G-bar Install on 1st gen f-body

[Moose]

After doing a search last night for a few things on the install, I thought I'd post up how the install was going. i will also post pu the pics that we have taken so hopefully they will help someone else in the future.

The first part of the install is the taking the rear suspension apart. Do not throw anything away, as you will need a few bolts to go back in.

I pulled the springs,perches and shocks out, but left the u bolts in place. This is a good time to check the body and frame for any cracks. My car we found out had been hit, and you can see where they straighten the driver frame rail. :( Also check your U bolts for any fatigue or worn threads. they are cheap and now is the time to replace with your new parts.

Also check the front bolts that hold the spring and the perch together. mine were a little rough and had trouble going throw the new lower control arms. I bought new ones, but had to search for grade 8 bolts at 6 pm last night. The bolts are 1/2 20 thread 5 " long.

The hardest part for me was getting the top cradle lined up. It says you can use jack stands to hold it in place, but having the car jacked up high made it diffcult to get jack stands in there. My brother and I used the buddy system, he held his side, while I drilled a 5 /16th hole for the self tapper bolts that are supplied.

I had to then use a jack to get the cradle to fully seat up to the rear frame. (goes back to the rear frame being pulled, we think) A little engineering with a jack and a 2 x 4 we got it in.

The self tappers that they send are fine for holding the cradle up, but I did not feel comfortable using them for the final install. A member here (ITLBTU) warned me about the self tappers that they were worthless. Well they are. When putting the self tappers in, take your time and watch the metal to make sure it does not pull.

use the self tappers to hold everything in place, but I'm waiting until everything is in and lined up before welding everything.

[Moose]

My next step was installing the lower control arms and mounting hardware. this is pretty striaght forward. install the new mounts for on the rear and have them tight on the u bolts.

next install the front perch mount with the control bolted to it. My suggestion here is to leave some what loose for adjustment.

Then using the supplied bolt, put the rear part of the control arm into the new bracket on the rear. and I left this bolt loose as well per the instructions.

I then started measuring. I got the rear centered left to right, and also front to back. I found it easier to mount my rims and tires and put the car at ride hieght to get my final adjustments where I wanted everything.

I then tighten the front perch mounts to keep the lower control arms from moving.


Basically this is where I stopped. Should have more info tonight and pics also..:hammer:

[Project69]

Sweet, Yea get some pics up lol

[Steve N 69 69 69]

Do those lower arms have any amount of side to side tweekage ( adjustability) ? I was wondering if they would work on a rearend that has the spring perches moved in a bit from stock?
I guess maybe the holes on the spring cups could be welded and redrilled.
Just wondering.

[ITLBTU]

Another thing I did was to weld the axel brackets to a piece of 3" std pipe that was cut in two halfs. I then welded small tubes to the sides so I could bolt them together around the axel tube snug until I had everything aligned. Then I tightened them up and put a few skip welds to keep them from rotating under torque. I'll try to post pics tonight...

[Moose]

please post those pics.. thats where I'm at right now, and struggling with the alignment. I think the tabs they sent are for a 12 bolt, and I have a 10 bolt.. :hand:

[ITLBTU]

I have a 10 bolt as well. It took me a while to get the tabs rotated correctly. when I did, I couldn't see why it was so difficult.:pat:

I found a pic of what inspired me. I will take a few pics tonight. You need to be careful how you rotate it befor you attach the tabs and make sure the bolt head on the front will clear the upper control arm when the suspension is in full compression.

[dhutton]

Well, here's my take on this after my G-Bar installation. Unless the spring perches are more or less level at ride height, the rear end rotates about the lower arm connections when you set the pinion angle and the result can be that the upper arm brackets don't sit properly on the axle tubes. In my case the perches were set for a high pinion angle of roughly 10 degrees (not sure if this was something done in the good old days of jacked up rear ends or not) which caused the rear end to move forward when it rotated on the lower arms which made the brackets sit poorly. I had to reduce the angle to get the perches more or less level at ride height to get the axle brackets to sit correctly. Hopefully this makes some sense, it was hard for me to figure out and just as hard to try to explain.

10 and 12 bolt tubes are the same diameter as far as I know.

Don

[Moose]

10 and 12 bolt tubes are the same diameter as far as I know.

Don

don on my 4th gen the axle were larger, so I was assuming they were bigger for a 1st gen.

I'm struggling right now to get the pinion angle straight.. I mocked up the shocks last night, and seems to me that cradle either needs to farther forward, or rear back about a 1 inch. I called chris alston, and they told me adjust the pinion angle to about -4 degrees and that should get everything lined up..

I Had some stuff to do last night with my son, so I did not get much time to play with it.

[Moose]

latest update... I got everything lined up. But had to take apart top control arms because the rear needed to be shifted 3 /16th of inch towards passenger side to be centered.

so cut the brackets for the u bolt off, and ground off my tack welds for control arms, then centered the rear.

I also figured out the pinion angle.. I forgot to put in the machine aluminum pieces for the shocks.. (dumb) Got that done and shocks line right up..

I tack welded everything up, and dropped it off to a friend of mine who owns a fabrication shop.. He is going to do the finish welding, since I suck as a welder..

finished pics soon.. hopefully today or tomorrow.

[Tony@AirRideTech]

10 degrees on a pinion angle??????

[dhutton]

10 degrees on a pinion angle??????

Yep, as near as I can tell that is where it was. It was not the original rear end and the previous owner drag raced the car. I think he set it up when the rear end was jacked up with air shocks to fit drag slicks but who knows what he was thinking. Really had me puzzled for a while. When I set it for a 2 degree pinion angle the differential rotated forward on the lower bars and was no longer centered in the wheel wells and the upper brackets would not sit right. If I centered it in the wheel wells with a more or less level spring perch the pinion was pointed right into the tunnel. This was my first install for something like this and there is a real possibility that I am dead wrong. But, I reinstalled the perches with less pinion angle and the install went fine after that.

Don

[Moose]

well more news today, and not good news.

after getting everything welded, fab shop noticed while setting the ride height on the shocks that one of them is leaking.. Great, brand new shock leaking..:pat:

[nicks67camaro]

Great, brand new shock leaking..:pat:

What Brand?

[DarkoNova]

I'm gonna guess a Varishock.

Matt

[Moose]

I'm gonna guess a Varishock.

Matt

matt dead on.. I will say though that chris alston had a call tag out to us and had them next day aired back to them. When they recieve them, they are suppose to next day them back. hopefully tomorrow.:dunno: