(8/29/00): Got the diagonal arm off, and the torsion arm successfully 'unloaded'! It was definitely time to replace the bushings... They were cracked, and worn from 26 years worth of use (they look like the original pieces). I did notice however, that I might need to get another diagonal arm (not that big of a deal, just a trip to the junkyard; they have a million of 'em). The reason: It looks like once upon a time, the bearing froze, and spun the whole thing inside the diagonal arm... It was WAY too loose; You could put the bearing in with your hand (it fell out, when I took the stub shaft out!). Anyway, no real big surprises here. I've been busy at school, so that's why I haven't got too much done... I hope to get the other side taken apart, and the new bushings/bearings in, by then end of this week. I need to pull the rear fenders first, so I can clear the torsion "tube." I will be doing this sometime tomorrow (unless I have a ton of Trig. homework). Oh wait, you want pics don't you... Here they are:
Here's what it looks like, with everything pretty much removed... As you can see, they torsion "tube" wont quite clear the fender; It'll need to come off.
This is what the outer torsion arm bushing looks like... It's cracked, and old. Cant wait to get the new urethane units in! (you can just barely see part of the inner bushing behind the "arm").
These are the inner, and the outer bushings on the diagonal arm... Again, they are worn, and are begging to be replaced (with some COOL urethane!).
Aha! Found out I didn't need to remove the fender, all I had to do was slide it out a little further so that it would clear the inner bushing, and that gave it enough room to clear (I have baja, rear fiberglass fenders. If I had stock steel ones, I would have had to remove them.)
Here is what one of the inner bushings looked like... Old and ready to be replaced.
This is what one of the two, torsion "bars" looks like.
Stay tuned for PART 12! (Where I hopefully start to put it back
together!)
