Time to take out the trailing arms... :P - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

**COBALT** · 10-03-2002, 01:48 PM

Now that my front-end is almost done I gotta drop the trailing arms and put in new bushings + replace the panhard bar bushings, so I have to take the rear suspension apart.

What's the best way to do this? How do I unload the springs?Where should I start? I have a 10 bolt Corp. axle.

**1971Stepside** · 10-03-2002, 01:53 PM

Here is how I did it, but it may not be the best method. It worked fine for me.

1. Unbolted and Removed Panhard bar.
2. Removed shocks
3. Unhooked E-Brake cables
4. Loosened top spring bolts
5. Loosened trailering arm bolts
6. Removed Axle u-bolts
7. Removed Axle
8. Removed upper spring bolts and retainer cups
9. Removed trailering arms
10. Let Lost Wages remove lower spring bolts!!

Good luck.

Get some WD and an impact wrench. Oh, and a few bandaids.

Spoof · 10-03-2002, 05:06 PM

Its nice to have a couple types of jacks, a jack-all for lifting the frame and a floor style for supporting the trailing arms, and lifting them so you can get an impact on them if you have one.
To unload the springs support the frame, nice and sturdy, and they will hang slack, pop the bolts and the spring will come out with no danger since its not under pressure.
Much to my amazement I only had to cut two bolts when I took my rear suspension apart last week. Both the upper spring mount bolts wouldn't back all the way off.
I had been soaking all the bolts with Moov-it for a few weeks so AMAZINGLY the u-bolts, lower mounts and trailing arm mounts all popped with a breaker bar. I wasn't even sore the next day!!!
At the moment I am trying to drive out the trailing arm bushings, no go, so as suggested earlier burning them out works and is a lot of fun to boot.
Keep us posted.
BTW are you going to run new brake lines Cobalt? How bout emergency cables?
Where did you find the tie rod bushings? I looked can't get em' at my local parts place.

OOOOPs almost forgot, make sure you support your frame with some sturdy blocks and resist the temptation to stick your body and head in spots that will lead to crushing when things get wobbly.

**COBALT** · 10-03-2002, 05:33 PM

I'm not going to run new brake lines until I convert to 1/2 ton suspension (5 or 6 lug pattern) and lower the truck later on. When I tore apart the front-end I literally took two big pieces of douglas fir that I split years ago, and sat both front wheel/brake drum/spindle assemblies on them, and left the brake lines connected. That way I could gain access to the shoulders the upper control arms go to, and clean the crap out of them. The back part of that yoke was SO dirty you couldn't see the brake lines running behind it. The dirt was at least 1" thick back there. It's clean as a whistle now.

I want the back to go the same way. I need to get the trailing arms out so I can drive in new bushings, so I'll probably inspect them, clean them and paint them too. If I can get away with leaving the brakes in tact, then that's what I'll do. I'd also like to paint the axle housing, but that's secondary to getting the bushings replaced.

BTW: I got a 3/4 ton front-end kit from Early Classic Enterprises. It came with:

1. Upper and lower control arm center bar assemblies (including bushings, grease seals, and grease fittings).
2. Upper and lower ball joints (including castle nuts, pins, and washers for the lowers + nuts and bolts for the uppers).
3. Inner and outer tie rods (including grease seals for the joints, and castle nuts and pins) -- What do you mean by bushings? The grease seals?
4. Tie rod adjustment sleaves to connect the tie rods.
5. Idler arm (including castle nuts and pins).
6. Pitman arm (including castle nut and pin -- but did NOT include new steering box nut and washers).
7. KYB Gas shocks for front and back.

Cost me a pretty penny though.

I had to clean and paint all the parts that had exposed steel that would rust (idler, tie rods, pitman, and upper and lower control arm center bars). I also had to buy new rubber bumbers for the upper and lower control arms, and I bought new U-bolts to hold the lower control arms in from NAPA.

I also wire scrubbed and painted the control arms (upper and lower), the springs, the spacers behind the upper control arm center bars, and the center connecting rod between tie rod assemblies, the idler and the pitman...

68_GMC_910 · 10-03-2002, 05:57 PM

I know it's no secret, but I got one word... WD40! whenever I'm dealing with axles and the suspensions they're attached to, whether it be my quad or my Samurai, WD40 does all the work for me... when I don't use WD40, I'm breaking bolts all the time... when I do use it, The work is ten times faster. I've heard stories about a 70 year old man who took apart an entire 1940-something mercury that was sitting out in his field for years thanks to WD40... he just went out there everyday and sprayed every bolt down with it... by the day he was ready to restore it, there was no problems getting the whole thing apart...

Spoof · 10-04-2002, 05:06 PM

Yes, I too was a devouted WD-40 fan until I came to see the light and started using Moov-it. I am convinced it is far better, but it's really hard to say at times?

Cobalt, If you need any 71 3/4 parts I'm getting rid of an entire rolling frame, wheels and all. Its even got the 4:10 Dana 60! I know your not too far away and its free! Front discs too.

**COBALT** · 10-04-2002, 05:50 PM

I was a WD-40 guy when I started, but I found that Liquid Wrench (Gunk) works the best. It's wetting properties are way better than WD-40, and that's what you need. Just a little squeeze onto a stud with a nut on it, and the nut comes right off. I got my whole front-end apart with it, and the passenger side has never seen the light of day.

**68 Stepside** · 10-04-2002, 07:40 PM

I went from WD-40, to gunk, to PB Blaster, it's incredible compared to liquid wrench, IMO. Kroil is also awesome stuff.

TJ

Longhorn Man · 10-04-2002, 11:37 PM

I'll second the PB Blaster. you can get it at any NAPA>
I used to use WD40, but discovered that you could spit on the bolt and have the same out come.

*Shane* · 10-04-2002, 11:44 PM

Here is my ranking of pentrating oils......

Kroil - the best...but the hardest to find.
TriFlow - very good stuff-also a little hard to find
Liquid Wrench - also very good
WD-40 - will do when you don't have the any of the above.

10-03-2002, 01:48 PM	#1
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	Time to take out the trailing arms... :P Now that my front-end is almost done I gotta drop the trailing arms and put in new bushings + replace the panhard bar bushings, so I have to take the rear suspension apart. What's the best way to do this? How do I unload the springs?Where should I start? I have a 10 bolt Corp. axle. __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.

10-03-2002, 01:53 PM	#2
1971Stepside Almost Satisfied Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Springfield, MO Posts: 2,932	Here is how I did it, but it may not be the best method. It worked fine for me. 1. Unbolted and Removed Panhard bar. 2. Removed shocks 3. Unhooked E-Brake cables 4. Loosened top spring bolts 5. Loosened trailering arm bolts 6. Removed Axle u-bolts 7. Removed Axle 8. Removed upper spring bolts and retainer cups 9. Removed trailering arms 10. Let Lost Wages remove lower spring bolts!! Good luck. Get some WD and an impact wrench. Oh, and a few bandaids. __________________ 1971 C10 Stepside. LSx 6.0 with BTR Stage IV, Speed Engineering Headers, 4L80e transmission w/3200 Circle-D Stall. 3.73. Posi. Purchased this truck when I was 17. I started the rebuild (or take apart) in 1993. I have drug it around all over the country in pieces. Finally back on the road in 2021. "I can't complain, but sometimes I still do. Life's been good to me so far."

10-03-2002, 05:06 PM	#3
Spoof Registered User Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Victoria,BC, Canada Posts: 1,300	Its nice to have a couple types of jacks, a jack-all for lifting the frame and a floor style for supporting the trailing arms, and lifting them so you can get an impact on them if you have one. To unload the springs support the frame, nice and sturdy, and they will hang slack, pop the bolts and the spring will come out with no danger since its not under pressure. Much to my amazement I only had to cut two bolts when I took my rear suspension apart last week. Both the upper spring mount bolts wouldn't back all the way off. I had been soaking all the bolts with Moov-it for a few weeks so AMAZINGLY the u-bolts, lower mounts and trailing arm mounts all popped with a breaker bar. I wasn't even sore the next day!!! At the moment I am trying to drive out the trailing arm bushings, no go, so as suggested earlier burning them out works and is a lot of fun to boot. Keep us posted. BTW are you going to run new brake lines Cobalt? How bout emergency cables? Where did you find the tie rod bushings? I looked can't get em' at my local parts place. OOOOPs almost forgot, make sure you support your frame with some sturdy blocks and resist the temptation to stick your body and head in spots that will lead to crushing when things get wobbly. __________________ 71 GMC 1500 LWB Last edited by Spoof; 10-03-2002 at 05:15 PM.

10-03-2002, 05:33 PM	#4
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	I'm not going to run new brake lines until I convert to 1/2 ton suspension (5 or 6 lug pattern) and lower the truck later on. When I tore apart the front-end I literally took two big pieces of douglas fir that I split years ago, and sat both front wheel/brake drum/spindle assemblies on them, and left the brake lines connected. That way I could gain access to the shoulders the upper control arms go to, and clean the crap out of them. The back part of that yoke was SO dirty you couldn't see the brake lines running behind it. The dirt was at least 1" thick back there. It's clean as a whistle now. I want the back to go the same way. I need to get the trailing arms out so I can drive in new bushings, so I'll probably inspect them, clean them and paint them too. If I can get away with leaving the brakes in tact, then that's what I'll do. I'd also like to paint the axle housing, but that's secondary to getting the bushings replaced. BTW: I got a 3/4 ton front-end kit from Early Classic Enterprises. It came with: 1. Upper and lower control arm center bar assemblies (including bushings, grease seals, and grease fittings). 2. Upper and lower ball joints (including castle nuts, pins, and washers for the lowers + nuts and bolts for the uppers). 3. Inner and outer tie rods (including grease seals for the joints, and castle nuts and pins) -- What do you mean by bushings? The grease seals? 4. Tie rod adjustment sleaves to connect the tie rods. 5. Idler arm (including castle nuts and pins). 6. Pitman arm (including castle nut and pin -- but did NOT include new steering box nut and washers). 7. KYB Gas shocks for front and back. Cost me a pretty penny though. I had to clean and paint all the parts that had exposed steel that would rust (idler, tie rods, pitman, and upper and lower control arm center bars). I also had to buy new rubber bumbers for the upper and lower control arms, and I bought new U-bolts to hold the lower control arms in from NAPA. I also wire scrubbed and painted the control arms (upper and lower), the springs, the spacers behind the upper control arm center bars, and the center connecting rod between tie rod assemblies, the idler and the pitman... __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.

10-03-2002, 05:57 PM	#5
68_GMC_910 what would Neal do? Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Posts: 150	I know it's no secret, but I got one word... WD40! whenever I'm dealing with axles and the suspensions they're attached to, whether it be my quad or my Samurai, WD40 does all the work for me... when I don't use WD40, I'm breaking bolts all the time... when I do use it, The work is ten times faster. I've heard stories about a 70 year old man who took apart an entire 1940-something mercury that was sitting out in his field for years thanks to WD40... he just went out there everyday and sprayed every bolt down with it... by the day he was ready to restore it, there was no problems getting the whole thing apart... __________________ 1968 GMC 910 Long Step 250/3onTree 1969 Chevy C10 longfleet, 350/350

10-04-2002, 05:06 PM	#6
Spoof Registered User Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Victoria,BC, Canada Posts: 1,300	Yes, I too was a devouted WD-40 fan until I came to see the light and started using Moov-it. I am convinced it is far better, but it's really hard to say at times? Cobalt, If you need any 71 3/4 parts I'm getting rid of an entire rolling frame, wheels and all. Its even got the 4:10 Dana 60! I know your not too far away and its free! Front discs too. __________________ 71 GMC 1500 LWB

10-04-2002, 05:50 PM	#7
COBALT Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Seattle, WA, USA Posts: 5,817	I was a WD-40 guy when I started, but I found that Liquid Wrench (Gunk) works the best. It's wetting properties are way better than WD-40, and that's what you need. Just a little squeeze onto a stud with a nut on it, and the nut comes right off. I got my whole front-end apart with it, and the passenger side has never seen the light of day. __________________ '69 3/4 ton C20 2wd-350ci/TH400 '69 3/4 ton Custom 20 2wd-350ci/4sp Manual '99 2wd 5.7 Chevy Tahoe Seattle, WA.

10-04-2002, 07:40 PM	#8
68 Stepside huh? Join Date: May 2000 Location: Washington, Illinois Posts: 5,692	I went from WD-40, to gunk, to PB Blaster, it's incredible compared to liquid wrench, IMO. Kroil is also awesome stuff. TJ __________________ Someday when I'm lonely, Wishing you weren't so far away, Then I will remember Things we said today. RIP El Jay

10-04-2002, 11:37 PM	#9
Longhorn Man its all about the +6 inches Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Hilliard Ohio Posts: 2,693	I'll second the PB Blaster. you can get it at any NAPA> I used to use WD40, but discovered that you could spit on the bolt and have the same out come.

10-04-2002, 11:44 PM	#10
Shane Account Suspended Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: over yonder Posts: 14,270	Here is my ranking of pentrating oils...... Kroil - the best...but the hardest to find. TriFlow - very good stuff-also a little hard to find Liquid Wrench - also very good WD-40 - will do when you don't have the any of the above.



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