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Rear subframe install questions

B

beyondloadedSE

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Sep 29, 2000
Messages
3,794
Location
Louisville, Ky
Hey guys,

My rear subframe has put up the good fight but after 232K miles, its very rusted and falling apart and it's to the point now where its dangerous to drive because the rear end floats.

Is this a pretty simple job? I definitely need to PB Blast the connection points but it looks like there are just 4 bolts that hold the subframe on and I can disconnect the lateral links from the knuckle. Is that it?

Also, I've read about an alignment tool when you put it back together. What is the purpose of this and is it necessary?

I've also read that the bolts can break when taking them off. I'm assuming this is talking about one of the 4 main rear sub frame bolts?

Any help from someone that has done this install would be appreciated.

Jim
 
I've done it several times.

The hardest part is dropping the exhaust out of the way IMO. Depending on how rusty everything is will be challenging, the stock coating on that thing is a joke so they all rust. (Por 15 the new one you put in) Get a jack with lots of 2x4's to help spread out the load when easing it down.

But yes it's the rear control arms (1bolt each side) Toe arms (1 bolt each side) then the 4 bolts on the frame it self. I think it's mostly 15mm's

Alignment pins might help, but you can improvise I've always used a deep well socket.
 
Beans said:
I've done it several times.

The hardest part is dropping the exhaust out of the way IMO. Depending on how rusty everything is will be challenging, the stock coating on that thing is a joke so they all rust. (Por 15 the new one you put in) Get a jack with lots of 2x4's to help spread out the load when easing it down.

But yes it's the rear control arms (1bolt each side) Toe arms (1 bolt each side) then the 4 bolts on the frame it self. I think it's mostly 15mm's

Alignment pins might help, but you can improvise I've always used a deep well socket.
Click to expand...


Thanks Beans. I'll probably give it a shot in a few weeks.
 
.... not sure what your plans are, but I would box the sway bar mounts for an oversized sway bar. Upgrade the rear arms if possible ....it made a massive difference on my car. If santa goes mad for ya poly bush the links where you can. .....G
 
Oh and CSVTt#49 did some interesting bracing to his rear arm mount on his rear subframe too .... I keep meaning to ask him about the reasoning behind that ... check out his build thread for pictures.......G
 
Thanks for the feedback gorman. I'm not going to do anything too crazy. I just want to get the car back on the road so its drivable again.
 
Are you going to buy one of the new OEM rear subframes? Take some pictures, hopefully everything goes smooth for you.
 
blu_fuz said:
Are you going to buy one of the new OEM rear subframes? Take some pictures, hopefully everything goes smooth for you.
Click to expand...

Hey Joe,

Yep. OEM rear subframe showed up in the mail yesterday and the lateral links showed up today. Car is up on jacks at the moment and I've soaked all the bolts in PB Blaster. It probably will be a couple weeks before I can get some time to work on it.
 
Pictures as requested.

Started on it yesterday at 10 AM with my dad. Anybody that is trying this, good luck trying to do this by yourself. I PB Blasted these bolts two weeks ago and took 2 people to break them loose. All in all, it took about an hour to get the sub frame out. No joke, I bet 3 pounds of rust chunks were sitting in the sub frame. It was in really bad shape but it lasted me 232,000 miles. It started going south though after we got it off the car though. One of the lateral link bolts and rear sway bar end link bolts sheared trying to take the nuts off because they were siezed from so much rust. I ordered new sway bar end links yesterday. I should be able to complete this next weekend












 
I've never seen a RSF so rusty...wow! I did mine by myself and it honestly wasn't that bad...but mine looked like your new one. Looks like you weren't that far away from a failure.
 
By the way, just some final thoughts for anyone wanting to tackle this job.

Overall, it's pretty straight forward. Only 6 bolts to get the subframe out.
Almost all the bolts required a breaker bar to break loose.
The job is so much easier with two people. I can't imagine trying to fish out fish out the old subframe or shimmy in the new one without two people.
Getting the lateral links to align back up with knuckle during the reinstall was a pain. Not sure I could have done that by myself.
I did go ahead and replace the sway bar bushings, sway bar bushing brackets, sway bar end links and bushings. All of that ran me about $50 and the bushings were Energy Suspension.
Undoing the exhaust from the back two rubber hangers makes the getting the subframe in and out much easier.
 
I've got a new subframe sitting in my garage, I'll probably tackle it in the spring. Mine probably looks about the same 165k miles and a few Ohio winters.
 
beyondloadedSE said:
By the way, just some final thoughts for anyone wanting to tackle this job.

Overall, it's pretty straight forward. Only 6 bolts to get the subframe out.
Almost all the bolts required a breaker bar to break loose.
The job is so much easier with two people. I can't imagine trying to fish out fish out the old subframe or shimmy in the new one without two people.
Getting the lateral links to align back up with knuckle during the reinstall was a pain. Not sure I could have done that by myself.
I did go ahead and replace the sway bar bushings, sway bar bushing brackets, sway bar end links and bushings. All of that ran me about $50 and the bushings were Energy Suspension.
Undoing the exhaust from the back two rubber hangers makes the getting the subframe in and out much easier.
Click to expand...

One Person Job - raise the rear end on jack stands to a height that allows one to place a floor jack, with a 2 X 6 about two+ feet in length placed on said floor jack, up against the center of the Rear Subframe. Then unbolt all connections and lower the subframe while it is balanced on the floor jack. Relatively easy to remove, though I agree two folks are always preferred method.
 
How did you get the lateral links to align with the rear knuckles once the rear subframe was bolted onto the car? That was our hardest part. We had to had to jack the knuckle up to compress the strut and then I was pushing the knuckle/spindle inward to get the hole in the lateral link to align with the hole in the knuckle.
 
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