Nope
 

Sorry I didn't do this - I just cleaned it all out and made it beautiful. I guess it will be the first thing to leak on me and then I'll be kicking my self...

thanks charlie...

this job looks a bit intimidating to me. I dont have the special socket and a lot of the tools.

I am going de-oil the diff today and confirm for sure this seal is indeed leaking. it never drips on the ground, theres just a little oil residue near it. just replacing it definitely comes with some risk.

i thought it would be as easy as replacing the side seals.

Ok, got almost all the parts and am ready to do this over the weekend.

What is the size of the nut andbolt for the trailing arms?

I'll need a second socket as I only have one set of over 20mm.

Going to start soaking with pb blaster tomorrow morning in preparation....

Oh, how did you guys clean the differential without getting water in it? Should I just clean the whole underside as well as I can before disassembling? Lots of brake cleaner?

i wouldn't waste expensive brake cleaner for the underside of your car. use a 1500 psi pressure washer on it. you could pre-treat greasy areas with engine degreaser, too. did this method on my 300d-T and it worked great

The size of my nut on the trailing arms was 24mm - I used a combination open ended and ring spanner as the gap between the sub frame and the trailing arm is tight.

I only used brake cleaner when I was being lazy - but only on small areas - it does cost a lot! For my diff I gave it hell with a wire brush attachment and my angle grinder (the best tool ever). Then I degreased with Aqua clean / Marine clean. Rust treated with Rust Blast and then POR15 over the top!

Good luck this week end. If you get stuck and the responses here are slow try sending me an email (via peach parts) to speed things up.

Installing a rear subframe solo
 

This can be a very difficult job working alone. I used threaded rods temp placed in the shock mount holes. Tighten left and right sides evenly to pull the subframe (hanging by the rods) up enough to get the bolts in. Remove the rods and install the shocks.

Take your car to a car wash with a pocket full of quarters, and a set of ramps. back up on the ramps, and go to town blasting off as much as you can.
This will help a lot and make it a lot cleaner job to start with.

Iam lucky I have access to a steam cleaner where I use to work. even though I had things pretty clean already, I loaded it all up and hit them again with the steam.

As far as the Diff went. I cleaned off the grease around the side seals, and covered with Duct tape, then pressure washed away. this is with my replacement one from PNP.

The trailing Arms, I duct taped the Hubs shut to protect the bearings.

As far as manually degreasing, I used some rags and Mineral Sprits (paint thinner). then scrubed them down with Marine Clean, since I sanded things down and POR`ed them.

Charlie

I did and still do all my work alone - I am a one man band. I wouldn't rate this job as a very difficult one though... it is fiddly but with patience I think all things can be over come!

Whilst I did it with bricks and lumps of wood, and Charlie did it with jacks it sounds like your nice trick with the rods through the shock mount holes could make the job even easier.

So there you have it folks:-

Option 1) take your time with blocks of wood and bricks
Option 2) use 3 jacks
Option 3) help yourself along with threaded rods through the shock holes to guide the sub frame and trailing arms into place

All in all I think this is a perfectly do-able job for a one man band. Take your time work safe and if you get frustrated stop for a break.

End of Day 1
 

OK, got the whole thing out of the car and onto the floor of the garage.

I pulled the subframe with the axles still attached because i forgot my big allen key for the diff drain was out on loan. This did not make it easy, I wish I had just taken the back cover off in retrospect and gotten the axles out of there.

Similarly, I should have just pulled the entire driveshaft off and gotten it out of the way. I will pull it for the re-install. It just gets in the way as you lower the entire subframe unit and I was very concerned about hurting it.

Some of the highlights included a busted bolt mount on the floor that mounts the subframe mount plate. Need to JB weld or mig a replacement on.

The rubber part of the subframe bushings came out really easy! Oh, except for the fact that the metal part didn't budge and needed a good bit of prying. See the photo...

All in all a good start. I need a 24mm box end wrench to take the trailing arms off.

Tomorrow is taking it all apart, getting the trailing arm bushings out and prepping for paint. I also have to tackle the axle rebuild.

Just a note - I personally think this job is extremely dangerous. It would be really easy to just drop the rear of the car - best case scenario onto the floor, worst case scenario onto yourself. Please please please future readers use a lot of caution if you are going to attempt this.

Yuck, that thing is nasty looking :rolleyes:.

yeah I had that fear of the car coming down on me. where do you jack it up? it is just sheet metal under there, and with the rear suspention out, there really isn`t anything to support against.

That is why I called WHUNTER to ask him how he does it, and how i should. I mentioned it in post#25 how he told me to do it.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/2516574-post25.html

I had the pieces made, and they worked very well.

I bought a 14mm allen/socket, I think from Harbor freight, then use my 18" breaker bar on those drain/fill plugs. most any auto supply might have one. I know my MB super duper oil pan/diff drain plug wrench won`t budge them sometimes.

Now the fun starts. :)



Charlie

I put jackstands underneath the jack points in the rear like I always do. Seems plenty secure and there is no rust there, miraculously.

I hope you really mean that the next part is fun. Save for the few more bolts I need to get off, I can sit back and enjoy some quality time with the wire brush and POR-15.

The final line up will be a pain but i am *hoping* its straightforward from here more or less. No more snapping rusty bolts....please!

Sorry you found it dangerous - when you get the diff off I hope you find the rest of the gubbins quite easy to chuck about. The diff is the heaviest part and for you case it was about 1kg heavier than it would have been (1 litre oil is about 1kg)

As for the bolt on the upper side of the floor pan (?) I would most definitely weld it back into place - I can imagine it coming loose when you're trying to tighten up the sub frame bullet like pins - not what you want.

Did you guys por-15 inside the pockets where the subframe and trailing arm bushings are mounted?

That seems like a logical thing to do but I am also worried about reducing the pocket area for reinstalling the already tight subframe and trailing arm bushings.

Inside the bushing pockets are the least rusty spots on the whole thing, thankfully.

Today begins a new workday!

I POR`ed the sub frame bushing pockets, but did not paint inside on the trailing arms.

As far as fun, I didn`t mean anything bad, just everything you have to do until you raise it back in place.

Mine went 360k on the first set of bushings, probably replacing these is a one time thing in the life of the car.

Charlie

When tightening the bushing bolts you need to make sure the trailing arms are in the correct position. The differential and axles need to be straight so, I had to temporarily install the axles and old differential to make sure the bushings do not get twisted when the car is back on the ground.

Axle stubs on both ends MUST be in the same plane and aligned with the differential. Trailing arms in the same resting position as it would be with the weight of the car off the jacks.

Failure to do this will result in early trailing arm bushung failure. :eek: