How do I line up those lower rear trailing arms ?!

[gingerstu]

Gahhhhhhh!

In the process of replacing the lower rear trailing arms with polybushes and it has taken me about 4 or 5 hours to line one side up and get the bolts through, but the other (offside or drivers side) is proving somewhat problematic.

I guess now I can see the bolt hole through the bush but trying to get them to line up.....
Gaaahhhhhhh (again).

If anyone has magic ways of making this easier then I'd be most interested

cheers

Stu

[Chunk]

Some grease on the bush outer and in the chassis/axle mounting always helps.
Once in your position, get a selection of small and larger diameter screw drivers and put them in the bolt hole and lever the trailing arm forward. A tapered pointed crow bar would also work.
Start with small screw driver first and work up to thicker ones.
On the axle, i put a screwdriver on the inside and then put the bolt through the outside.
Good luck
Phil

1979 TR7V8 FHC 3.9 Litre.
280bhp and 13.31 secs standing quarter.
19 years of tinkering and tuning......So far!

[gingerstu]

Thanks for that, I need better old screwdrivers tho as mine keep bending....

I'll carry on this evening and see if I can get it in place

cheers
Stu

[Beans]

This might give you a bit more info ...

http://tr7beans.blogspot.com/2007/04/dhc-suspension-upgrades.html
http://tr7beans.blogspot.com/2007/05/dhc-suspension-upgrades-part-2.html

<center>
<font color="blue"><i>1981 TR7 FHC Sprint (better known as 't Kreng)
1981 TR7 DHC (not very well known yet, but back on the road)
Also a 1980 TR7 DHC, 1980 TR7 DHC FI, 1981 TR7 FHC
http://tr7beans.blogspot.com/</i></font id="blue"></center>

[Rich in Vancouver]

I use a line up punch which is basically a tapered punch.
A center punch would work as well.
Regardless, it's a awkward job.

Rich

1975 TR7 ACL764U

[jclay (RIP 2018)]

Are you sure you have the bushing halves properly seated? If you grease them when you assemble them, you can trap air inside and the bushing will not fit all the way into the trailing arm. If they protrude out from the housing, they will never slip into the mounts on the frame.

[gingerstu]

Thanks again for your assistance, I finally managed to complete the task this week (!), so refurbishing the rear suspension had taken me about 3 months!

The grease made a lot of difference, I had been using silicone lubricant and that was a waste of time.

So job done, but rear suspension bolts not tightened yet and I'll leave that until I lower it all back to the ground.

I am now all fired up having completed that task and now moving onto the brake pipes and then forward to the rest of the car...

Thanks again.

Ta,

Stu