Good Day to the list......I am in the process of rebuilding the
suspension on all four corners of my '74 and have had mixed luck so far. I
am have been tearing down the rear suspension and discovered a horror story!
I wonder how many of us have stories of their discovery of some previous
owner's "repair" and would like to share. It might make for interesting
and/or amusing reading. Here is mine: I had to take out the trailing arm and
rear bearing assembly as one unit because I CANNOT separate the bearing
housing from the trailing arm. The reason is that a DPO, for reasons that
will remain a mystery, threaded two of the holes in the rear axle bearing
housing and installed coarse thread bolts (one of which somehow had the head
sheared off.....No, I didn't do it) instead of doing it right with
heli-coils. I can only assume that he threaded the holes in the trailing arm
as well. I got one out; the broken one remains in place. He installed a
course threaded bolt, so I assume that he boogered the threads in the arm as
well. So, he bolted the housing through the backing plate into the trailing
arm. And then consequently broke one of the bolts that he ran into the hole.
My problem is how to separate the two without destroying the trailing arm or
the bearing housing, and if I have to sacrifice one, which one shall it be?
Any comments, remarks, suggestions, or stories of same nature are welcomed.
What a mess!
On a related note, I have noticed that the pinion flange seal is
leaking; I assume that I am using the proper name. The front seal of the
differential where the prop shaft connects to the differential. How
difficult is this to change? I have the differential out and on the bench,
but I find tearing the differential apart a daunting task, far beyond my
experience. From what I see in the manual, it is a simple process; not
involved at all. Comments from those that have been there are also
appreciated.
Thanks to all in advance for suggestions. The only thing I can come up
with is to pray that I can tease the broken bolt out with an EZ out (I hope
that I can find an EZ out long enough). Ideas PLEASE........Jim McArthur/
CF17672U
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