luminAR Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 I have a 92 Lumina sedan. The rear leaf spring rubber pads are compeletely gone so I am trying to put some new ones in. The local Chevy dealers will not sell me the rubber pads without purchasing the $400 leafspring with them. I passed on that offer. I went to the local parts store and they found some new silicon or nylon retainers that go in place of the old rubber pads. Looks like I have to cut an inch off each part to get them to fit too. I did find this GM recall link, so it kinda makes sense: ok well I didn't book mark it and I can't find it, but it did mention a new plastic piece replaced the old rubber pads. Anyway, as I'm tearing apart the rear suspension I see that the right and left FRONT lateral linkage arms on the leaf spring are both bent and one is actually cracked....Luckily Luminas are plentiful in my town and I was able to score these lateral linkage arms at a junkyard for $40. So I'm trying to put in these lateral linkage arms and I have all the bolts out...except for the inner two bolts, which can not come out unless I remove the gas tank. I really really really do not want to remove the gas tank. Another option seems to be removing the rear crossmember where the lateral linkage arms bolt, but I don't want to do that either.... What's the best/simplest/easiest option here? I suppose I could drop the gas tank a few inches to get the bolts out (if my friend would return my tranny jack)....Can I get away with lowering the tank, and not actually disconnecting any lines? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother pig Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 When I bought my GP, I needed to do some rear suspension work, which involved replacing both control arms. Unfortunalty, I had to drop the gas tank. As I recall, it wasn't *that* hard of a job, just make sure the tank is empty. And it would help to have a helper present when you go to put the tank back up. I just had to disconnect the filler tube and I believe the vent tube; otherwise the tank stayed pretty much in place. It just was tipped at an angle, with the front of the tank resting on the garage floor, and the back of the tank resting on the metal straps. I didn't see any other way to get those bolts out otherwise. Oh, and as I recall the bolts for the tank straps were kind of rusted in; so have a good can of penetrating oil ready, and go slow. The only thing holding those bolts in are those metal tabs; you don't want to break one. I hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest RedCutlassSL Posted October 7, 2003 Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 don't cut the new bushings, you pound the in with a hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminAR Posted October 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2003 don't cut the new bushings, you pound the in with a hammer. Thanks brother pig. I'll let you know how it goes. And to RedCutlassSL, if that's the case, then I probably have the wrong part. There's no way for the piece I have to fit into the spring perch without lopping off the bottom inch....but it appears that if I cut it, it would fit perfectly. Strange. I'll worry about this after the gas tank/ lateral arm episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminAR Posted October 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2003 ok, so I lowered the front of the gas tank, and was able to swap out the front lateral linkage arms. i'm replacing the rear (blown) shocks while I'm doing this.... you know the auxilary damper between the shock bracket and the rear lateral linkage arms? (it's like the rubber figure-8 shaped piece) I can't compress it enough to get the link-to-knuckle bolt back in....any thoughts? By the way, I now see how the aftermarket bushings fit, I do not need to cut them, they slide right in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminAR Posted October 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 TTT Come on guys, I'm almost done...can anyone walk me through how to reinstall the auxillary damper (the 8-shaped rubber piece between the rear lateral linkage arms and the shock bracket? So far I have tried putting the damper in place and jacking the lateral linkage arm up, but I just can't get it close enough to get the bolt threaded, and even when I do get close, the damper is about ready to pop out of place... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luminAR Posted October 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2003 Ok so I put the lower shock bolts into place and managed to get the aux. dampers in. Now I just have to get the leaf spring back in. I'm a relatively smart guy...but this Haynes manual is confusing me. What's the best way to get the rear leaf spring back in? Thanks! Edit: I found this guy's link on another thread in this forum somewhere...looks like he took the rear brakes off...is that necessary? http://www.ee.ualberta.ca/~ployola/Photos/RearSusp/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brother pig Posted October 10, 2003 Report Share Posted October 10, 2003 LuminAR, When I did my rear suspension, I had to replace the rear brakes anyway, so they were off when I went to install the rear leaf spring again. In fact, I had to replace the hub. As I recall, I *think* I somehow put a jack under the leaf spring and jacked it up, until it was supporting the weight of the car. I was then able the move the hub to match the spring. But I also had the top bolt out of the hub, so the hub was able to rotate with the bottom bolt. I then messed around with jacking at the hub to get the top bolt hole to line up on the hub. I hope this makes sense. Oh, and one more thing. While I was jacking on the leaf spring, I jacked the car up about 4 inches. Both lateral control arms were disconnected, and they managed to prop themselves on the shop floor, which I didn't notice. I removed the jack to get a better position, and accidently bumped the control arms, allowing the car to promptly *fall*, luckily back onto the jack stands. The bumper did hit my head on the way down though, which ended my night of working on my car. (mostly due to shock than injury) Just be careful working on your car! I know for me, this was my first major work on a uni-body car, and you really can't tell if it's being held up (no frame twist) P.S. - sorry I haven't posted in a while....I hope this help doesn't come too late! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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