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Rear suspension questions

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John_Mc

John_Mc

Jedi Knight
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Having just completed my front suspension rebuild, the logical step for me to take next is to rebuild the rear suspension! My initial thought is "oh, this should be a lot easier because there are less parts" but I know I'm being naive. So, just how tough is it to do? I noticed in looking at my rear suspension that the outer bracket on one side is angled upwards and the outer on the other side is angled downwards. A PO mix-up, or an alignment technique? I also noticed that the portion of the frame that the trailing arm attaches to on the L side has been reinforced with a bracket that looks like this:
bracket.jpg

Is this a common and reliable repair? I noticed that there is rust at the outer edge of the frame at this repair spot /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cryin.gif . Can this be reliably repaired or should I sell my wife's and my wedding rings (since the following action would render them no longer needed) and use the money to buy a new frame from Ratco?
 
John,
It appears to me that the "add on bracket" is some type of repair to the frame. Is it welded to the original frame? On one of my 6's I had both of the frame pieces where the trailing arms mount replaced. I don't know about having it done with the body in place. My body was off at the time.

The U shaped brackets with either 1,2 or 3 notches can be in any position and combination to adjust for rear camber. Since I did mine, Good Parts started offering an adjustable mount for the rear trailing arms. I wish I had them when I did mine because finding a good combination with the notched brackets is a time consuming project. If you go the notched route, make sure you have the springs you want because if you change springs, your rear camber will change also.
 
Sounds like a very common frame repair - outriggers.

They're the boxed piece that the trailing arm brackets bolt through, and yours must have had a patch panel attached as a temporary repair. You can buy new replacement parts and weld them in but best done on a jig with the body removed.
Often, once you get the outriggers removed, you will find more rust at the t-shirt area (cricuform.)

No, it's not a call to Ratco for a new frame. Just a repair. Do both sides. See Moss p/n 850-390, 850-710, 850-720.
 
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