Full suspension overhaul illustrated
 

Rather than tag this onto my gallery topic I thought it best to start a new topic.
I've finally started the suspension overhaul on the missus's diesel conny.
At just under 118k miles it has become quite noticeable that the suspension requires attention. It has had one broken rear spring for almost 3 years with the opposite side now broken for over a year and surprisingly it passed all the MOT's during that time with no problem.
To be honest although my test centre is very strict, with the 75 rear springs they seem to break right at the end of the coil and therefore cannot be seen from below.

Here is the car just before I started and the ride height is normal on both sides.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5554.jpg

I have already purchased springs and shockers for front and rear but I am not one for simply just replacing these items without some other attention to the car so I have decided to remove the entire rear subframe assembly so that I can get it, and all other components sandblasted and painted.

First off was the rear shockers. These were fairly easy to remove by first getting the car up on wooden blocks for safety and removing the rear wheels.
I prefer using wooden blocks to axle stands as I find axle stands can move more easily, whereas wooden blocks will not budge.
Even with my new air gun I still had to break the studs on the bottom of the shockers with a master bar then with the gun it was easy so here are the dud rear shockers.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5556.jpg

Next to come off was the silencer.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5557.jpg

It's been needing replaced for the last two years having been welded up last year but now its off and will be replaced.
With it removed I can easily get the sub frame off the car and I also intend to sand blast the fuel tank support strap which also required the exhaust off to be able to remove it from the car.

Now this is what the underside looks like so you can see why I want to sandblast everything and get some decent paint on it.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5558.jpg

And while I'm at it, look at the bracket just above the fuel cooler for the FBH.
I actually complained to the main dealer about this rusting when the car was new. It is now corroded right through so I will have to fabricate a new bracket.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5559.jpg

Now back to the sub frame. Removal of this is not explained in the manual for some reason but removing it in my mind makes the suspension more accessible for repair, for example can you imagine attempting to replace the rear anti roll bar bushes or the drop links.
Anyway after removing the brake calliper assembly,the top and bottom hub mounts, disconnecting the ABS leads and brake pad wear sensor you are now ready to remove the four subframe mounting studs.
I supported the subframe on the trolley jack for this and after all the studs were removed manoeuvre the calliper assembly through between the upper and lower suspension arms. The calliper can then be placed securely on the ground and the entire subframe pulled from under the car.

Here it is after four hours work and that was taking into account this was my first time and some of the studs were very awkward as they were rusty so I had to use different sized socket to account for their smaller sizes.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5560.jpg

And another view
http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5561.jpg

I then spent almost two hours removing the anti roll bar, drop links and upper and lower arms. Some of the studs were extremely rusty and all will be replaced.
I have also removed the front brace bars on both cars and the three brace bars from the transmission tunnel to get the same treatment.

Here is a shot of the front brace bars from the V6 I removed earlier in the week. You will note one of them is twisted as a result of either being jacked up or placed on a wheel free on a service ramp. This has already been straightened up.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5515.jpg

I will update this topic as I go along but I envisage this work, which will also include the front suspension will take at least 6 weeks.

JYJ

How bad where your rear shocks?
Replaced mine and they were not as bad as fronts. but still they had leaked badly and took way too long to return to the start position.
Hence giving the car a saggy behind...

It will be worth getting those bits powder coated. Must stronger than most paints, and isn't that dear - if your going to get bit bits blasted anyway. I did this on my SD1

My sand blasting is done by trading sweeties and unfortunately they don't do powder coating but the parts will all be spray primered and top coated by myself in my workshop.


How bad where your rear shocks?
Replaced mine and they were not as bad as fronts. but still they had leaked badly and took way too long to return to the start position.
Hence giving the car a saggy behind...

My rear shocks simply pushed down all the way with no resistance although they were not leaking. My front N/S has started to leak slightly.

Today I removed the last lower link as I gave up on it last night.
The securing stud simply would not budge as it was siezed solid in the aluminium sleeve of the bush. I had to grind the remainder of the thread and the head of the stud to force it out of the sub frame. I tell you these studs are hard, it took me all of 20 minutes with the angle grinder to get the job done.

I will now have to add a new lower arm to my shopping list. I also removed the fuel tank securing bracket. I partially removed it 4 years back when I was renewing the rear brake pipes but was unable to get it off the car because of the exhaust so I cleaned it up as best I could then painted it.

Rather unusual form of mounting on the fuel tank as it has 4 plastic rivets with the pop out centre button right into the base of the tank as well as the 4 mounting studs.
These came off easy as I had put some copper grease on the threads last time.
Last job today was a full power wash on the underside, it's amazing just how much dirt there is on top of the tank. It is sitting down on bricks about 1 inch lower than normal so this allowed me to get the power jet in.

JYJ

I've just checked on the sand blasting but afraid I'm still waiting, well that's boys for you. Hopefully by the time I'm back from a break in the sun the parts will all be gleaming.
I'll be back on the job soon with more updates and photos.

JYJ

Excellent work there Jim:bowdown: look forward to seeing the finished article:}

I look forward to seeing the whole thing, very interesting :)

There's been a distinct silence from back home so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that junior has done my sand blasting.
I'm now on the countdown on my break in the sun at my now 2nd home Malta. We even had a holiday break within our main holiday by being invited to stay with friends for a few days on Gozo, the neighbouring island to Malta.
Yesterday evening I watched one of the cruise liners leaving Valetta and earlier in the day we drove past within just a few yards of two huge liners as they were visiting Malta for the day. I reckon this must be the only port in the world that you can get so close by car to such liners.

I'm surprised that there's no members on the forum from Malta as there are a lot of 75's running about. I just wonder how their springs are as some of the older roads still have many pot holes.

Anyway I should have something to report on the suspension overhaul later in the week.

JYJ

Nice bit of work there JJ :D

So much so I have copied the post to here (with link back).:}

If you make any amendments to the first post, let me know and I will update the How to :D

I'm now back home and junior has come up trumps with the sand blasting as most of the parts are now ready. Unfortunately he couldn't do the sub frame as it was just too big for the cabinet, so today I have dropped it off at a local company I have used in the past but it's now under new ownership and the new guy says it will be the end of next week before it's ready. Pity as I could have dropped it off before the hols.

Meantime here are some shots of the repairs to the under trays on both cars which are both now ready to be re fitted.

This one shows the under tray from the diesel which had suffered some damage as shown circled, due to it bottoming out.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5503.jpg

And this shows them after repairs were carried out using several layers of fibreglass matting. I then painted them with a plastic primer before giving them a finish gloss coat as in the following photo.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5509.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5511.jpg

I even stripped the rust off the securing studs and nuts and dipped them in a yellow oxide primer several times before giving them a finish coat.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...n/DSCF5508.jpg

I should manage to get the sand blasted parts into paint this weekend and will start on the remaining parts using my air grinder to clean off the rust.

JYJ