.

 

I jacked up the rear.
I thought the bearings had play. I do not think there is an issue there.

Rocking tire/wheel side to side is tight
rocking top to bottom has play
The trailing arm is rocking with the assembly.

Where is the play coming from?

 

Worn ta bushings will give you play. Also, check the end play in the side yokes.

 

Removing the trailing arms could be a piece of cake or a ball buster. My 68 was driven in NYC winters for years. I removed the trailing arm bolts without any problem. My 66 spent its life in southern Cali. Both bolts had to be cut out. You really will not know what to expect until you start. At the very least, I would soak the area thoroughly with PB Blaster or other penetrating spray twice a day for a few days to free things up. If you go the sawsall route, as mentioned above, get a few carbide blades about 9 to 12" long. When you put it together use an equal number of shims on each side of the bushing to get you to an alignment shop. Call ahead to find out if the shop has someone who has experience with the vette rear. Lastly, it would help the shop if you brought your own specs. They were different for C-3s depending upon the tires. Good luck. Jerry

 

As far a safety is concerned.

If I assume worn bushings and unknown history of the car. I would assume a complete rebuild is in order
My plan was to rebuild the front and rear suspensions next winter.
Thoughts on continuing to drive the car for the summer?
Our summers in the northeast seem so short, I hate to take the car out of service.
There is not a ton of play but is is there.

Can it b driving for a while?

 

Tom K,
+1 as stated above. I needed a drivers side T/A rebuild as my bearing had excessive wear and play when checked by pulling on the wheel assembly at the 12:00 & 6:00 positions.
A local shop in St Petersburg, FL pulled the assy off for me and Van Steels inspected and rebuilt the assy. They replaced the bearing spindle as well after disassembling and inspection due to excessive rusting which excelled the wear on the bearing surface.
They are the experts in what they do. It is $ well spent as most of us do not have the resources to press the bearing in and out nor set the run out properly. If you are on a budget or feeling ambitious you can remove/reinstall yourself w/o a hitch. Just be very careful not to break the piece that the strut rod mounts to. (Bearing Carrier?) as these are unavailable per Van Steel's.
I'm very happy with how mine came out. I saving some more $ and as a preventive measure I'm planning on having the passenger side done too. Then I will have it aligned. Buy some shims as stated above so the toe in/out can be set. The strut rods are adjusted near the differential carrier mount for +/- camber.
I would caution driving to fast or to far in case the bearing lets go.......
I did the side that needed it first as my passenger side is still tight.
Marshal

 

Look at both the lower control arm, and the drive shaft U joints, yokes, etc.
The vette has a weird suspension, and uses the driveshaft to locate the wheel.

 

Do a thorough inspection of all the suspension parts with special attention to bushings. Note the photo of one of my strut bushings after about 90k miles of driving. That, noted, I had been driving some amount of time with bushings like this.




If you look to my link for the blade to cut the TA bolts you'll also see what the TA bushings looked like. Spring bushings were also cracked and squashed. It seems things are fairly tolerant back there. Another issue would be drive shaft and side shafts looking to the u-joint straps - are the straps in good shape and tight. That would be something I wouldn't drive with.My biggest fear would be is something metal is actually cracked. In any case, if you decide to drive it, I wouldn't push it.

As for the blades to use if you have to cut the bolts, the single diablo blade I mentioned above did the whole job, and that was 6 cuts. Why 6? Apparently my initial cuts were not close enough to the bushing sleeve, so I couldn't get the bushing end to move far enough to one side for the uncut end of the bolt to come inside the frame. So I had to cut the other end of the bolt also. That accounts for 4 cuts. The other 2 were because the remains of outboard end of the bolt, i.e. the end with the nut, was too long to come out. It would hit the inner body panel first. So, I had to cut both of them. The blade did a great job. It made each of the bolt only cuts in 2 minutes including stops to shoot some more oil on the blade and let it cool down. The blade was about $15 and worth it. As others have noted, if after a couple days of letting penetrating oil work you can't move the bolts, go to the saw. I was hard headed about it and literally spent hours trying to pound them out. Total waste of time.

 

Mine were in the normal condition for a 71. Cracked ends, no bushings and bent to get an alignment by someone who had no clue.

Soaking with Freez-Off worked wonders...

 

These videos helped me a lot:

I did the swap on my 68 in about 8 hours by myself. It isn't overly tough, I did not have to use a saw to get the bolts off.

 

So where is the part removing the ta bolts?

 

Tom, unless you know the complete history of your rear wheel bearings (such as the last time if ever, that they were serviced) I would recommend you plan on (or consider) having the trailing arms rebuilt, especially if your plan is to keep and enjoy the car for a few years. A seized rear wheel bearing will leave you on the side of the road, can result in damage to the rear quarters and ultimately cost you double or more what you would have spent to have them professionally serviced. If you are planning on selling the car soon, use your own judgement.

Correctly serviced wheel bearings should give you trouble free and worry free driving for years and at least 75k miles. I had one of them seize on me within days of buying my 6 year old mid-year, with under 30k miles on it. It seized the wheel bearing and destroyed the axle along with the bearings. Needed a torch to disassemble the mess and was quite expensive for a college student paying his way through school. The only good thing was it made me realize that even if I could afford the car, I couldn't afford to pay people to fix it for me, so I had better learn to fix these things myself. It was a valuable lesson that has paid big dividends over the years.

Send a PM to GTR1999 and discuss the condition, mileage and age of the car with him. He'll have lots of excellent advice.

Good luck... GUSTO

 

you have some play in rear suspension. what kind of driving do you do? down the street to cruise ins or shows? or autocross racing? or drag strip? unless you really put that rear suspension through it's paces, it should hold up as a driver until late fall when you can start showing wifey the pics of new trailing arm assys you want for Christmas. in the mean time, you may want to see if the trailing arm bolt wants to come out or not just to get an idea what you are in for.

 

The OP is not interested in rebuilding. He's replacing the ta's and wants to know what is involved in removing the ta's and alignment on completion.