Author |
Message |
gobo57 Samba Member
Joined: March 10, 2004 Posts: 158
|
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject: removing rear end |
|
|
what is the easiest way to remove my gearbox and rear suspension. can i take it off in one big piece or do i have to remove the suspension first |
|
Back to top |
|
|
CPRcubed Samba Member
Joined: February 26, 2004 Posts: 153 Location: Tehachapi, CA
|
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 7:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
What kind (and year) of vehicle are you wanting the information for? Cheers! _________________ 1970 Bug, Mostly Stock & Rusted for now, 1984 VW Rabbit Convertible, 1994 Ford F350 CrewCab DRW 7.3L PSD |
|
Back to top |
|
|
gobo57 Samba Member
Joined: March 10, 2004 Posts: 158
|
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 9:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
57 oval-thanks-not to be a NU-B, but looking for some time saving tips. car was sitting in field since'87. sh@t is tight and rusty |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Major Woody Samba Enigma
Joined: December 04, 2002 Posts: 9010 Location: Portland, OR
|
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:18 am Post subject: |
|
|
Get John Muir's idiot book and a bentley manual. You'll need them as you will be reassembling this someday.
Loosen the rear axle nuts while the car is still on the ground. I say this because the axle nuts are going to be stuck and it is a bitch to get them off when the trans is free of the car. Remove the brake drums. Pull the rear brake connections. Disconnect the clutch. The axles end castings unbolt from the spring plates with 3 or 4 bolts you will see after your drums are off. Or maybe they thread in from the outside, I can't remember. Anyway get them off and your axles will be free from the spring plates.
Disconnect your shift coupler. The grub screw is under the inspection panel inside the tunnel under your backseat.
Then unbolt the front trans mount and disconnect the rear trans cradle from the frame horns (giant bolts face the rear of the car) after supporting the trans with a floor jack and you should be able to pull the trans straight back and out. Have someone support both axle shafts while you are doing this, or the boots are likely to be torn on the frame horns. When you move the trans around, it would be a good idea to support the axle ends as they are not meant to flex front to back and only up and down within a reasonable range but not as far as they will want to move after they are unsupported. The easiest way to do this is to put the trans, drum to drum, on a pallet, and then move the pallet around with a helper. Once you have the trans out, you can take the rear cradle and mounts off the trans. If you need to take your spring plates off, that's a whole different can of worms. You need to read the lowering threads in the bug forum to understand the relationship of the inner and outer torsion bar splines to one another and how to remove the bars and plates in a way that ensures they will go back together at the factory angle so your car will sit flat and level when you go to reassemble it. Best way to do this is mark the end of the torsion bar and the spring plate before pulling it. Keep track of the angle of the spring plate vs. the frame of the vehicle after prying it off its stop. Put the spring plate and torsion bar back in as a unit like they were when you pulled them. It will be easy then to get the unladen spring plate angle back to where it was when you disassembled it, as it would be very obvious if you were off by even one inner spline. This will all make more sense when you get into it and read the other threads. Plan to pull the bars/plates at some point as you are going to want to replace the torsion bar bushings before you drive the car. Old bushings make the car ride and handle terrible.
Put every fastener you remove in a labelled baggie, or you will be sorry later. Good luck. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|