Is it possibe to lower the banana arm without upsetting alignment settings

[Tidybuoy]

I'm replacing my rear trailing arm bushings while I have the engine out. I got the bolts to the trailing arms removed but it does not look like the end is going to come out of it's bracket (at least not easily).

I was hoping that I could do this without separating the trailing arm from the spring plates.

Does anyone have any advice. I've searched the forums, YouTube, Elephant Racing site for some instructions but I can't find any.

Obviously, I will be taking the car in for alignment when I am done but I was hoping to minimize the disassembly.

I do have Sway-Away adjustable swing arms and I've heard that this helps for indexing the torsion bars but I really have no idea how that works.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

[Peter Zimmermann]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

I'm replacing my rear trailing arm bushings while I have the engine out. I got the bolts to the trailing arms removed but it does not look like the end is going to come out of it's bracket (at least not easily).

I was hoping that I could do this without separating the trailing arm from the spring plates.

Does anyone have any advice. I've searched the forums, YouTube, Elephant Racing site for some instructions but I can't find any.

Obviously, I will be taking the car in for alignment when I am done but I was hoping to minimize the disassembly.

I do have Sway-Away adjustable swing arms and I've heard that this helps for indexing the torsion bars but I really have no idea how that works.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

If you're not going to index your T-bars, or remove the radius arms from their forward mounts, I would use a Sharpie and make a series of marks and then unbolt the banana. You'll need it on a bench to replace the bushings anyway, so go ahead and disconnect it. Your marks will get you close enough to where you can drive the car until you can get it to an alignment shop. Think of it as the perfect opportunity to replace the brake fluid and fluid flex lines!

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by Peter Zimmermann

Think of it as the perfect opportunity to replace the brake fluid and fluid flex lines!

You're Right! Except in my typical fashion, I do everything out of order (i.e., I just did the brakes, brake lines, and flush).

On the brighter side, I need to drill some larger holes up front for the new tunnel fuel lines and I need to disconnect the brake line up there as it is in the way. I guess now I won't feel so bad as I will be bleeding the brakes anyway.

[gtc]

When i did this job, I loosened everything except the toe-in eccentric. The bolt head just rides in the slot in the trailing arm, so you don't really need to remove it to separate the spring plate. When I reassembled the trailing arm and spring plate, they went back together in pretty much the same place as before. It was so close that my alignment guy said I hardly needed to have it aligned.

My case could just be a fluke, though.

[Trackrash]

I actually replaced my torsion bars without upsetting my alignment settings. I used a scribe to mark around the end of the torsion arm on the banana. After I had it all back together I went to re-align and found that it was still perfect.

You definitely want to have it re-aligned or at least checked, but marking it will get you close.