Part 4: Rear Suspension Part 2

With everything out of the back end of the car, new parts can start to go in. We opted for an aftermarket fiberglass spring. It saves almost 50 pounds and has a higher spring rate to allow the car to handle better. The trailing arms were sent out to Precision Motive in Hayward, CA to be rebuilt. I looked into doing it myself but didn't have the proper tools. Once the bearings are pressed out and the new ones installed, an experienced mechanic needs to install the correct spacers and balance the assemble. Something that I did not feel comfortable with doing. The rotor were also upgraded to Willwood slotted rotors to match the upgraded pads that were installed.

All of the u-joints were replaced with Spicer products. We had originally got a kit from a corvette parts supplier, but the u-joints were not branded and didn't fit.

The rebuilt trailing arms are installed and the underside has been coated in bed liner.

The trailing arms were all done at Precision Motive in Hayward, Ca. They did a full rebuild and full race balance with the new rotors.

Cleaning out the differential was a mess, the old gear oil had turned to sludge and the only way to get it out was the steam clean it. I did make sure to get a good coat of oil on everything to prevent surface rust.

Re assembled and sealed with a new gasket.

The differential and crossmember installed.

A new polyurethane differential bushing installed.

Shafts waiting to be installed.

Drive shaft installed.

Shafts installed on the differential.

Shafts installed on the axles.

New rear fiberglass spring installed. The calipers were painted red, we couldn't afford the expensive ones.

The Willwood rotors matched the car very well. Also, you can see the other change to the exhaust. We ran into a problem with the Patriot side pipes. Since they are designed to fit the factory exhaust manifold, the piping was too hard to bend to fit the long tube headers from Summit Racing. These are from Hooker Headers, we got the full kit which included bigger long tube headers and dump out the side of the car and bolt to the side pipes. 

Sway bar installed.

Everything was put back on in 3 days. I had just gotten out of school on summer break and had unlimited time to wrench on the car.