| Re: Pumpkin swap/u-joints/wheel bearings/suspension junk (PICS!) |
Subject: Re: Pumpkin swap/u-joints/wheel bearings/suspension junk (PICS!) by Matatk on 2009/5/3 12:00:53 Thanks for the posts, guys. Joe - did the car sell or are you yanking the blower? Gryz88 - welcome to the board! I hope it does help. That's the reason for posting all the information. Keep reading below because I have some more info that will help you. OK, I got a chance to put everything back together yesterday. Here's a few pics, etc. I had to finish up the poly bushings first since I got that cam bolt undone. Here's what it looks like disassembled:  You will reuse the cam spacer nuts (with the lip) on the kit. Also, there are two different sized sleeves in the new poly kit, so make sure to use the one with the bigger ID on the cam bolt (diff) end. Otherwise the lip from the washers won't fit in. I got that all together without a hitch, using the multiple scribe marks I made to retain my camber. Now for reassembly: First to go back in is the c-beam and driveshaft. Don't try to hang the diff and carrier first, it will not all fit together. Ask me how I know  As far as tightening the c-beam bolts, either do the trans bolts first or do one trans, one diff, one trans, one diff. I tried tightening the two diff bolts first and had a hell of a time getting the trans bolts in. Ugh. I think those damn beam plates from ZF Doc would have been worth it at this point! Lol.  Next to go in was the halfshafts. I found a neat way to get the u-joint straps and bolts in quicker was to use my cordless drill motor with a bendable attachment at the end with a nut driver attachment and 8 mm socket.  Once it's all snugged up, install the camber bars:  Next attach the spring to the differential. You should have written down the order of the spacers before you took it apart. Then use your jack to gently raise the spring on each end and reattach the spring bolts. (sorry, kinda blurry)   Next comes the tie rod bar. Attach to the diff first, then the tie rod ends into their holes. I had to gently tap them with the deadblow, didn't take much force at all.   That's it for the suspension. Reattach the spare tire carrier and exhaust, and tires and you are done!  I also did my rear brake pads while everything was apart. Not a bad idea to check that out while you're in there. I was only left with one extra part I know it has something to do with holding up the parking brake cable, but I don't know where it goes and I'm not gonna lose sleep over it. Lol. Closing comments: 1) Use new cotter pins. Don't be cheap and potentially risk your safety or the safety of someone else. 2) Air tools are your friend. I wish I had them. Seriously. I would never want to do this job again without them. 3) I will never buy AC Delco greasable u-joints again. I wish I would have bought the spicers in the first place. And this is why:  They no longer use zerk fittings. Instead they use the needle style grease fitting. And it's on the end cap. Sounds ok, right? Well it's not. I tried to grease them and the quality was crap. The grease would not inject into the fitting (with the needle attachment I bought, too). So what I had to do was remove the fitting and inject the grease directly into the u-joint, then rescrew the fitting in. And good luck trying to grease the halfshaft u-joint in the knuckle:  Not gonna happen. I greased the one side before I installed it after I realized what was going on. With this one, I was able to unscrew the fitting, bend the needle and kinda stuff it in there. PIA. Not worth it. I don't expect these u-joints to last but a season and then they will unfortunately be replaced with spicer sealed units. 4) Do not buy a grease gun from advanced auto ("OEM brand"). It's a POS. Seriously. Crap. Spend the extra money and get a good one. I wish I had. 5) Torque everything to proper specs. There are a lot of different torque figures, so I just copied the page here:  This isn't everything, but a good starting point. 6) I will be getting new u-joint bolts next time around. 7) Have fun, and if the project gets too frustrating, stop for a while and go back. Thanks for following along with me guys. Matthew |
