engine and drivetrain More questions form new guy about rear subframe area

[JayMac]

I haven't gotten the site figured out yet so bare with me. Once I get how to add photos I will post what I have and where I am.

Made pretty good progress this weekend and learned alot.  What started as re doing my cv joint has slowly morphed into dropping the rear sub frame and cleaning/blasting everything and painting and reloading with new bushings and other bits.

Currently the car sits on my lift and I have the axles out and cleaned. CV joints are out and cleaned. Rear drum brakes are apart and off the car. I will admit to being stupid about the  e brake cable. It had so much dried junk on it it never dawned on me that it just pulls out once you remove the clip holding the cable to the trailing arm. DUH! Thanks to some pretty great diy details from you guys I was able to get the stub axles out as well as the bearings. Soaking my brake lines and lamenting that I bought a nice flared end wrench set and it has everything except the needed 11 mm for the barkes. Oh well. Ordered the vice grip that has the "V" in it so you can grab the nut on the brake fittings.  Sway bar and dif are out and I can see that the sub frame bushing look pretty nasty. 

 

Question is can I unbolt the sub frame from the bushings first as my lift is blocking access to the nuts. If need be I guess I could drop the car and support the hubs with jack stands and then adjust the blocks on the lift. Just wondering if anyone has just unbolted the cross member form the bushings?

 

Who or what is IIRC? Mentioned a few times as a part source.

 

Has anyone or is it possible to just unbolt the brake lines form the hard line splitter that is located above the drive shaft?

 

The flange on the stub axle is permanent and the seal goes on there against said flange? Mine are so covered with rust and dirt that before I want to go banging on anything I want to be sure.

 

 

Items I used for cleaning to this point:

Junk Bug and Tar remover ( comes out  very fine and cuts tar and oily gunk pretty well)

WD40. I buy this by the gallon and use it as a parts cleaner. Does not evaporate like Brake Cleaner and dissolves oily gunk and I fill a one gallon paint can and soak things that are sealed in the can just like paint. I reuse the WD and just pour it back into the gallon can when done as it is only used for parts cleaning. Does a great job in the engine bay and then followed by a bath with Simple Green.

Last but not least is hot water and Dawn. This was used as a soak to break down any of the junk that might have been in the CVs before taking them apart. As it turns out everything looked pretty good. rear brakes, bearings, cv joints. Everything else will be scrapped.

 

Thanks for all the help. Trying some photos.

Jay

 

 

 

[Nuthatch]

Has anyone or is it possible to just unbolt the brake lines form the hard line splitter that is located above the drive shaft?

 

Yes, I had to do this when one of my hard lines developed a blockage. But access there is exceptionally tight, and there is precious little room for wrench throw. Just be patient and you'll get it. This is a spot where the trick wrenches can come in handy. 

 

As to the bearings: as long as they're out, you should be considering replacement rather than reinstallation of the old ones. The parts are not expensive, and the procedure is straightforward and well detailed in the manuals. The correct combination of shims must be installed in conjunction with the large tubular spacer, such that the bearings themselves are not improperly stressed when the castellated axle nut is torqued down. Some math is involved, and a digital caliper with depth measurement and metric readout is a must. You'll probably want to order an assortment of extra shims when you order the new bearings. This is not a truly difficult job, but you'll want to go over the math more than once. 

[JayMac]

I was not considering reusing anything. My only experience with bearing was on the e36 and when you pull the axle it usually pulls the bearing apart. I even ordered new bolts for the shafts as I have no idea of how long they have been there, probably original so time for an upgrade.

 

To this point the only thing(s) that will be going back on are the cv joints,  shafts, dif and springs, drums and rear pads.

 

Groceries on the list:

rear shocks

new cv boots

fresh dif oil

subframe mounts

sway bar bushings

wheel bearings 

seals

brake lines

castellated nuts

trailing arm bushings

dif hanger bushings

 

Looking to have all the parts blasted before a couple of coats of paint or something suitable

 

I agree the part are relatively inexpensive so no need to go cheap.

[MikeWooldridge]

IIRC. If I remember correctly?

[JayMac]

Yes, apparently I am the only one without an extensive initial library. My memory is good just really short......

[FB73tii]

The flange on the stub axle is permanent and the seal goes on there against said flange? Mine are so covered with rust and dirt that before I want to go banging on anything I want to be sure.

 

I believe you are referring to the dust cover--it is pressed onto the stub axle. It can be tapped off, and new ones are available. It is part #1 (BMW Part 33413404120) on the diagram linked below:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=ST12-USA-07-1971-114-BMW-2002&diagId=33_0885