Defeated By Trailing Arm - Venting

[jyl]

As I'm mentioned here before, I'm doing a F and R suspension refresh with monoballs, Elephant Racing bearings, Bilstein strut insert/shocks, and balljoints.

The front went well, thanks to all the help I received here, and I happily drove the car for a week with a nice tight front end, then parked it in the garage and tackled the rear.

The rear went well . . . until I tried to remove the trailing arms. I just could not undo the nut on the bolt that goes through the trailing arm bushing. It's too close to the transmission to use a socket, it's too recessed in the flange to use a regular box end wrench, it's too close to the transmission to use an offset box wrench, it's torqued down/frozen too hard to be loosened with heat/PB, it's too much nut to be cut off with a chisel/Dremel/drill . . . anyway, after wasting two evenings I now have a thoroughly mangled nut and am crying "Uncle".

So I will have to drop the engine/transmission after all.

I was trying hard to avoid this because there seemed to be no other "reason" to drop the engine - the P.O. already dropped the engine twice in the year before I bought the car and fixed every single leak, replaced the clutch, detailed the engine and engine compartment, replaced the sound pad, etc.

But during my pointless dorking around I finally found one thing that I think - I have convinced myself, anyway - justifies an engine drop. The rubber boot between transmission and body is badly ripped so that the shift rod (I think that's what it's called) is exposed to road grit. Can't have that, can I?

I've read various threads on engine drops and it sounds like every 911 owner worth his salt has dropped his engine 5 or 6 times, indeed it seems like y'all do this job just for fun. Apparently this is some kind of rite of passage thing.

Well, I'm off on vacation next week then will tackle this in August. Expect I'll be asking a lot of dumb questions then. Sorry for wasting bandwidth with this vent.

[89911]

I've done these on an 87 and I would agree that it is very hard if not impossible to do on 87 to 89 with the G50. Even with the engine out on an 87, we still had to grind down the circumference of a rachet head to "fit" the tight area and still grab the hex bolt. You could try just a partial tranny drop. I just did this to install a starter and it is much easier then a full drop. Good luck.

[KTL]

That rubber boot you describe is a pain in the can to install with the trans. in the car. It's stretched around a flange and it's tough to get in place. I've been there/done that. For anyone else with a G50, remember that to get at that shift coupler you should slide the boot off the chassis of the car. Don't pull the boot away from the trans. It's a battle to get it back on there with the trans. in the car- unless you remove the trans. crossmember.

After you've done the engine drop John, you'll see it's not all that hard. Just gotta take your time the first time and make sure you've got everything disconnected.

I too was unable to get at that attachment point when I did my suspension stuff. So I have new bushings at every point on the suspension except for the inner pivots Oh well.

Hey Mike, would an impact gun with a universal joint socket be more effective at getting that nut and bolt off? With the engine out of course! Just asking for future reference.

Thanks,

[jyl]

Does "partial tranny drop" basically mean disconnecting shift rod/etc at the front of the transmission, detaching transmission crossmember, loosening engine mounts, and "tilting" engine/transmission so the transmission is lowered but the engine remains in place? How much (inches) can you lower the transmission with this method?

[89911]

Yes, I does. I used the Bentley manual for directions. But......I am not sure if this would help or hinder. The tranny may actually impede access. KTL, The key item is getting a socket to grab the outer hex bolt head. My brother got a cheap 22mm socket from Autozone and then just ground the outer part until is seated fully. Works beautiful. An impact wrench just spun the bolt around until then.

[304065]

Hey John, I don't think your rant is useless. I'm going through the exact same process, a few weeks behind you, and appreciate the heads up. My plan was to drop the engine anyway, but knowing your frustration I'll just factor that in to the project.

Isn't Chuck's stuff great? It is sitting in my living room like art.

[makaio]

Originally posted by john_cramer


Isn't Chuck's stuff great? It is sitting in my living room like art.

Yes it is! The man just amazes me with his talent.

[tobluforu]

I have a document I created about 2 years ago when I took on this project. If you guy's want it, send me your personal email address and I will send it to you. It's to big to post or send through the PM.

[Randy Webb]

Can you use a cut-off tool? I lucked out on the way the bolt was put in when I did mine. Be sure to put the new bolt in so you can remove it easily next time.

Good beer can reduce frustration levels....

[jyl]

I can't use a cut-off tool. I can't break the nut free so both the nut and the bolt head remain shrouded by the recessed flanges that flank the trailing arm bushing. So if I had a Sawzall or similar tool, I could only cut off the upper 1/3 of the nut or bolt. I have effectively done that with a chisel, to no avail.

I am also impressed by Chuck Moreland's stuff. Beautifully made, very clever. I liked the behaviour of my front end a lot, for the week I drove it. Not particularly harsh at all.

tobluforu, I will PM you.

Thanks, all. I feel better . . .

[1974carrera]

John,
What will you replace the trailing arm bushings with? Are monoballs a good choice? Do you have an idea how that would affect noise/ vibration/harshness? Thanks for any input or advice.

[jyl]

I will use monoballs purchased from Elephant Racing (Chuck Moreland).

Don't really know how it will affect NVH in the rear.

Have monoballs in front (upper strut mount) w/ Elephant's bronze/steel A-arm bearings. Had only 1 week of driving on them, but in 200 miles of all kinds of crummy Calif roads I'm very pleased. Only increased NVH is on bad (big, sharp-edged, crashy) potholes where the stock setup made me wince anyway. On all other surfaces, I notice no change in NVH - anyway so little that I may well be imagining it. I've read the rear monoballs could have a little more effect on NVH, but given my happy experience with the fronts I'm willing to do it.

I also read that monoballs won't last as long as stock rubber. I seem to recall reading 100,000 miles. Since I only drive 6-8K/year, who cares?

Anyway, when I finally get this done I'll be so excited that I'm sure I'll post feedback.

[feelyx]

will a socket alone fit up there or a ground off version? if you can get the socket on without the ratchet, then you can weld vice grips to the socket and use it like a breaker bar. Use a piece of pipe over the vice grip for more leverage.

good luck
Tim in Sac

[Randy Webb]

I know people have pulled these things apart before. Maybe post a photo or drawing -- there's always a way to tear the mother to shreds....

If bolt is cut 1/3 thru maybe you can pry it back and forth until it snaps. should only take 100 or so bendings... to wrk the metal.