Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:44:13 -0800
Reply-To: dylan <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: dylan <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Adjusting Rear Camber
In-Reply-To: <373d06d61001110658h36a7fa3ah5d7c7e9237c2f73d@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Joe,
I remove the nuts from those bolts and give them one tap with a large mallet.
If they do not budge at all, I use a rotary cutting disc to carefully cut the bolt between the bushing and the mounting brackets on the van. Support the arm well while doing this.
Once the ends are cut off, the heat and rattlin' will have broken them loose, IF they are to come out and the bushing to be reused. I give them a whack with a drift and 50% of the time they fall out of the bushing.
I have found the bolts in the proper size at McMaster Carr.
If the bushings are shot, damaged from removal or I want to upgrade......I use Burleys kits for the front and rear arms. Grease everything very well when installing.
Once a year I loosen the nuts and give the bolt a twist to make sure the new ones don't sieze up.
Watch powerwashing directly into the bushings when cleaning the rig.
That will certainly get water into the spots you don't want it.
dylan
________________________________
From: joe trussell <vanagon85@GMAIL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Mon, January 11, 2010 9:58:33 AM
Subject: Re: Adjusting Rear Camber
I snapped the head off of the bolt using a breaker bar. I had to take it to
a shop to get the rest of the bolt removed; it wouldn't budge. They ended
cutting the other side of the bolt off and removing the control arm. They
also ruined the $60 rubber bushing. They also inadvertently bored out
the outside hole in the body where the bolt passes through by going crazy
with a chisel hammer. Then they couldn't find a replacement bolt in the
right size (NLA from VW) and stuck an old smaller shock bolt in there with
a washer that partly caved into the hole they created. Now the camber
is completely wrong.
It's taken me several months to find a replacement bolt/washer/nut
set (finally found one last week). It seems like people who are parting out
Vanagons don't want to remove something that allows the chassis to sit
firmly/roll. I'm hoping that the hole they created doesn't have things
completely screwed up when I go in there to try to fix it.
In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This has been a
self-induced nightmare.
Cheers,
Joe T.
'85 Vanagon with one slew foot.
On Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 5:33 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
> Most likely you will have to cut the blots just inside the mounting plates.
> Not a job for the faint of heart. Choices are torch and watch that rubber
> burn or careful execution with the Sawzall. You will need to cut the bolt
> and barrel on at least the bolt head side. Personally unless the alignment
> is so far off that you can really feel or you shave off tires in 10,000
> miles I would leave things alone until the rear trailing arms need to be
> removed for some other reason. After all, it has been as it is since day
> one.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Geo & Kathleen Hahn
> Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 6:11 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Adjusting Rear Camber
>
> Bingo -- this (rusted in place) is just what I ran into. Lots of days of
> PBlaster, impact wrench, long breaker bar, etc failed to move the bolt.
>
> Going on a long trip in a week so I really can't risk breaking or melting
> something right now -- will wait until I return to invoke some nuclear
> option.
>
> Geo H
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
> This is easy as long as the bolts are not rusted to the barrels in the
> rubber mounts.
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 3, 2010 at 7:02 PM, Geo & Kathleen Hahn
> <ahwahnee@cybertrails.com> wrote:
> > Thanks to Scott, Don & Roger for all the advice and that excellent link.
>
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