Bleck, that's a messy picture
Arrgh, nice focus.
As you can see, it's a tight fit.
Removing Trailing Arms
[axle nut] [muffler] [differential] [trailing arms] [subframe] [bushings]
| The first step is to remove the drive axles. This is pretty easy. Remove the axle nut, if you haven't already. I took an old closet dowel that was laying around and sawed about 8 inches off the end of it. Then I put it against the axle and hit it with a mallet. Once you get the axle pushed far enough in, you can grab it from behind and pull it out. | |
| In order to remove the rear trailing arms, you'll pretty much need to disassemble the rear brakes. The first step is to loosen the caliper bolts. Again, I recommend using a hex socket as opposed to an allen wrench. The allen bolts are 7mm and are in there pretty tight. They loosen fairly easliy with a wratchet though. Once the bolts are all the way loose, simply pull the caliper off the rotor. Don't let it hang from the brake line though. | |
| Then you'll need to remove the caliper carrier. The bolts are 19mm. Using a good breaker bar, they break loose fairly easily. Once the bolts are completely loose, remove the carrier. | |
| Next is to remove the rear rotors. I let the set screw soak in some penetrating oil for a couple hours. Again, you'll want to use a hex socket to remove the screw. It's a 6mm. Hopefully the screw will come out without too much grief. Once it was out I gave the rotor a couple of good whacks with a hard rubber mallet and it popped right off. This would also be a good time to replace your rear rotors and pads since they are already off. | |
| There isn't really a good way to describe disconnecting the parking brake cable, but that's what you'll need to do next. Just make sure the parking brake is NOT set. Of course, you probably would have had a little trouble getting the rotor off if it had been set. Remove the lower return spring and spread the brake pads out a little. Once you do that, you'll see how to disconnect the cable. I would also suggest putting a paper towel under the brakes, because a couple small metal pins will fall and if you don't have anything to catch them, they might disappear forever. | |
| Disconnect rear anti-sway bar from the trailing arm. It's one 13mm nut on the bottom of the trailing arm. This is a step that the Bentley forgets to tell you. | Bleck, that's a messy picture |
| Disconnect the brake line at the union towards the front of the trailing arm. You'll need a 14mm and 11mm wrench. I used flare wrenches so as not to strip any of the connections. Also, if you have a bucket handy, I would put it under the union before disconnecting, because brake fluid will drip all over the place. | Arrgh, nice focus. |
| Now it's time to remove the bolts that hold the trailing arms to the subframe. All the nuts and bolts are 19mm and it's a very tight fit. On the very outmost nuts I used a 19mm flare wrench again, because it was the only wrench I could fit in there. Then I monkeyd with extensions and a wratchet on the inner bolts till I found a good fit. On the passenger's side you will have trouble getting the outer bolt out, because the gas hose is in the way. However, since I was dropping the subframe anyway, I just left the passenger side trailing arm connected and when you drop the subframe a little, it will give you enough clearance to pull the bolt out. Once all the bolts are out, simply remove the trailing arms. | As you can see, it's a tight fit. |
[axle nut] [muffler] [differential] [trailing arms] [subframe] [bushings]
