player1up
04-16-2015, 04:10 PM
I’ve just completed a rear suspension rebuild and would like to capture it for the rest of the community.
Disclaimer: My advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience; I will dispense this advice now.
Most already know what the suspension looks like in these cars but for those that don't.
The rear consists of a coilover, rocker arm, a-arm and tie rod ( and various spacers, bolts for you sticklers for detail )
Per side replacements are:
2 press in ball joints ( lower )
1 bolt in ball joint ( upper )
3 control arm bushings ( 1 lower and 2 for the rocker arm ) MGK3096 ( Moog k3096 ) from the parts list. This is a kit part number that has 2 bushings per kit...and some odd spacer or sleeve thing that I have no idea about where it goes.
2 tie rod ends.
Polybushings has poly replacements for the lower a-arm bushing. Affordable, quality pieces. Kudos Johnny!
Everyone that has done any suspension work knows that you have to unload it to work on it, but I did verify that it is “possible” to dis-assemble the rear without unloading the coilovers ( NOT recommended )
Special or not so special tools needed:
Coilover wrench
Torque wrench
Ball joint press ( screw type…NO hammers here )
The car was supported with 4 jack stands on the engine frame and the front wheels were chocked. The car had to be high enough to allow the front lower ball joints to be pressed out and in and the tool needed to fit between the car and the ground. I’m for sure not getting crushed…
Dis-assembly process:
Remove tie rods
I couldn’t unload the coilovers with the tie rods in place, the spring hit the zerk fitting on the inner tie rod end.
Unload coilover and remove top cross bolt. This will take the pressure off the other suspension bolts
Count the exposed threads under the adjuster collar or measure the ride height..or both!
Loosen all of the pinch bolts / ball joint nuts, axle nut and cross bolts
Axle nut is 1 ¼
Upper ball joint nut is 22mm 3/8 drive. The ½ inch drive socket was too thick to fit up in the recess for the nut.
Press all of the joints out. Mine had anti-seize in the bores and came right out once they started moving. Don’t forget to remove the snap rings first ;)
Special notes:
The rocker arm pivot bolt on the passenger side of my car was stripped and I had to cut it out…. This bolt is ½-13 11.5 inches long and grade 10.9. ACE hardware has a 12 inch one for about $8 in 10.9 grade :nod:
The front motor mount on my car was broken…completely. A piece fell out when the bolts were removed. It was re-welded but there really wasn’t a way to add any gussets without getting in the way of tightening the bolts so we’ll see how long it lasts.
At this point you can pull everything as you see fit and you might as well replace everything in question once you’re into it that far. I did cv boots ( and one axle bucket ), ball joints, bushings, transmission output seals, speedo drive o-rings, driver hub bearing, oh yeah, and the clutch…the reason for the tear down in the first place. BUT that’s a write up for another day ( soon )
I did not replace the tie rod ends ( forgot to order them ) but they had no slop and were in fantastic shape when I cleaned them. I did replace the boots though.
The rocker arm will be hard to remove…and even harder to install, at least on my car.
Bushings:
The rocker arm bushings are pressed in and there’s no way to press them out. I had to burn the rubber out with a propane torch, remove inner sleeves, remove what was left of the rubber and then cut the outer sleeves out. Go slow and be VERY careful not to cut into the rocker arm
There is a center spacer in between the 2 bushings on the rocker arm. It’s held centered by 2 nylon washers that slip around the outside of the spacer. I used some RTV to hold the washers in place on the spacer to make sure it wouldn’t get off center in the bore.
They press in fairly easy with some wd40 in the bore.
If you’re using the poly bushings for the lower a-arm, DO NOT remove the outer bushing shell.
Pulling stuff apart is pretty easy if you know how to turn a wrench, just loosen bolts until it comes out…Assembly on the other hand is a completely different beast.
Assembly process:
Lower a-arm rear goes in first, then the front. ( easier for me anyway )
I had a heck of a time getting the rear to “swing” into the mounting tabs with the front on the ball joint. There’s just not a lot of clearance there.
Make sure to line up the notch for the pinch bolt. I didn’t have enough of the joint sticking out of the arm to line it up once it was on.
Coilover / A-arm lower bolt with spacers.
IMPORTANT: clean the threads and lube them before threading the adjuster back onto the shock. The threads are aluminum, easy to damage, and even small amounts of crud make tightening the spring a pain.
The spacers on mine were slightly compressed on one end and would not slip off the bolts very easy and would not go back together without some severe coaxing so I sanded the inside of the spacers just enough to get them to fit without interference.
The bolt can be tightened if using the poly bushings as the center sleeve isn’t attached to the rubber ( poly) and won’t have any preload.
Rocker arm…remember how fun this was to remove?
This just about drove me mad ( if I wasn’t already ). The driver side frame mounts were almost 1/8 closer together than the passenger side so I clearanced the inner sleeve of the bushings instead of bending / clearancing the frame mounts. This had been done a little already sometime in the past. Just enough to still make it a pain to install ( instead of impossible ).
Don’t tighten the rocker arm pivot bolt until you set the ride height and get the car back on the ground… we don’t want to pre-load the bushings.
Mount the top bolt back into the coilover at the position it was in ..or not, I’m no expert. Mine was on the upper hole ( lower suspension setting )
Hub / axle
Make sure you line up the pinch bolt notch for the bottom ball joint and slip on. Don’t hammer the pinch bolt in, it’ll hose the threads.
Pop the axle back into the trans and slip the splines into the hub as it swings up into position.
I had to pull up on the rocker arm to get enough room to swing the hub into place even with very little pressure on the spring. I had to give some tension to it because the top keeper kept falling off the shock.
Axle nut is 180 ft/lbs for proper bearing preload. At least that’s what the instructions in the package said.
Ride height.
If you’ve threaded your adjuster past the tie rod interference you can install the tie rod at this point…or add some servos and linkage to make it 4 wheel steering…it’s up to you ( just making sure you’re reading and not skimming :) ) Double check all of the pinch bolts, nuts and such before you let the car down.
Once all of the ball joints are secure you can set the ride height again. ( you should have measured the height or counted the threads under the adjuster. )
If you measured and counted and are using the same springs just thread the plate to where it was and call it done. If not..i warned you :)
Tightening the adjuster is a pain…approx 8 turns per thread..around 30-34 threads for my ride height with the 500# springs…every turn is harder than the last one..good times. Wear gloves so when the coilover wrench slips off you gouge your hands on stuff. It’s harder to finish projects when hurt… don’t ask…
Double check all bolts, nuts, cotter pins and grease all of the fittings etc and sit back and have a beer or 3.
IMPORTANT: Beer is MANDATORY at this point but remember beer AFTER double checks :eyebrows:
I'll try to get some photos up to link to and I'll update if I forgot anything.
Disclaimer: My advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience; I will dispense this advice now.
Most already know what the suspension looks like in these cars but for those that don't.
The rear consists of a coilover, rocker arm, a-arm and tie rod ( and various spacers, bolts for you sticklers for detail )
Per side replacements are:
2 press in ball joints ( lower )
1 bolt in ball joint ( upper )
3 control arm bushings ( 1 lower and 2 for the rocker arm ) MGK3096 ( Moog k3096 ) from the parts list. This is a kit part number that has 2 bushings per kit...and some odd spacer or sleeve thing that I have no idea about where it goes.
2 tie rod ends.
Polybushings has poly replacements for the lower a-arm bushing. Affordable, quality pieces. Kudos Johnny!
Everyone that has done any suspension work knows that you have to unload it to work on it, but I did verify that it is “possible” to dis-assemble the rear without unloading the coilovers ( NOT recommended )
Special or not so special tools needed:
Coilover wrench
Torque wrench
Ball joint press ( screw type…NO hammers here )
The car was supported with 4 jack stands on the engine frame and the front wheels were chocked. The car had to be high enough to allow the front lower ball joints to be pressed out and in and the tool needed to fit between the car and the ground. I’m for sure not getting crushed…
Dis-assembly process:
Remove tie rods
I couldn’t unload the coilovers with the tie rods in place, the spring hit the zerk fitting on the inner tie rod end.
Unload coilover and remove top cross bolt. This will take the pressure off the other suspension bolts
Count the exposed threads under the adjuster collar or measure the ride height..or both!
Loosen all of the pinch bolts / ball joint nuts, axle nut and cross bolts
Axle nut is 1 ¼
Upper ball joint nut is 22mm 3/8 drive. The ½ inch drive socket was too thick to fit up in the recess for the nut.
Press all of the joints out. Mine had anti-seize in the bores and came right out once they started moving. Don’t forget to remove the snap rings first ;)
Special notes:
The rocker arm pivot bolt on the passenger side of my car was stripped and I had to cut it out…. This bolt is ½-13 11.5 inches long and grade 10.9. ACE hardware has a 12 inch one for about $8 in 10.9 grade :nod:
The front motor mount on my car was broken…completely. A piece fell out when the bolts were removed. It was re-welded but there really wasn’t a way to add any gussets without getting in the way of tightening the bolts so we’ll see how long it lasts.
At this point you can pull everything as you see fit and you might as well replace everything in question once you’re into it that far. I did cv boots ( and one axle bucket ), ball joints, bushings, transmission output seals, speedo drive o-rings, driver hub bearing, oh yeah, and the clutch…the reason for the tear down in the first place. BUT that’s a write up for another day ( soon )
I did not replace the tie rod ends ( forgot to order them ) but they had no slop and were in fantastic shape when I cleaned them. I did replace the boots though.
The rocker arm will be hard to remove…and even harder to install, at least on my car.
Bushings:
The rocker arm bushings are pressed in and there’s no way to press them out. I had to burn the rubber out with a propane torch, remove inner sleeves, remove what was left of the rubber and then cut the outer sleeves out. Go slow and be VERY careful not to cut into the rocker arm
There is a center spacer in between the 2 bushings on the rocker arm. It’s held centered by 2 nylon washers that slip around the outside of the spacer. I used some RTV to hold the washers in place on the spacer to make sure it wouldn’t get off center in the bore.
They press in fairly easy with some wd40 in the bore.
If you’re using the poly bushings for the lower a-arm, DO NOT remove the outer bushing shell.
Pulling stuff apart is pretty easy if you know how to turn a wrench, just loosen bolts until it comes out…Assembly on the other hand is a completely different beast.
Assembly process:
Lower a-arm rear goes in first, then the front. ( easier for me anyway )
I had a heck of a time getting the rear to “swing” into the mounting tabs with the front on the ball joint. There’s just not a lot of clearance there.
Make sure to line up the notch for the pinch bolt. I didn’t have enough of the joint sticking out of the arm to line it up once it was on.
Coilover / A-arm lower bolt with spacers.
IMPORTANT: clean the threads and lube them before threading the adjuster back onto the shock. The threads are aluminum, easy to damage, and even small amounts of crud make tightening the spring a pain.
The spacers on mine were slightly compressed on one end and would not slip off the bolts very easy and would not go back together without some severe coaxing so I sanded the inside of the spacers just enough to get them to fit without interference.
The bolt can be tightened if using the poly bushings as the center sleeve isn’t attached to the rubber ( poly) and won’t have any preload.
Rocker arm…remember how fun this was to remove?
This just about drove me mad ( if I wasn’t already ). The driver side frame mounts were almost 1/8 closer together than the passenger side so I clearanced the inner sleeve of the bushings instead of bending / clearancing the frame mounts. This had been done a little already sometime in the past. Just enough to still make it a pain to install ( instead of impossible ).
Don’t tighten the rocker arm pivot bolt until you set the ride height and get the car back on the ground… we don’t want to pre-load the bushings.
Mount the top bolt back into the coilover at the position it was in ..or not, I’m no expert. Mine was on the upper hole ( lower suspension setting )
Hub / axle
Make sure you line up the pinch bolt notch for the bottom ball joint and slip on. Don’t hammer the pinch bolt in, it’ll hose the threads.
Pop the axle back into the trans and slip the splines into the hub as it swings up into position.
I had to pull up on the rocker arm to get enough room to swing the hub into place even with very little pressure on the spring. I had to give some tension to it because the top keeper kept falling off the shock.
Axle nut is 180 ft/lbs for proper bearing preload. At least that’s what the instructions in the package said.
Ride height.
If you’ve threaded your adjuster past the tie rod interference you can install the tie rod at this point…or add some servos and linkage to make it 4 wheel steering…it’s up to you ( just making sure you’re reading and not skimming :) ) Double check all of the pinch bolts, nuts and such before you let the car down.
Once all of the ball joints are secure you can set the ride height again. ( you should have measured the height or counted the threads under the adjuster. )
If you measured and counted and are using the same springs just thread the plate to where it was and call it done. If not..i warned you :)
Tightening the adjuster is a pain…approx 8 turns per thread..around 30-34 threads for my ride height with the 500# springs…every turn is harder than the last one..good times. Wear gloves so when the coilover wrench slips off you gouge your hands on stuff. It’s harder to finish projects when hurt… don’t ask…
Double check all bolts, nuts, cotter pins and grease all of the fittings etc and sit back and have a beer or 3.
IMPORTANT: Beer is MANDATORY at this point but remember beer AFTER double checks :eyebrows:
I'll try to get some photos up to link to and I'll update if I forgot anything.