A photo journal of my suspension overhaul.
#47
Burning Brakes
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Thanks for the guidance and advice. I believe that I found a good technique for cleaning the rubber bushing material from the trailing arms. Here are the tools that I used:
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26414-cleaning-tools070414.jpg)
The procedure:
1. Cut the large chunks of rubber off with a utility knife.
2. Use a brass wire wheel drill bit to remove the bulk of the rubber.
3. Use a brass wire brush on a dremel-type tool to remove the rubber in the cracks and crevices.
4. Use steel wool and lacquer thinner to finish it off.
This turned out to be much easier than I imagined that it would be. Now that I know what I'm doing, it would take me about 10 minutes per trailing arm to get it looking like this:
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26414-cleaning-tools070414.jpg)
The procedure:
1. Cut the large chunks of rubber off with a utility knife.
2. Use a brass wire wheel drill bit to remove the bulk of the rubber.
3. Use a brass wire brush on a dremel-type tool to remove the rubber in the cracks and crevices.
4. Use steel wool and lacquer thinner to finish it off.
This turned out to be much easier than I imagined that it would be. Now that I know what I'm doing, it would take me about 10 minutes per trailing arm to get it looking like this:
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26413-clean070414.jpg)
#48
Burning Brakes
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To simplify access to the rear spring plate hex bolt, I purchased this stubby hex bit set:
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26410-stubby-hex.jpg)
They worked great for removing the rear spring plate with my 1/2-inch breaker bar:
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26411-stubby-hex070414.jpg)
One bit of advice, though: Loosen all of the other rear spring plate bolts before tackling the hex bolt. When I tried to loosen the hex bolt first, it wouldn't budge; and I feared that the stubby hex tool would bend or break. But after I loosened the other spring plate bolts, it must have relieved some pressure on the hex bolt, and I was able to loosen it with relative ease.
I'm hoping that the bit is stubby enough to allow me to get the bolt back on with my torque wrench. I'll report back on that, once I start putting everything back together.
Good luck!
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26410-stubby-hex.jpg)
They worked great for removing the rear spring plate with my 1/2-inch breaker bar:
![](https://rennlist.com/forums/members/rsaerick-albums-rear-trailing-arms-picture26411-stubby-hex070414.jpg)
One bit of advice, though: Loosen all of the other rear spring plate bolts before tackling the hex bolt. When I tried to loosen the hex bolt first, it wouldn't budge; and I feared that the stubby hex tool would bend or break. But after I loosened the other spring plate bolts, it must have relieved some pressure on the hex bolt, and I was able to loosen it with relative ease.
I'm hoping that the bit is stubby enough to allow me to get the bolt back on with my torque wrench. I'll report back on that, once I start putting everything back together.
Good luck!
#49
Racer
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Great thread!
Nice work Vandit!
Car looks great, brakes came out of the oven looking box fresh. Great job!
Your Dad sounds cool.......if there's a problem, he just makes a tool, job done!![bowdown](https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/bowdown.gif)
Great work.
Thanks for sharing.
Nice work Vandit!
Car looks great, brakes came out of the oven looking box fresh. Great job!
Your Dad sounds cool.......if there's a problem, he just makes a tool, job done!
![bowdown](https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/bowdown.gif)
Great work.
Thanks for sharing.
![thumbsup](https://rennlist.com/forums/graemlins/bigok.gif)
#51
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I am thinking about doing much of the same work and came across this thread that I missed in the summer. Thanks so much for documenting this. Very nice job! This is what makes Rennlist the best Porsche site on the web.