Rear Suspension Rebuild
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 460
Likes: 12
From: Gulf Shores AL
Rear Suspension Rebuild
Anyone done a rear suspension rebuild themselves? My 91 is in need of new bushings et al and I'm thinking of tackling it myself. I've done this same job on other cars, but wonder if there are any "corvette surprises" waiting for me. I have the chassis service manual and a copy of the Corvette Fever tech note on this subject from a couple of months ago. It looks pretty straight forward, but looks can be deceiving.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 2
Re: Rear Suspension Rebuild (jwg2)
Did in a day pretty easily. I'd estimate maybe 6-8 hours if you are experienced with a wrench and plan for a snafu or two. I replaced the trailing arm bushings, strut rods (with poly adjustable Smart Struts), and toe rods. I have rebuilt two or three front suspensions before, so I guess I had some related experience to fall back on. Went pretty smoothly, and seems to be easier than a front end rebuild. Went with urethane, BTW.
Jeff
Jeff
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,521
Likes: 0
From: West Islip New York
Re: Rear Suspension Rebuild (jwg2)
Shouldn't have much of a problem. Can't think of any gotchas off the top of my head. What kind of mileage do you have? You might want to think about changing the universals while you're in there.
If you have any questions, post them. I just did mine last spring and changed everything so I might be able to help if you run into anything. Are you using poly ? I would recommend it.
If you have any questions, post them. I just did mine last spring and changed everything so I might be able to help if you run into anything. Are you using poly ? I would recommend it.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 460
Likes: 12
From: Gulf Shores AL
Re: Rear Suspension Rebuild (1MoorTym)
I've gone back ondd forth on that. I've read good and bad on rubber v. poly. I have 195k highway miles (plus a couple hundred track miles), so its way overdue. The handling has gotten so bad that I think I'm driving my 1970 Olds 98.
Its good to hear that its about 1 day's work. What sort of special tools did you need?
Its good to hear that its about 1 day's work. What sort of special tools did you need?
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 1,521
Likes: 0
From: West Islip New York
Re: Rear Suspension Rebuild (jwg2)
What sort of special tools did you need?
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 3,750
Likes: 1
From: San Jose CA
Re: Rear Suspension Rebuild (jwg2)
I rebuilt both front and rear, and used a 3 prong puller with sockets to get the old bushings, and used the same technique for those that needed to be pushed back in. Some bushings were small enough I could use my 4" inch vise. Be careful with the front bolts to the trailing arms, they have a tendency to fall into the frame, if you are not careful. After reading the horror stories about others losing them to the frame, I loosened them up and put masking tape over the hole.
