C-3 1971 Suspension

**Patrick H.** · July 14, 2004, 06:34 AM

Re: C-3 1971 Suspension

Tony,

First of all, I'd have to wonder who told you that almost "every" part had to be replaced. The same guy who's about to make money on replacing it all? I thought so. And how were the A-arm bushings installed?

If your parts (especially rubber) are truly worn, and you have moderate mechanical ability, then consider this:
Front - Remove control arms, send then to Van Steel, and have new ball joints installed and bushings installed. They will come back looking like new. Replace the shocks (buy a set of Konis or Duke will say Spax for the whole car). Don't replace the springs unless they are crusty and rusty beyond belief.

Rear - Remove and install new shocks (easiest job). Remove strut rods and install new bushings (I believe still GM-available, else the same rubber ones are available elsewhere). Remove the rear spring (don't forget to de-arch on removal and installation), buy the liners and paint kit from Quanta, then clean it, repaint it, and install with new rubber bushings at the ends and new liners.

Do you REALLY need trailing arms rebuilt? If so, remove the arms and send to Van Steel along with your front A-arms. They will rebuild and set them up like new with new parking brake assemblies. Unless you have locally a garage that repairs Corvettes and ONLY Corvettes and has done so for 25+ years, don't let them rebuild your trailing arms.

Now, can this all be done in your garage without a lift? Sure. Been there and done that. The 2 weeks turnaround to send away your items to Van Steel will give you time to clean up the rest of the car you can't get at normally, rebuild the spring and replace strut rod bushings, and get ready for the parts return. Feel free to check out the Van Steel site at http://www.vansteel.com

If you've never done more than change oil on a car, this will be a challenge. In that case, you may want to have a local shop remove the parts for you to send away. And no, they CAN'T do them correctly. Van Steel and similar Corvette-only places do more trailing arms in a week than most local garages do in their entire existence. The only special tools I can think of are the shock mount removal tool for the rear, and a spring compressor for the front which you can loan from AutoZone for free.

Patrick

**Patrick H.** · July 14, 2004, 06:34 AM

Re: C-3 1971 Suspension

Tony,

First of all, I'd have to wonder who told you that almost "every" part had to be replaced. The same guy who's about to make money on replacing it all? I thought so. And how were the A-arm bushings installed?

If your parts (especially rubber) are truly worn, and you have moderate mechanical ability, then consider this:
Front - Remove control arms, send then to Van Steel, and have new ball joints installed and bushings installed. They will come back looking like new. Replace the shocks (buy a set of Konis or Duke will say Spax for the whole car). Don't replace the springs unless they are crusty and rusty beyond belief.

Rear - Remove and install new shocks (easiest job). Remove strut rods and install new bushings (I believe still GM-available, else the same rubber ones are available elsewhere). Remove the rear spring (don't forget to de-arch on removal and installation), buy the liners and paint kit from Quanta, then clean it, repaint it, and install with new rubber bushings at the ends and new liners.

Do you REALLY need trailing arms rebuilt? If so, remove the arms and send to Van Steel along with your front A-arms. They will rebuild and set them up like new with new parking brake assemblies. Unless you have locally a garage that repairs Corvettes and ONLY Corvettes and has done so for 25+ years, don't let them rebuild your trailing arms.

Now, can this all be done in your garage without a lift? Sure. Been there and done that. The 2 weeks turnaround to send away your items to Van Steel will give you time to clean up the rest of the car you can't get at normally, rebuild the spring and replace strut rod bushings, and get ready for the parts return. Feel free to check out the Van Steel site at http://www.vansteel.com

If you've never done more than change oil on a car, this will be a challenge. In that case, you may want to have a local shop remove the parts for you to send away. And no, they CAN'T do them correctly. Van Steel and similar Corvette-only places do more trailing arms in a week than most local garages do in their entire existence. The only special tools I can think of are the shock mount removal tool for the rear, and a spring compressor for the front which you can loan from AutoZone for free.

Patrick

**John Kuzman** · July 14, 2004, 07:07 AM

Re: C-3 1971 Suspension

Tony,
Order the suspension video from Van Steel. This video is well done and will give you an idea of the degree of difficulty you will encounter with the front and rear suspension. I bought the video, and after watching the process, I did my rear suspension on my own in less than three weeks start to finish, working on weekends only. This was done with my '69 on jack stands, i.e. no lift.
One thing for sure, send the t-arms out for the re-build. I had my rear diff., t-arms, strut rods, drive shaft, and axle shafts done by Bair's and could not be more pleased with the quality of the work. These guys are pro's and were telephone available if I had any questions. They will even send you shipping boxes if you want to do the whole deal long distance. In my case, I drove the parts to Bair's and had the added pleasure of a personal shop tour and got to observe first-hand the tear down of my t-arms and diff.

**John Kuzman** · July 14, 2004, 07:07 AM

Re: C-3 1971 Suspension

Tony,
Order the suspension video from Van Steel. This video is well done and will give you an idea of the degree of difficulty you will encounter with the front and rear suspension. I bought the video, and after watching the process, I did my rear suspension on my own in less than three weeks start to finish, working on weekends only. This was done with my '69 on jack stands, i.e. no lift.
One thing for sure, send the t-arms out for the re-build. I had my rear diff., t-arms, strut rods, drive shaft, and axle shafts done by Bair's and could not be more pleased with the quality of the work. These guys are pro's and were telephone available if I had any questions. They will even send you shipping boxes if you want to do the whole deal long distance. In my case, I drove the parts to Bair's and had the added pleasure of a personal shop tour and got to observe first-hand the tear down of my t-arms and diff.

**Harmon C.** · July 14, 2004, 07:33 AM

Re: C-3 1971 Suspension

Tony Patrick had lots of good ideas.A few more words of wisdom. I would buy new strut rods as they now can be bought that look like original for $100. for the pair. The last bushings I bought were @$16.50 each 4= $66. total. That $34. savings is stinkey work. The only bad job is if the trailing arm bolts are rusted in and this is how they are on cars I do (salt on the road in the winter). This board will have many ways to get rusty parts apart that will help you if needed. I looked at a Corvette with $20,000 in recipts from bubba and the owner got about $6,000. worth of work at best. Most regular service stations don't know so they do more harm than good.If you don't do the work yourself ask your local Corvette club where the members take their cars and are happy with the work and value which many times is not the cheapest. Lyle

**Harmon C.** · July 14, 2004, 07:33 AM

Re: C-3 1971 Suspension

Tony Patrick had lots of good ideas.A few more words of wisdom. I would buy new strut rods as they now can be bought that look like original for $100. for the pair. The last bushings I bought were @$16.50 each 4= $66. total. That $34. savings is stinkey work. The only bad job is if the trailing arm bolts are rusted in and this is how they are on cars I do (salt on the road in the winter). This board will have many ways to get rusty parts apart that will help you if needed. I looked at a Corvette with $20,000 in recipts from bubba and the owner got about $6,000. worth of work at best. Most regular service stations don't know so they do more harm than good.If you don't do the work yourself ask your local Corvette club where the members take their cars and are happy with the work and value which many times is not the cheapest. Lyle

**Chuck R.** · July 14, 2004, 07:36 AM

Re: Mr. Hulst is right on!

Sounds like the ole mechanic' shmooze at work Tony, but you would know that better than I.

Your mechanical abilitys and tool inventory is key here. If your lacking in either (don't mean to sound insulting) then professional rebuilders are the only way to go such as Baire's, Van Steel etc.

It's involved rebuilding suspensions and there is no room for fudging as it WILL come back to haunt you in safety, dependability and bucks.

Local garages not experienced with Corvette idiosyncracies can do far more harm than good, even when just removing parts to be shipped out, so make sure they can speak intelligently to your needs.

You might do well to feel out a knowledgeble NCRS member near you to give your ride a once over with you before you commit to possible unecessary work.

I don't mean to sound all gloom and doom Tony, but it's THAT important.

Take care,

Chuck 32205

**Chuck R.** · July 14, 2004, 07:36 AM

Re: Mr. Hulst is right on!

Sounds like the ole mechanic' shmooze at work Tony, but you would know that better than I.

Your mechanical abilitys and tool inventory is key here. If your lacking in either (don't mean to sound insulting) then professional rebuilders are the only way to go such as Baire's, Van Steel etc.

It's involved rebuilding suspensions and there is no room for fudging as it WILL come back to haunt you in safety, dependability and bucks.

Local garages not experienced with Corvette idiosyncracies can do far more harm than good, even when just removing parts to be shipped out, so make sure they can speak intelligently to your needs.

You might do well to feel out a knowledgeble NCRS member near you to give your ride a once over with you before you commit to possible unecessary work.

I don't mean to sound all gloom and doom Tony, but it's THAT important.

Take care,

Chuck 32205

**Tony Roussos** · July 14, 2004, 09:05 AM

Re: Mr. Hulst is right on!

Sorry. I didn't mean to say that's what the mechanic said exactly. Replacing everything were my words. It's what I surmised from the estimate and the walk through. The estimate is from a corvette shop. I am not insinuating I was given bogus info, it's just more money than I will have in the budget for a long time and it probably needs to be done at the same time or more serious damage will insue. I mean $250.00 labor for removal and reinstalling each trailing arm?! Woah! I don't mean to begrudge a living, but is that job really that intensive?! That didn't even include the rebuild labor. I guess I feel caught between feelings. I like the shop, its owners and mechanics, but $4,000 is more than this bank can afford at this time. (I waited sooo long for this car, so I jumped on it sooner than I wanted due to excellerated rising value.)Performing my own work is satisfying

**Tony Roussos** · July 14, 2004, 09:05 AM

Re: Mr. Hulst is right on!

Sorry. I didn't mean to say that's what the mechanic said exactly. Replacing everything were my words. It's what I surmised from the estimate and the walk through. The estimate is from a corvette shop. I am not insinuating I was given bogus info, it's just more money than I will have in the budget for a long time and it probably needs to be done at the same time or more serious damage will insue. I mean $250.00 labor for removal and reinstalling each trailing arm?! Woah! I don't mean to begrudge a living, but is that job really that intensive?! That didn't even include the rebuild labor. I guess I feel caught between feelings. I like the shop, its owners and mechanics, but $4,000 is more than this bank can afford at this time. (I waited sooo long for this car, so I jumped on it sooner than I wanted due to excellerated rising value.)Performing my own work is satisfying

**Patrick H.** · July 14, 2004, 09:42 AM

Re: Mr. Hulst is right on!

If performing your own work is satisfying, then get the video from Van Steel and watch it. Then find some Corvette-repairing friends who will help you take it apart. Art at Van Steel will send you shipping boxes to send the stuff down to him (I think Bair's would too). I was a relative Corvette (but not mechanical) novice when I took out my trailing arms to send to Van Steel. I'll bet you the left one is harder to remove.

If you can wait 5 weeks, talk to Art as well as the Bair's people at Carlisle in late August. Art "may" swing you a package deal for sending him all the work.

Patrick

**Patrick H.** · July 14, 2004, 09:42 AM

Re: Mr. Hulst is right on!

If performing your own work is satisfying, then get the video from Van Steel and watch it. Then find some Corvette-repairing friends who will help you take it apart. Art at Van Steel will send you shipping boxes to send the stuff down to him (I think Bair's would too). I was a relative Corvette (but not mechanical) novice when I took out my trailing arms to send to Van Steel. I'll bet you the left one is harder to remove.

If you can wait 5 weeks, talk to Art as well as the Bair's people at Carlisle in late August. Art "may" swing you a package deal for sending him all the work.

Patrick

**Mike Cobine** · July 14, 2004, 10:57 AM

It is time consuming

However, don't let that stop you from doing a lot on your own. If someone else does it, and then driving down the road something feels funny, it is flatbed time to the local garage.

If you do it, and it feels funny, you have an understanding of what is there and what is happening and can make a reasonable descision on driving straight back home, flatbed, or even a quick trip to the local Chevy parts guy to fix a few minor items in the parking lot.

Rebuilding trailing arms are typically $250-$300 a side depending on who does it. Lots of services, with Van Steel having the biggest name in this. The $250 labor for R&R isn't that far off. I had a difficult time on one just recently that some shop messed up and I spent about 15 hours for 2 arms. Some of that was the five minute effort to get off my back each time I rolled out from under the car (ain't 25 no more) but you see that time can become a fair amount. If I had been a bit more limber or had it on a lift (or a few less family interruptions), I could have cut that to probably half. At a $50 shop rate, that would be $750.

Ball joints and a-arms are usually sent out to get the original riveted look. If you don't car, your local parts store will sell Moog ball joints you can bolt on yourself after drilling out rivets on the old originals. Or if your car is like many, unbolting the replacements installed 20 years ago.

Tricks:

Spring --

Removing - Clamp the Vise Grips on the spring to use a stop so the floor jack doesn't slide. Jack up spring. Remove spring bolt at trailing arm. Lower jack.

Do both sides.

Have a friend or really eat your Wheaties. The steel spring weighes about 50 lbs. Remove four inner bolts when you are ready to catch 50 lbs of steel in the head or chest.

Installing - Hold it up and install the four inner bolts. DO NOT TIGHTEN, just snug them. Tighten these when the weight of the car is on the tires.

Trailing arms --

Trailing arm pivot bolts rust to the inner sleeve of the bushing and refuse to slide out. As such, many use a reciprocating saw to cut the bolts and get them out. This is the quickest, but it eats the most parts.

The day or two before you remove, get a can of Liquid Wrench (the liquid, not the spray) and dose the bolt and end of the trailing arm well. Do that a couple of times that day and let sit overnight.

Remove the nut, tap on the shims, and pull the shims out.

Using a long punch to tap on the end of the bolt to see if you can get it to move. If you can, great, remove it. Odds are it won't.

Take a ball joint or Tie rod spreader fork and wedge that between the TA and the inner frame wall, since the bolt head is on the inner side of the chassis. Drive the fork in to spread (move) the TA toward the outside, pulling it off the bolt.

When you reach the end of travel, shove in on the trailing arm, shoving the bolt to the inside. (bolt head will stick out) Use the shims, wrenches, Vise Grips, etc. between the head of the bolt and the frame to prevent the bolt from moving back in the frame hole.

Drive the fork in again. Repeat as needed until the bolt is off.

The bolt is about $14 at Chevy now, so why waste $28 because of a saw?

Strut rod/shock mount --

The warning is DO NOT hammer on them to drive them out of the TA bracket. Most use the knockers but why spend the money? Get a 3/4 - 16 fine thread nut from Lowes and install it, with a bit sticking out. Use a large 5 lb copper or brass mallet to drive the mount out. Hammering with steel will peen it and distort the threads. The mount is tapered so after you move it about 1/8 inch, it will be free.

Tools --

Ball joint fork and Tie rod fork

Rethreading kit from Sears - $50, but best $50 you will spend

5 lb copper mallet

Normal 1/2 inch socket set

Normal open and box wrenches

Hydraulic floor jack

a friend or two

**Mike Cobine** · July 14, 2004, 10:57 AM

It is time consuming

However, don't let that stop you from doing a lot on your own. If someone else does it, and then driving down the road something feels funny, it is flatbed time to the local garage.

If you do it, and it feels funny, you have an understanding of what is there and what is happening and can make a reasonable descision on driving straight back home, flatbed, or even a quick trip to the local Chevy parts guy to fix a few minor items in the parking lot.

Rebuilding trailing arms are typically $250-$300 a side depending on who does it. Lots of services, with Van Steel having the biggest name in this. The $250 labor for R&R isn't that far off. I had a difficult time on one just recently that some shop messed up and I spent about 15 hours for 2 arms. Some of that was the five minute effort to get off my back each time I rolled out from under the car (ain't 25 no more) but you see that time can become a fair amount. If I had been a bit more limber or had it on a lift (or a few less family interruptions), I could have cut that to probably half. At a $50 shop rate, that would be $750.

Ball joints and a-arms are usually sent out to get the original riveted look. If you don't car, your local parts store will sell Moog ball joints you can bolt on yourself after drilling out rivets on the old originals. Or if your car is like many, unbolting the replacements installed 20 years ago.

Tricks:

Spring --

Removing - Clamp the Vise Grips on the spring to use a stop so the floor jack doesn't slide. Jack up spring. Remove spring bolt at trailing arm. Lower jack.

Do both sides.

Have a friend or really eat your Wheaties. The steel spring weighes about 50 lbs. Remove four inner bolts when you are ready to catch 50 lbs of steel in the head or chest.

Installing - Hold it up and install the four inner bolts. DO NOT TIGHTEN, just snug them. Tighten these when the weight of the car is on the tires.

Trailing arms --

Trailing arm pivot bolts rust to the inner sleeve of the bushing and refuse to slide out. As such, many use a reciprocating saw to cut the bolts and get them out. This is the quickest, but it eats the most parts.

The day or two before you remove, get a can of Liquid Wrench (the liquid, not the spray) and dose the bolt and end of the trailing arm well. Do that a couple of times that day and let sit overnight.

Remove the nut, tap on the shims, and pull the shims out.

Using a long punch to tap on the end of the bolt to see if you can get it to move. If you can, great, remove it. Odds are it won't.

Take a ball joint or Tie rod spreader fork and wedge that between the TA and the inner frame wall, since the bolt head is on the inner side of the chassis. Drive the fork in to spread (move) the TA toward the outside, pulling it off the bolt.

When you reach the end of travel, shove in on the trailing arm, shoving the bolt to the inside. (bolt head will stick out) Use the shims, wrenches, Vise Grips, etc. between the head of the bolt and the frame to prevent the bolt from moving back in the frame hole.

Drive the fork in again. Repeat as needed until the bolt is off.

The bolt is about $14 at Chevy now, so why waste $28 because of a saw?

Strut rod/shock mount --

The warning is DO NOT hammer on them to drive them out of the TA bracket. Most use the knockers but why spend the money? Get a 3/4 - 16 fine thread nut from Lowes and install it, with a bit sticking out. Use a large 5 lb copper or brass mallet to drive the mount out. Hammering with steel will peen it and distort the threads. The mount is tapered so after you move it about 1/8 inch, it will be free.

Tools --

Ball joint fork and Tie rod fork

Rethreading kit from Sears - $50, but best $50 you will spend

5 lb copper mallet

Normal 1/2 inch socket set

Normal open and box wrenches

Hydraulic floor jack

a friend or two

C-3 1971 Suspension

C-3 1971 Suspension

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