Replacing rear trailing arm question.....
 

I have the need to replace the rear trailing arm on my 2003 base model. It seems pretty straight forward, and, instead of paying the dealer an hours labor to replace it I figured I would take a Crack at it myself. I ordered the arm from pelican and, also the bolts that I will need. My question is about reassembly, does the suspension need to be under load when the new arm is fitted and the bolts tightened, or can it be done with the car on jack stands with the suspension hanging?

Regards

Jake

I'm interested in this as well. I know with the control arms ( coffin arms) you need to have the suspension loaded. But the track arms arms I'm not sure. Also with just track arms, is an alignment needed?

My understanding with the track arms is since there is no adjustment to them, no alignment is necessary as long as nothing else is loosened/rr-tightened. I don't know about putting the suspension under load for tightening but I have read that folks put a jack on that wheel to compress the suspension to get the arm.to fit. There is another big thread on here with a lot of guidance but I don't have it handy right now.

No alignment needed if only doing trailing arms.
Can't think of any reason wheel needs loading IF only doing trailing arms.
But you will need to at least partially load by jacking up the wheel carriage, in order to get the bolts to line up for re-assembly.
BOL

Here is the other thread with lots of good info:

http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/53590-rear-suspension-noise-over-tar-strips.html

No loador alignment needed after replacement.

Thanks all, will tackle the job mid week and let you know how it goes.

Not owning a boxter...if the bushings are "standard" with metal eye surrounded by rubber with a metal casing which is pushed into the arm eye. I think received wisdom is to put the arm under car load when final torquing . The bushings have some windup and like to be fastened in their rest position. IMO. Discussion?

A manual will usually guide the final torque procedure. Are there any manuals left/ Maybe SW?

I had mine done at the dealership in the end. 45 minutes start to finish. No more noises :-)

Is there a definitive test to nailing a worn trailing arm (rear)? I've shook the suspension loaded/unloaded and can't see or hear any worn item. The only thing I noticed was when I took a large cresent wrench to it and rocked it back/forth it seemed to flex a bit at front attachment point. But it seems normal cause that's where the bushing is right? That annoying rattle only happens at slow speeds over bumps or when entering driveways. Hate to just throw parts at it.

I used a heavy rubber mallet on the font trailing arms and was able to reproduce the noise they were making. Didn't try on the rear.

The front joint is a balljoint. Not much for wind up at the center coffin link bushing.

The dealer needed chassis ears to pinpoint the bad trailing arm on my car.

When I took a large cresent wrench to the squared area and rocked it, it would flex about 1/8 inch or more. Is this out of spec? I don't hear anything. Are most of you going by the mere fact that this arm is proned to wearing more than other parts? Never heard of Chassis ears, is that like a stethoscope?

Yes, Similar, they are attached to different parts of the vehicle, and, each probe can be switched on to determine where a particular noise is coming from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEjtD-rJEDk