Trailing Arm Rebuild Questions

Fuelie74

Fuelie74

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Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
767
Location
Monroe, WI
Well I am finally getting around to rebuilding my trailing arms. I have spent lots of time reading threads on this and now that they are disassembled I am full of questions.

Ok first I am getting ready to powder coat my trailing arms if the weather ever straitens out so I can sandblast them. Do I want to mask off the face of them where the bearing hosing mates up or will having powder coat on there not hurt anything?
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Spindles look good and measured out in spec. So do I want to have them faced in a lathe to get rid of runout?
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Spindle flanges are scored. I was planning on having them surface ground but how much can be take off them and is there an over all spec?
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Spacers are scored. should they be surfaced or just replaced?
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Knock the studs out, you can reinstall them later. Easier than masking them off (or even worse, having to remove the powdercoat from the tight fitting studs)

If you have a welder, weld up the arms now, the factory welds are very poor at best. Check if the welds aren't cracked.
 
Since you have the studs out of the spindles, it's the perfect time to face them off.
 
A thin coat of self etching primer is better on the mating surface, the powdercoat is too thick IMO.

If you don't have a surface grinder it might be cheaper to buy new spacers, however, no guarantee that the new ones are parallel....

Spindle flange: if you remove too much of that surface the washer under the castle nut might hit the spindle and it won't press the spindle flange against the bearing race, here's how bad on of mine was:

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I am planning on having the spindles faced and the spacers and spindle flanges surface ground. My moms boyfriend is a machinist and owes me a few favors for powder coating Harley parts and working on his Mustang. Even if I buy new spacers I will have they surface ground.

Thats a good point on removing the studs.

It hard to tell how bad they are from the photos but, my spindle flanges are worse then yours. Here a little better photos of them.
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If you remove the 4 studs or spindle lugs replace them. They're all kurled and they will be flattened out. Not worth the risk of spinning on you.
You can face the flange but expect to have runout, some rebuilders will tell you otherwise but I have done more then a few of these. Doesn't matter if you use NOS, new USA or imported rotors either, they have all runout. I face flange to under 001 and new rotors had 015" runout. To do it like the factory, if your friend has access to a 15" or larger lathe, clean the flange and rotors up, bolt them on like I do and then face the rotors. Only kiss cut them and DO NOT remove them. Assemble with the rotor in place. This is a real pita to do and if you don't have access to that size lathe then bolting shimming will work- again regardless of what some places say.
The flanges should be ground,as the spacers and shims. Be careful with the spacers if you take off too much on the large ID end they will bind on the spindle. Use only USA Timkens. I posted last week on some places how I found a Timken vendor set open up 002 in final install. At 004 total I tossed the lot in the trash.
 
I was planning on bolting the new rotors on and running them to a Chevy dealer a friend works at to cut the rotors. They have on on car lathe there.
 
Well its I think I finally have everything right but, would like to double check. I put the bearings, spacer and shim together. Lightly oiled and torqued my set up tool down to 100 ft lb. No end play is felt but, after I spin the bearings a couple times I get .002 end play. Is this correct and normal?
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After you spin them and check if you have 002 that's ok. When I do them I bring that down to 001-0015". If you don't have a surface grinder then leave it alone. That fixture looks familar!;)
 
Only one question guys..... why nobody reistall the studs from the inside?
Next time will be very easy to disassemble the T/A and you will be able to tight the bolts (or only to check it...) only removing the flanges.

I did it in my 6-link and for me was a very smart move.

Opinions????
 
Ok I think I have a problem. Everything has been parallel ground. I had .002 and .0015 end play on my bearings oiled. Now after packing the bearings and pressing everything together I have no end play on either trailing arms. Did I miss something here?
 
I think you're fine. The grease is going to make the .002" feel like it's gone. The spindle should still turn smoothly, but with a slight "drag" feel due to the thickness of the grease. Wait for Gary to check in to verify, but what I think what you're experiencing is normal.
 
you should be fine. i made the mistake of setting my end play with the bearing packed with grease . BIG MISTAKE!!! i ended up with a ton of play after i got them reinstalled. i have to redo them now.
 
Well they do feel nice and smooth with a small amount of drag. I was hoping Gary would comment but, I guess I will throw them on the car and see what happens.
 
With seals and grease it feels a little tight but that seems to be OK... I measured a few times, I know I had good endplay and after the final install with grease and the seals it felt tighter.
 
Sorry op for going off topic but does anyone have the list of parts needed for the trailing arm rebuild? I'm curious as to the cost to do both sides parts wise.
 
I don't recall the price for the actual replacement parts, but it wasn't too much......under $50?Inner and outer seals, bearings, and races, plus grease. Gary could probably quote from the top of his head.
Seems like the greater cost comes from the special tools needed plus any extras added such as e-brake hardware. Not a bad idea while you're in there. Gary's tech paper should give an idea of the process and tools needed.

I believe we've met before on the ER forum?
 
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A very nice detailed Tech info on the trailing arm rebuild, thanks Gary. I quickly went through it and couldn't find any part #'s nor suppliers. Can anyone give me an idea as to how far down the page it may be.

Rip....pm sent.
 
The part numbers for the inner/outer bearings and seals are in the tech doc.

Often enough you find the spindle needs to be replaced, $150 each side...
 
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