hey there im new to the whole online corvette community but recently was talking with my father about getting a project car for the weekends and he basically gave me free reign on his beloved '86 coupe. since a kid this has been my dream car and in my highschool years (current college student) i owned my grandfathers '90 coupe (guess you could say it runs in the family ) . so basically the story with my dads car is that hes owned it since '87 and it started in washington state, then went with him to florida (where i was born) driven by my eldest brother in highschool (returned with empty bag of mcdonalds and other misc junk) and to its now home in kentucky where after an hour or so of installing new spark plugs runs perfectly after sitting for 5 years not running. The news that it was running rekindled my dads fond memories of the car and made him want to invest in getting it into shape again. I do understand the now countless maintenance items i need to perform on the car but I'm currently attempting to hunt down the gremlin that banished it to the garage in the first place; the squeaking creaking sloppy rear end. from everything ive read recently it seems to be that the half shaft u-joints are the culprit and we're planning on tackling that this weekend. my question is where should i go next if the new half shaft u joints dont resolve the issue?

Many thanks,
Brosnan

 

Here's a thread worth reading IMO: http://www.digitalcorvettes.com/foru...d.php?t=144562
It's more than you need, so go as far as needed. I'd do all the u-joints and the Teflon washers right away. Another thing worth thinking about while you have the rear torn apart anyway is check the rubber bushings and replace them with poly ones at a minimum (can't get rubber ones any more). You can also do a search here as there are several threads on u-joints.

I've done the u-joints the other year in mine and upgraded to the Banski Motorsport rear suspension packages last winter. Sure helped mine out.

Start there and see where you get and come back if you have more questions.

 

Hub Bearings, Before you commit yourself to the U-Joints and things are still together. Get the wheels off the ground (I usually support by lifting by suspension for testing) and grab the wheel from the Top & Bottom and try to Pivot Up/Down Left/Right, you will Probably will have some play but if Really loose replace them While you have things Apart

 

definitely will check hub bearings, that seemed like it could be another culprit. its just a really odd sound and its only coming from the right passenger wheel the only way to really clearly describe it is like a squeaking creaking that gets faster with speed but when my dad got on it it seemed to go away. also any DIY's on replacing that rear hub assembly?

 

Take a look at that thread I referenced earlier. I think it has most everything you need for u-joints and hubs. Does not cover replacing the bushings but that's another subject.

 

bushings are pretty self explanatory. did most of em on my saab.

 

going to replace the u joints on the one side thats giving me issues see if that resolves it. will be tackling other u joints and hub assembly on another weekend since the car is an hour and a half away from me. thanks for all the help yall! will keep the forumn updated.

 

While you have the wheel off pull the brake pads, it could be as silly as the retaining clips on the brake pad rubbing and rattling.

 

what do the retaining clips look like? so i can check while im at it

 

Just got back to the garage and checked, it's definitely the wheel bearing. When i grabbed it there was a pretty noticable amount of movement. Picking one up and getting it all done in one hoorah.

 

Need to start asking your dad where he was carving corners so hard.

 

[QUOTE=dclafleur;1594479624]Need to start asking your dad where he was carving corners so hard. [/QUOTE
Haha hes sittin next to me and promises he babied it. but another quick question, summit has cheaper ones that look the same but it says theyre for non abs cars. Does it matter?

 

[QUOTE=86fathersoncoupe;1594480967]I think you need the one for ABS cars, I know you can use later bearings on the early non abs cars since it is just an extra mount you don't use but the reverse isn't likely true.

On a semi-related note my '85 was my dad's car too that I took over in grad school. It also had been sitting non-running for a while (fuel pump fixed it).

 

[QUOTE=dclafleur;1594481151]Haha! Thats my my plan too! How do i kno which one are abs and which arent?

 

[QUOTE=86fathersoncoupe;1594481216] If you have Anti-Lock Brakes (and you do being a 86) you need the ABS Bearings. the bearings have the Sensor wheel teeth on them. If you are looking at spindles again you need the ABS ones because the have the mounting holes for the the Sensor.

 

Keeping in mind the wheel bearing nut may have come loose, had it happen made a squeeking sound when I turned. If it is worn of course replace and with the washers.
Also I had a run in with my strut rod bushongs the ones behind the camber bolts , they were worn out but hard to see. Good Luck all.

 

Note that the FSM has something like 170' pounds torque on the spindle nut. Latest info is use 200' pounds. That info I provided earlier is a good reference on how you can change a rear hub also in addition to u-joints.

When I did my u-joints I had a worry about the possibility of bending the yoke trying to get the old ones out, being it's aluminum parts and all. I made a tool to use in the hydraulic press that only pressed against one side of the yoke at a time. Here's something I made that worked out well.

 

father son projects are a great way to spend time together. Treasure it.

 

i have been! this weekend on the car was great. update on progress; took old u joints out and they were the original spicers and literally and i mean literaly had no needle bearings left at least on the wheel side of the half shaft. so replacing them took all the noise away from driving it, and planning on doing the other side in a couple weeks. also while driving the brakes went out. turns out it just needs the brakes bled go figure. hoping to follow my dad in it to the tail of the dragon this summer, or at least thats the plan.

 

If you haven't yet I'd flush the old brake fluid before you take it on something that'll have lots of braking. It loses its heat capacity over time and the small rotors on early C4's can heat up fast.