Leaderboard

Brakes maintenance = experienced personnel

Hello all you w body guys! Here is my 2003 Monte Carlo with a 3.6 and 6t70 swap! If you guys have any questions feel free to ask!

Step #8 says remove the oil so i removed the oil when I replaced my cartridges. Do whatever you want I don't think it really matters.

Maybe this will make it more clear. In these pics, you can see the lift pad and where I have the floor jack, (mine is painted black), positioned to lift up the back of the car. It's basically a formed piece of metal that is designed to be the lift point on the rear axle. As always, you MUST only use the floor jack to lift the car...NOT support it. Please use jack stands or another safe method of supporting the car once it's up off the ground. Jacks are NOT designed to support a vehicle on their own and can fail. Safety is always a priority when working under a car. Please ask for help before you get under your car if you're unsure about anything. Everyone here wants to make sure you're going to be safe!

Well…. After going through my 9th 4t65e I wanted to do something different, We had the impala sitting out back, we also had an 06 monte ss out back, and a 07 Grand Prix so I mean, i could have done an ls4 swap, or even shoved and l32 in it and called it a day. But as far as I know the lfx swap was never done before, and I have plenty of time, so I decided that the lfx was to way to go mainly because of how strong the 6t70 has proven itself to be, and the fact that I wanted to modernize the car. I loved how the monte was from the factory but I always wished it was a little bit more modern, now with this entire swap I have gained the stability control + the altogether better traction system, the whole car uses the can-bus now so you can do a few more electronic things in the car, and well, I always have liked dohc v6s and I’ve always liked the dohc v6 sound when they have equal length exhausts so I I just figured it was worth a shot to try the swap so maybe other people could do it in the future too!

I'll second this. The state of aftermarket parts is such that a quality reman is akin to buying a winning lottery ticket. I want to say in all the hundreds of thousands of miles that I've tracked I want to say I've had one OEM (in my old Bonneville) axle actually get excessive wear and necessitate replacement - which was an aftermarket that turned into me doing them once a year till the third one fell out of the transmission, I then put a junkyard one in of unknown miles and it saw the car to the junkyard at 309k. The other axle was original and I never had to worry about it at any point. When I was way bigger into building W cars I had a pile of axles in varying degrees of disrepair that I would pull from, check for play, re-boot as needed and send never had any issues. 93,000 miles is relatively low inspect the boots, and just re-boot the OEM ones as needed.

Good advice, thanx, that could save a big bill. I can move on to other stuff it needs.

If the boots are good, and they're not making noise...leave 'em alone. They might go well over 200,000 miles if they stay sealed. Once the boots tear, and road-splash gets in, it's anyone's guess how long they'll last. I've had good luck pulling 'em apart, cleaning, and reinstalling fresh grease and new boots.

Thanks for all the info! I think I'm going with the black pads and start shopping around for replacement springs. I looked art mine closely and the springs are a bit worn at the ends but I'm also concerned with the cross members holding the springs. Aside from being horribly rusted, there's also some bends and twist in them.

There is no difference between FE1 and FE3 subframes or tie rods, so it doesn't matter what rack you use. I have done this job in a parking lot. The return line is available in the aftermarket but it is very difficult to install with the powertrain in the car because the return line is also a cooler and has like six 90* bends and goes all over the subframe. Use bulk hose rated for power steering or transmission lines. Install a plate cooler if you're concerned. Remove the air box. Seperate the steering shaft after loosening the pinch bolt. A pain. Put a jack under the rear of the subframe. Remove the rear subframe bolts and loosen the front ones. Lower the jack a couple inches. Seperate the outer tie rods from the knuckle. Cut the old power steering lines. Remove the two rack bolts to the subframe. Slide the rack out from behind the wheels. Reverse to install. The steering shaft is very frustrating. It will only fit on one way but it is hard to get to. You may need the inner tie rod tool if you don't have a wrench big enough for the inner tie rods.