Wits end!

[Kim K Kaiser]

Well,  after the tire change, car running good......... then on a pleasure cruise for abour 35 miles to my destination.   25 miles in, back end vibration came back home to roost.  I was goung 55 to 65 on the trip.  Had to pyll over.  Now, im not the type to lose my temper, throw tools, or hv tantrums, but im gettin to my wits end on this.   After i pulked over, i felt the hubcake,  not overly hot.  So i decided to drive on at about 40,  as i got miving i pushed on up to 55, not one vibration.   So,  wtf coukd it possibly be from here.

I have had.....

Shoes changed

Changed cylinder.... twice! First new one was stuck!

Axle gasket replaced

Tires replaced

Had drums re cut,

Whats left?

[Kim K Kaiser]

Finally got a chance to work on the rear end control arms.. and while not finished, after about 3 hours of fighting the car, I Got one arm off.. i jacked it up from the rear WITH THE  tire jack, put jacks under the frame,,( three of them) I'm paranoid about car falling on me!!  anyway,  i had a brief discussion with Russ about these new arms, as he has them and there installation.  and then I went to the book to get some more detail... after i got it up, i pulled the tire, then put the hydraulic jack under the front bolt and lifted.  got the bolt out, lowered the arm down and the spring wouldnt come out, so i had to get a set of those spring compressors, i put them on , squeezed the spring in and got the spring out and the old arm off.. i will send pictures of old arm bushings tomorrow for peer review... anticipate putting the first replacement arm on in the morning,, and R and R the other one,  hoping first ones experience will make for a faster second one.. There is quite a weight difference in the arms from the original to the ones made by Dan,, the custom ones, they are quite heavy and thick feeling.. the stock ones feel like tin compared to these....

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Look forward to the test drive results.

[Kim K Kaiser]

ok,, the synopsis of the last 12 hours.\

tools purchased.. 6 ton jacks per Dan the arm manufacturer. A splurge purchase of a battery operated Ingorsol rand impact wrench, (holy shit, what a god send)  these things make changing and removing a tire, cutting hard bolts, etc a snap!  assortment of impact sockets, adapters, etc.

yesterday, got spring off driver side,, 3 hours... yep, 3 hours.. woke up to day, with vim and vigor.. hit the car at 830,, 

because i live 60 miles from a parts store i bout a set of spring compressors so i wouldnt have to worry about getting them back in 48 hours in case things went to shyt.

so i went a bout compressing the springs, like REALLY compressing, because they wouldnt fit due to the hi lip on the new arms were the lower spring goes.. SOOO, out of frustration, i called Dan in Calgary, (the manufacturer)  he had some choice words for my inexperienced endeavor and i agreed.  anyway.  i told him where i was, the service manual told me how to remove the spring,, BUT,, they left off the part about letting the damn shock loose at the bottom end!!!! so my axle would nt drop enough to get the spring in.. so Dan told me to do that, I did.  and voila,,, after bout another hour, i got the spring in, the rear bolt lined up and moved to the front bolt. WELL!!!  more stuff here.. so i could get the up and down lined up but the front and back,, just couldnt get there.  SOOOO,,  i called trusty DAN back,, the manufacturer. he said get a come along (i used those big yellow straps) and pull the axel back, ,, i only needed about a half inch,  well, i did that, and again, like magic, it lined up, stuck my bolt in, said hell yeah, dropped car, put tire back on, tightened shock back up and moved to other side,, 

Now, having gobs of knowledge due to failure not he other side, i was off to the races,, front bolt came off,  shock came off, axle lowered, removed spring, compressed spring put new arm in, took an hours to get both front and back bolts lined up, got all in, tightened all to 60 pounds..and decided to go for a ride, to see the fruits of my 12 hours of labor.  

NEW RIDE ANALYSIS

i had mentioned previously that i was getting a vibration at 68 to 70, so much so that i had to pull over, stop car, and then take off again, and as long as i was under say,,, 65, everything was copesetic,  but if i ventured into the 68 to 70,, is shake rattle and roll from the rear.  

i immediate got up to 68, then 70, then75.  let er rip for about 5 miles.. no indication of vibration, i may not have let it to  a long enough ride to determine total success, but on my initial ride out,,, that has gone.

i also mentioned that i feel like i have a lot of junk in the trunk.. some sort of delay sway, when running along at highway speed, like if i move the wheel a little, the rear of the car will feel like it sways and then catches up,, hard to describe, but its like i have 2 tons of rock in the trunk and it takes a second for the rear of the car to catch up on a little wheel jerk to right or left,   just a loose feeling in the rear.. 

that appears to have been rectified as well. i just dont feel the delayed sort of sway from side to side.  

Now, could just a bushing change have done that , i dont know, I do know that the new rear arms are heavy, box constructed parts.  the old parts feel like beer cans compared to this part, the bushings slide in by hand, or a rubber mallet, easy peasy,   

Also, wähn you pull  out the old arms front the rear position, age and pressure i guess disforms the slot where the new bushing go, so i had to file those down so the new bushing and the new sleeve would get in there, so theres that, if you choose this path.  you can feel the ruffness and shards of metal you have to file down smooth.. that takes time.

The service manual let me down on the shock release, i would have compressed until it was flat, so, anyone doing this, keep that in mind, of course, an experienced person would probably known that, but,, I didn't so it cost me lots of frustrations and time.

Secondly, to do a job like this, have a good place, to do it., i dont have a garage, so i set up on the street, its flat, and i can get to everything,, I used my jacks but i am still deathly afraid of getting under a car, so that may have cost me some time..  but,, some of those new power tools are just great. espcislaly when putting the tires back on,, took about 1 minute to get all the bolts on.. 

Its a dirty job, i am covered in black ness.

Dan was a very nice fellow and got me through the difficult technical things.   Russ gave me initial impetus to barrel ahead..

its NOT AN EASY JOB, at least for a novice!! 

NOW FOR THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION

i effed up and put the front bolt on one side in from outside in instead of inside out,   IS that going to present a problem, should i go bak and punch it out and get it back in the other way,,, ???

i will post up a couple pictures of my old arms and the bushings

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Don't worry about the bolt.

[Kim K Kaiser]

Old bushings

[Kim K Kaiser]

A day doing suspension work.  Lots of ugly

[Kim K Kaiser]

Initial ride seems to hv cured. The shake.  I may not hv taken on extended enough ride but for appx 5 miles at 70 to 75.   It was fine.   I will take it for longer ride to.oro or sunday at higher speeds.  If possible, could you give me your take on my ladt question at the end of my dissertation.

[Kim K Kaiser]

Just a mortality reality.   I hv 3 ton an 6 ton jacks scattered all over tge frame, 2 hydraulic lifts and the orig tire jack on the bumper.   

Like a fear of heights.  

[3ft7bqmb7dryo]

Good job Kim, you are well on the way to receiving your master mechanic badge.  Glad you are happy with the new trailing arms and that the vibration is gone.

[3n49omug8n28i]

Your original bushings dont appear to have failed. A little external dry rot but the pin hole is not off center or distorted. I'm not a big fan of tubular control arms unless your building a full on race car. These things weight close to 5000 pounds and the factory stamped steel has lasted for 55 years.  I guess there have been some instances where there has been rust problems and the lower arms have rusted to the point that they broke. But it doesn't seem to be a rampant problem. It is always nice to go that extra mile to improve your ride though and your going to have miles of smiles driving your beautiful car as you bring it to top shape mostly on your own. Congratulations on performing the work yourself and sharing it with us as it's always a great read.

[Kim K Kaiser]

Im sure those originals good, tgey lasted 50 years, but just from a layman pov, side by side, they just seem thin,  i dnt pretend to hv any auto engineering part knowledge, they just seem from a weight and thickness standpoint, which may mean nothing at all, a bettr version,  say, if you put them side by side on a store shelf.   

I will be taking on a longer ride late today, pushing higher speeds  70 75, for extended periods.  Will report any changes if any.   

Thas nks for encouragement to move along

[Kim K Kaiser]

Its Montana!   Speed limit is 80.  !