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Tips and Tricks on swapping rears.

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Old May 16, 2007 | 12:55 PM
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Default Tips and Tricks on swapping rears.

Not what I wanted to do this weekend. Swapping a 10 bolt w/ a 10 bolt. Seems pretty straight forward. Can you guys offer any advice, or things to look out for.

Thanks,
Dan
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:07 PM
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Just have an extra set of hands available
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:12 PM
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Anything critical as far as torqueing down bolts?

I gotta swap brake backing plates too.
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:16 PM
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dont drop the new one.
thats a good tip. hehe
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:16 PM
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Jack car up high, block the front wheels.

Take brake hardware off, use coat hangers if possible so it wont hurt the lines.

loosen all bolts such as rear LCA's (from the rear side), Shocks (bottom), Pan hard rod, from the rear end side, disconnect abs sensor, if brake like are still attached to the metal clips, then take them off. Disconnect DS U bolts to the yoke, and the 2 big bolts for the TQ arm. If after market tq arm and you fear loosening it, you can remove it from the bushing via sliding it out and with the new rear, re attach and slide back on.

When its near the end, put a good hydraulic jack under the rear with a wide base, jack up a lil, take all nuts and bolts out from the loosend suspension, the brake calipers should be off and it comes out.

Install is reversal of install.

pm if you got questions, or call me you got the # ill be home after 5pm
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by DannoWS6
Anything critical as far as torqueing down bolts?

I gotta swap brake backing plates too.
When you come over, ill five you an abbreviated lesson on the backing plates.
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:22 PM
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easy as pie

1. jack the car up, support on jackstands by the frame, and remove the wheels.
1B. unbolt rear cover and allow fluid to drain
2. support the rear with the suspension slightly compressed with the jack.
3. remove brake caliper and e-brake cable and hang out of the way with stirng or zip ties
4. slide rotor off(it may fight you since gm used these little clips to hold them in place on the assembly line)
5. unbolt lower shock bolt, unbolt panhard bar from rear, unbolt both control arms from rear(have a friend or an extra jack around to help you steady it)
6. slowly lower the jack, the springs will fall out at some point
7. slide rear out from under car(havign a friend to help steady it is a good idea)
8. undo the bolt that holds in the diff cross pin and slide the pin out(push it 1/3 through, spin the diff around 180degrees and pull it the rest of the way out)
9. push the axles all the way in and fish out the c-clips(i use one of those magnet on a stick things to get them in/out)
10. pull out the axles
11. unbolt the backing plates and ebrake assembly from teh housing
12. chuck old rear in trash can or at nearest neighbor that gives you crap about your car.
13. remove the center pin, c-clips and axles on the rear you are installing the same way you removed them from your rear
14. bolt the backing plate and e-brake assembly to the housing
15. put axles back in, line up c-clips on the slots and then pull the axle out to hold the c-clip in place, reinstall center pin and keeper bolt
16-???? the rest is basically jsut th reverse of removal. the one cheat of the reinstall is for the springs, a. zip tie the bottom of the spring into the perch on the rear b. a little dab of p-tex or glue will hold the upper isolater in place while you jack the rear back up. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GUIDE THE SPRING UP WHILE YOU ARE JACKING UP THE REAR, you will just end up pinching your fingers in a way that hurts a whole lot and will allow the neighborhood children to learn new and unsanitary words/phrases.

that was all from memory, been a few years since i swapped rears in a 4th gen, so i may have missed a thing or two. jsut keep all your bolts organized and take your time. should be no problem.

having a friend around is always a big help. rears are not smart and tend to not go where they are told on the first attempt.
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Old May 16, 2007 | 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by NJSPDER
easy as pie

1. jack the car up, support on jackstands by the frame, and remove the wheels.
1B. unbolt rear cover and allow fluid to drain
2. support the rear with the suspension slightly compressed with the jack.
3. remove brake caliper and e-brake cable and hang out of the way with stirng or zip ties
4. slide rotor off(it may fight you since gm used these little clips to hold them in place on the assembly line)
5. unbolt lower shock bolt, unbolt panhard bar from rear, unbolt both control arms from rear(have a friend or an extra jack around to help you steady it)
6. slowly lower the jack, the springs will fall out at some point
7. slide rear out from under car(havign a friend to help steady it is a good idea)
8. undo the bolt that holds in the diff cross pin and slide the pin out(push it 1/3 through, spin the diff around 180degrees and pull it the rest of the way out)
9. push the axles all the way in and fish out the c-clips(i use one of those magnet on a stick things to get them in/out)
10. pull out the axles
11. unbolt the backing plates and ebrake assembly from teh housing
12. chuck old rear in trash can or at nearest neighbor that gives you crap about your car.
13. remove the center pin, c-clips and axles on the rear you are installing the same way you removed them from your rear
14. bolt the backing plate and e-brake assembly to the housing
15. put axles back in, line up c-clips on the slots and then pull the axle out to hold the c-clip in place, reinstall center pin and keeper bolt
16-???? the rest is basically jsut th reverse of removal. the one cheat of the reinstall is for the springs, a. zip tie the bottom of the spring into the perch on the rear b. a little dab of p-tex or glue will hold the upper isolater in place while you jack the rear back up. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GUIDE THE SPRING UP WHILE YOU ARE JACKING UP THE REAR, you will just end up pinching your fingers in a way that hurts a whole lot and will allow the neighborhood children to learn new and unsanitary words/phrases.

that was all from memory, been a few years since i swapped rears in a 4th gen, so i may have missed a thing or two. jsut keep all your bolts organized and take your time. should be no problem.

having a friend around is always a big help. rears are not smart and tend to not go where they are told on the first attempt.

correction on step 9, in regard to 4 channel cars the ABS exciter rings hit on the sensor, the sensor needs to be removed 1st, then the axles can be pushed all the way in for the clips to come out.
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Old May 16, 2007 | 03:08 PM
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1.) toss the ticking time bomb and buy a strange 12 bolt.
2.) pay don to install it.
3.) drive to mcdonalds and hook me up with a double cheeseburger and a sprite for the helpful hints.
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Old May 17, 2007 | 06:02 AM
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Great, thanks guys. Shouldn't be too bad.


Joe, I wish I could man.
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Old May 17, 2007 | 07:09 AM
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danno - you run into any binds today let me know, i'm off from work this afternoon so i could give you a hand if you need it
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Old May 17, 2007 | 07:21 AM
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Originally Posted by nikon1999
danno - you run into any binds today let me know, i'm off from work this afternoon so i could give you a hand if you need it
Hey Thanks Tim.

I'm not actually starting this till Sunday. I will have an extra set of hands though. I'll be at 02SCVETTE's house in his garage. Picking up the rear on Saturday.
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Old May 17, 2007 | 11:10 AM
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Yeah, it should be a fun project. Plenty of beer in case we need to take some extra breaks too!
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Old May 17, 2007 | 11:33 AM
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Don't do what someone I know did.. and put the brake plates on the wrong sides so the calipers were behind the axle instead of the front where they are supposed to be... that was a pita to undo LOL.
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Old May 17, 2007 | 12:38 PM
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Ummm yea, that guy should be shot.....

oh yea watch out for guys who savage on manifold bolts.
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Old May 17, 2007 | 12:58 PM
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guys that tell ya to go ahead and drive manafold bolt in are bad too.... same kind of guys that put brake plates on backwards.
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Old May 17, 2007 | 01:04 PM
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good one
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Old May 17, 2007 | 06:19 PM
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I'm with Joe on this one. Pay Don and go to his house & drink his beer whil he does the hard work.

Actually the swap is pretty straight forward.
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