HOW TO: ES Trailing Arm (Rear Lower Control Arm) Insert - Install

[Slippercream]

The purpose of installing stiff suspension bushings on a car is to improve general road handling and to stiffen the car's suspension components for better control. As Mike W from RRE would put it, stiffer suspension can be both a blessing and a curse in that replacing cushy OEM rubber bushings takes away the "softness" and comfort aspects of the stock ride, though you can have the confidence of cornering at higher speeds with more control. Some might even argue that there's increased road noise in having solid polyurethane mounts. Either way, the cost/benefit of such an install varies from person to person.

Installing the rear trailing arm inserts is identical to how you might perform an engine mount insert install. Basic steps are:

1. Safely and properly mount the car on jack stands (IMPORTANT: Make to use WHEEL CHOCKS, etc. to ensure the car doesn't roll while raised!!!)
2. Remove rear wheels (for clearance)
3. Uninstall rear trailing arm from the car
4. Separate stock mount/pressed metal mount sleeve from trailing arm
5. GREASE and Press insert mounts into trailing arm
6. Reinstall trailing arm and wheels on the car using proper TORQUE SPECS.

Uninstalling Rear Trailing Arms

Tools for the job:

• Two (2) jack stands
• Two wheel chocks, 2x4 wood blocks, or anything to keep the front wheels from rolling
• Floor jack (2x4 wooden block or jack pad will save your jack mount splines from bend / damage)
• Two (2) 17mm sockets / wrenches
• Wheel wrench (13/16" or stock wheel wrench)
• Breaker bar / cheater bar (regular steel pipe)
• PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench will help immensely in loosening the mount bolts.
  

Properly lift the two rear wheels and mount. Make sure the front wheels are secure with wheel chocks. I personally use 2x4s.

Inspect the trailing arms and the mount points to see if you can handle the task (right tools, right set of guns, right state of mind ):

Driver side rear trailing arm. The bushing to be replaced is the one that connects to the chassis (farther point in the picture).


Driver side trailing arm to knuckle mount/joint. This is a solid mount that's pressed onto the knuckle that doesn't need replacing.


Driver side trailing arm view from the top. Notice how the arm bends IN. Good to know when reinstalling


Passenger side trailing arm.


Passenger side trailing arm to knuckle mount/joint. The picture illustrates how close this point's bolt is to both the brake rotor and shock lower mount point. This is why the wheels are removed - for extra clearance and torque when needed


Passenger side trailing arm view from the top. Likewise, from the chassis mount point, the arm bends in.

Now, remove the wheels and begin disassembly of the trailing arms with a 17mm socket wrench. Apply PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench liberally over the both mount nuts (on both ends of the trailing arm), which both face the CENTER of the car (bolt head is what faces outward):



I would use the breaker bar / cheater bar for more torque in getting the first few spins out of the nuts. Use the second 17mm socket wrench to keep the bolt head from spinning as you aimlessly attempt to remove the mount nut.


Driver side trailing arm and bolts removed, and lined up as they need to be reinstalled. Notice the brass(ier)-looking bolt is what connects the trailing arm to the knuckle, while the duller bolt is what connects to the chassis mount.


Driver side trailing arm bushing/joint, with trailing arm removed. Notice that both the toe control arm and rear main control arm have solid joints

Repeat the procedure for the passenger side trailing arm:




Passenger side trailing arm chassis mount/bushing. Notice how tight the clearance is in the joint - No horizontal play there.


Passenger side trailing arm and bolts removed, and lined up as they need to be reinstalled. As with the driver side, the brass(ier)-looking bolt connects to the knuckle, while the duller bolt connects to the chassis mount.

And now, the fruits of your labor:


Driver side, trailing arm dismounted.


Driver side, trailing arm dismounted.

Now take those suckers in to pound the living $#17 out of them stock rubber bushings

Extracting the stock rubber bushings from the rear trailing arm

The stock rubber bushing consists of three parts - an inner steel sleeve, rubber mount, and outer steel sleeve, pressed onto the trailing arm. Removing this rubber bushing can be easy (and more costly) or hard, depending on your plan of attack. The easy way to get this job done is to PRESS the outer metal sleeve out of the mount (or pay someone to do it for you). The hard(er) way is by means of using hand tools and some household power tools.

If you would rather pay someone to perform this task (machine/suspension shop), it will be good to know that the trailing arm ID is 2.563". Let them press the stock rubber mounts out using a hydraulic press, and then press IN the new mounts and inner sleeve. MAKE SURE to tell them to grease the hell out of the ID and OD of the poly bushings, as neglecting to do so will likely cause squeaking (known issue with solid polyurethane mounts).

I performed this step of the install (or shall we call it the "fuck something up correctly" stage) using household tools and common reusable garage tools that can be had for cheap at HD/Lowe's/Walmart:

• More 2x4 blocks, or BETTER: 1/4 "thick steel or aluminum spacers/washers/plates (to use as pressplates/baseplates for mount install)
• 4" C-clamp
• 10" or greater C-clamp
• OR... to make the press work easier, a 1-ton arbor press ($35 Harbor Freight) or shop vise/anvil vise will work wonders too (good to have receiver cups too)
• Drill and multiple drillbits OR electric/pneumatic jigsaw
• Dremel with braided thick carbon/carbide steel cutting wheel
• Shop torch (optional), or anything that will get rubber to burn
• Flathead screwdriver (racheting works best)

If you have a shop vise or press, you can get the job done much quicker and cleaner. Again, note the ID of the trailing arm is 2.563" Receiver cups or a combination of wooden blocks/metal plates and pipes with that OD will help press the stock bushings out without (or with less) incident. The larger the vise/press, the better.

In the next steps, I'll present the jerry-rigged "Home DIY-er" way.

[Slippercream]

The "Home DIY-er way"

For my mount install I used a combination of C-clamps for presses and a dremel and drill for stock mount removal. Unfortunately, as opposed to the front control arm bushings, the ES rear trailing arm bushings are lipped and come in one piece, much like motor mounts. They also come with the inner sleeve already pressed into the mount. Removing this sleeve will help the mount flex "inwardly" a bit as you attempt to press it into the trailing arm.

First step would be to press the inner sleeve out of the ES bushings with a 4" C-clamp:



As indicated in the video, the method used to press the sleeve out is the same way it is pressed in after the polyurethane bushing itself is pressed in. With much more force than having to press the sleeve in, the bushing requires more force, and might require a mini-cheater bar or extension with a deep socket for more torque. (Unfortunately, it was way too late and I was way too tired/dirty to set up and demonstrate how the install was performed on video).

To start, here's the stock bushing:



The task of severing the outer metal sleeve from the trailing arm requires removal of the OEM rubber via jigsaw (better) or drill (ehh... requires more "skill" and elbow grease ), and cutting through the outer sleeve by means of a dremel. NOTE: Performing this task indoors can be EXTREMELY messy! Not to mention the odor of burning rubber

NOTE 2: Using a jigsaw as opposed to a drill might entirely eliminate the need to burn rubber by means of a hand torch So a $35 investment in said powertool might not be such a bad idea... if you like building speaker boxes, baffles, and wooden furniture... and doing other mount installs


Pictured here is the rubber bushing getting punctured by means of a drill. I used the step-up method from smaller bits to the largest available, so as to get the holes as close as possible to each other. Starting off with drilling helps lessen the amount of rubber to burn, plus it allows for oxygen to flow through the holes, making less work of the rubber while burning. If you do this right, you may not need to burn the rubber at all either!


The stock rubber - drilled and raped to utter uselessnes. I'd say this is way past the point of no return.


The hand torch is an excellent (though stinky, non-environment-friendly) way to get the rubber to come off clean from the outer stock mount sleeve. Make sure to do any kind of burning in a well-ventilated area, away from anything that can burn. Also, keep it away from your angry girlfriend, so as to prevent any further "burns" to your ego

Once you get the stock mounts cleaned off a little better, use your carbon/carbide braided cutting discs and dremel to cut across the outer mount sleeve. You'll have to cut in a diagonal arc (an S-shaped cut is fine), given that you can't get the dremel to arc in properly against the trailing arm mount "socket":


Pictured here is the diagonal/skewed cut on the stock metal sleeve, with some rubber still on it.

IMPORTANT:Make sure to cut well THROUGH the inner sleeve. Use your best estimate as to how deep your cuts are. It doesn't hurt to cut a little through the trailing arm socket metal, but hopefully you aren't too bad in estimating how much to cut. The segment of the cut right at the center is more likely to be shallower given the arc at which the dremel disc gets to travel. Again, make your best estimate as a clean cut would make the task of removing the sleeve MUCH easier.

Next, the sleeve can be rotated out of socket using a racheting screwdriver:

And the extent of the damage (dirt) to my work area... which in this case was my office bath tub:


The tools used in the gutting of the stock rubber are shown here.

But, the fruits and satisfaction of the halfway mark of the install well done far outweigh the carnage






(Notice how in this shot of the second trailing arm bushing extract, the dremel cut wasn't as clean)

As prepwork before pressing the new polyurethane bushings, I would spray over the exposed metal on the trailing arm with black enamel or anything that would prevent it from rusting. I personally used some bulldog adhesion promoter/primer, which is clear and sticks pretty well to any surface.

Next task (and the least documented, quite unfortunately), is the pressing of the new mounts.

[Slippercream]

Pressing the new mounts in

As I had mentioned earlier, you can use a combination of C-clamps and wooden/metal blocks to press the mount in. This requires a combination of several "gifts":

• A steady hand
• Patience
• Sense of balance / ability to tell even from uneven
• A second set of hands (friend? hardy girlfriend?) or other useful appendages

Here's what my setup looked llike:


This is a 10" C-clamp with a 2x4 block as a base plate, and some broad washers as the press plate.

Again, VERY IMPORTANT: Do NOT forget to grease the bushings well before you attempt to press them in. Grease the following:

• The ID of the trailing arm
• The OD of the poly bushing (just to make sure you get all of the trailing arm ID
• With the extra grease that oozes out of the bushing/arm socket after press, the ID of the bushing before pressing the metal inner sleeve.

Again, failure to do so will eventually result in squeaking noises underneath the car. Apply the grease liberally, but also know that this is NOT an oily grease:CHASSIS GREASE is disgustingly sticky viscuous, and gooey. When pressing the rubber mounts in, you might want to also use some latex gloves or similar.

Also, performing the press requires a steadiness of hand. Each full twist of a 10" clamp screw with a 1.5mm pitch presses the mount down by approximately 2.5-3mm. Between that amount of travel, the poly mount's lip may cause the mount itself to twist or lean out of the press line. Neglecting this will result in either a monumental mess and/or having to start again. Either way, it's always best to do it once - slowly but surely - and correctly

Again, a shop vise or press will help immensely here. As press plate or base plate, solid pieces of metal are best. Wood works fine (MDF?), but the point is to have a surface on both sides of the press that will facilitate the bushing from bending out of shape, or the screw-end of the clamp to slip into the bushing center hole.

Once the mount is more than halfway through and you're tired of torquing the clamp down by hand, you can always use a mallet to finish the dirty work. I've found that the cleaner way to do this would also be by means of a nut and bolt, with broad washers or plates on either side of the assembly. Simply torque the mount into place - again a matter of elbow grease.

And now, the fruits of all that muscle and precision work:




Notice the well-greased mount. Anything that oozes out is excess (the bottom mount in the picture). It doesn't hurt to just leave it there either as you install the trailing arms back into the car.

Final Step : Reinstall trailing arms back into the car

This part is the easiest. You've expended much more force into disassembling the trailing arms (typically metal nuts and bolts tend to seize up over time, hence it's harder to break them free than torque them back down in an install), and reinstalling them is just as simple as backtracking through the disassembly process.

IMPORTANT: The the proper torque specs for all four trailing arm nuts is 83 ft-lb +/- 9. For wheels, hand tightening + 1/4 turn is sufficient. All too often, overtorquing is the cause of broken wheel studs - another reason why I hate sending my car to wheel places.

I would SERIOUSLY use a long torque wrench for this process. Torquing the bolts down to 83 ft-lb is not as difficult as removing them.

Finally - 100% complete install of the Energy Suspension rear trailing arm bushings:


Driver side trailing arm


Driver side trailing arm mount


Passenger side trailing arm


Passenger side trailing arm mount

Happy-happy, joy-joy

On to the other mounts

[j-rod]

good job man great how to:

[j-rod]

"there u have it..."

hahahaha