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harmonic balancer replacement

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Old Jun 7, 2012 | 11:58 PM
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Default harmonic balancer replacement

hey guys, i've got to replace harmonic balancer and a/c on 99 vette. My question is how does the rack come out. i've tried everything; rack is free but just wont clear the frame and cradle. i've loosen all cradle bolts,4, but cradle wont drop,,trying to get clearance for rack to come out on driver side. any ideas???
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 01:23 AM
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Move the rack to the passenger side it doesn't need to come all the way out
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 01:38 AM
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Did you take the wheels off?
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 07:17 AM
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I need to remove all out to do AC as well
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 07:41 AM
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Originally Posted by eleonb
I need to remove all out to do AC as well
English please....
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 07:48 AM
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Once the rack is free from the cradle, move to the passenger side wheel well and then move the tie rods to effective bend the rack and drop if out the driver's side. Takes me less than 30 seconds to do this. Make sure the wheels are off and use the tie rods to change the shape and move it around.
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 08:10 AM
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Originally Posted by eleonb
I need to remove all out to do AC as well
I do motor swaps and the AC stays in the car/charged

you can remove the lower shock bolts and drop the cradle down about 3/4"

The key is having the car on the lift or supported safely on the frame rails........obviously not the cradle

hope this helps
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 09:00 AM
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Roll the rack towards the front of the car. That will let you slid it towards the passenger side till you can lower the drivers side down then out the drivers side. That's how I did mine.
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Paul 75 L82
Roll the rack towards the front of the car. That will let you slid it towards the passenger side till you can lower the drivers side down then out the drivers side. That's how I did mine.
Did you insert a shim in between the cradle and frame to separate them +- 1/2" ?
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by vettenuts
Once the rack is free from the cradle, move to the passenger side wheel well and then move the tie rods to effective bend the rack and drop if out the driver's side. Takes me less than 30 seconds to do this. Make sure the wheels are off and use the tie rods to change the shape and move it around.

I'll try this when I get home thks
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Old Jun 8, 2012 | 12:58 PM
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FYI, the spring is pushing down on the control arms and up on the cradle. The down force on the control arms goes through the fully extended shock to the frame. The net result is the spring pulling down on the frame and pushing up on the cradle which holds them together. You have to undo the shocks and/or pry the cradle down and wedge something in there to hold it seperated.
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Old Jun 11, 2012 | 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by vettenuts
Once the rack is free from the cradle, move to the passenger side wheel well and then move the tie rods to effective bend the rack and drop if out the driver's side. Takes me less than 30 seconds to do this. Make sure the wheels are off and use the tie rods to change the shape and move it around.
This worked great,, after I removed sway bar, everything went good. Balancer in, new AC,, running smooth and blowing cold. Thx to all for ur help!!!
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