How to replace lower and upper trailing arms

[SP00KSTER]

This one is for all those people who don't want to pay a fortune for someone to do a 5hour job thats fairly straight forward or just for those who enjoy doing stuff them self. Im a bit of both lol.

let me start by saying that i am not responsible for any problems that arise from doing this job yourself

I did this on my S3 VS UTE so i dunno if it will be the same on each series of VS and if it will be the same for VR but i wouldn't think it's to different,i under took the task as the bushes on my lower trailing arms had completely busted out, whilst i was at it i also replace the upper trailing arms just for good measure. i replaced the entire arm and not just the bushes as i got a set of trailing arms for really cheap, which worked out cheaper then paying someone to press bushes in for me.
any ways enough talk onto the work.

1. I first started by loosening off the wheel nuts and then jacking up the car and supporting the diff on jack stands, then removing the wheels (if you incapable of this then you should not be taking on this task at all)

2. once the wheels were off i jacked up the diff again then supported the back off the car, not the diff, with some cinder blocks and wood then placed it under the back of the car.

3. then i let down the diff and pulled out the springs (which pretty much fall out them selves see pictures), jacked the diff back up and supported it about 50cm of the gound using jack stands under the sway bars links.

4. After you have supported the car so it's safe to work under (this means you can push the car and it doesn't rock back and forth, it needs to be solid) and have taken the load off the diff by removing the springs youre ready to start pulling off parts.

5. i started with the lower trailing arms, one side of the car at a a time, first undo the bolt which attaches onto diff it sits just behind the brake dust cover on the rotors. The bolt uses a 19mm bolt and 19mm nut, i used a bar and sockect and a ring spanner, this bolt is extremly tight and will take either the force of 10 men in one arm or a 5pound hammer to crack it off. once you get in undone and pull the bolt out drop the arm so it sits on the ground

6. the front one is done the same way as the rear bolt but i found it to be a bit easier to undo.

7. now that you have take out the arm completely take the chance to clean up the mounts that the arms sit into

8. know you can chuck in the arm, either an entirely new arm or the same with new bushings pressed in. i used some high temp high pressure grease to grease up the bolt shaft and also put some inside the bush eye. i start with the rear bolt first placing the arm on and then pressing the bolt though the hole. tighten up the bolt but only tight enough that it stops the arms from jigiling about, dont tighten the F$#$ out of it...Yet.

9. the front bolt is done the same way, grease, bolt on tighten up, wasn't to hard to replace was it.

10. i then did the upper arms on the same side, this made it easier for me as i didn't have to keep hopping around the car grabing tools and what not.

11. the upper arms on the left side of the car was a bastard of a job for me as the exhaust pipe gave me very little room to work with. the upper arms uses a 17mm bolt and nut, i used a ratchet with an extension for the bolt toward the front (the nut is welded onto the car), and for the rear bolt i used the ratchet and 17mm bit and a 17mm ring spanner.

12. i started with the bolt that is on the diff, it is kinda hard to crack the nut off as you dint have alot of room to work with but if you keep at it for a while then it will finally give into your super powers and let go. pull the bolt out, its a bit hard as it buts up aginst the bump stop but a bit of wiggiling and it will come out

13. the bolt towards the front of the car was the easiest of the lot to undo for me but it was still tuff. as i said above you only need to use one spanner on the bolt as the nut is welded on the car. once you get the bolt out pull out the arm and once again clean up the mounts on the car.

14. get the grease out again grease up the bolt and also the bush eyes then push the arm into position (arms don't have any sides but i noticed a little cut out in the arm which face up towards the top of the car) i started with the front bolt first, once again tighten it on fairly tight but not super tight.

15. the bolt that goes into the diff will not line straight up as the diff drops away when you pull off the arm, i found the easiest way to line the diff back up again was to grab the rotor and pull it into the direction you want whilst trying to push the bolt through the hole. once it's in tighten it up.

16. the other side of the car is the same as all of the above

17. once you have got all the arms in and the bolts done up kinda tight you can drop the diff down again and then put the springs back into it.

18. jack the diff back up untill it takes up the load of the car, place the jack stand under the diff again for safety and security then let the jack down onto them but leave the jack in place for a back up fail safe system. this is the part that you get to tighten up the bolts to buggery, go all out on them putting in all your muscle power to make sure there 100% tight on all the arms. (this advice on tightening up the bolts once the arms have the load taken up on them was given to me by my uncle who is a very experienced mechanic so don't question it, lol but you can question it if you want to i know i did)

Once you've got all the bolts tight and your happy with it put your wheels back on and pull the supports out of the way the drop your car back on all fours and take it for a drive and feel the difference. now you can celebrate with a few drinks or many drinks if you like that you accomplished the task and saved a bit of cash in the proccess.

Hope this helps people all questions and constructive critism is welcome.
Here's some pics that should help.

[Super_Low 91]

Iv done this to my vn, improved the rear end heaps, except i went with Heavy Duty upper control arms from Nolathane..

Very nice write up as well mate, Very detailed.

[SP00KSTER]

thanks mate, i also thought about going the nolathane arms but i got replacement arms cheap so i didn't get them, maybe next time.

[Ando2694]

niiicceee luke, but what are the most noticeable improvements whilst driving?

[SP00KSTER]

mate it doesn't shudder any more when i let off on the excelerator, there's is no side to side movement when cornering, no more bad squeaks when driving, and the rear end feel's solid as a rock.

[VrWagz1]

If you tighten the bolts before you frop the car the bush's sit in that position and they screw up internally as you drop the car. Then they sit there screwedup as you drive around and tear up quicker. If you drop the car first the bushs go to their natural position and can be tightened there. In short they last longer this way.