Joe - During the tech sessions that I mentioned in my previous post, we were at a members' home with a mechanics pit in the garage. The cars were sitting over the pit for the removal. A jack was placed at the side being worked on, using the underbody jacking point, and the car is lifted until the tire just left the floor. This allowed the wheel and trailing arm to be manipulated slightly to find the position where the bolt becomes unloaded. It can then be tapped or pulled out. At most, you will see a slight shifting of the arm, but there should be no sudden movements to be concerned about. Keep track of washers, shims, etc. The bolts can be inspected or replaced with new bolts, placing the washers back into their original positions as the joint is reassembled. As noted in other posts, there is some amount of wear on the washers, due to movement of components in the joint (a function of the "crappy bolt" bending under load). I recommend turning the washers to provide a fresh surface against the sleeves in the arm and bushing. We found that the bolt will slip back in easier if the car is lowered slowly until a small amount of weight is on the wheel. This seems to get the holes in both the arm and the rubber bushing to line up better. You snug the nut onto the bolt, lower the car to put full weight on the wheel, and then perform the final torque. As I indicated earlier, I will be posting again with details of what I have done for myself and a handful of PNDC cars. I was delayed last night by urgent maintenance requirements on my wife's Explorer. --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Joe Thome" <joethome@xxxx> wrote: > Hello Fellow List Members, > > Great discussion on trailing arm bolts. Is there any precaution which should be followed in the removal of these bolts for inspection or replacement? Do you simply get under the car and screw these bolts out, or do you have to secure the trailing arms or other parts so that they don't suddenly spring out position and do damage to person or car? > > Many thanks. > > Joe Thome > > VIN 6467 as of 2/12/01 > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]