VT Rear cradle

[johnmic]

Ive bought a VY rear cradle with the camber adjusters but have never attempted to remove the old cradle before, can some one give me a blow by blow on removing the rear cradle, I understand about disconnecting the brake lines and exhaust but other than that what do I need to do.

[graham7773]

More reading:

blow by blow as described by GMH
sorry, no illustrations
REMOVE
Place vehicle on a hard, flat, level surface.

1. Using a floor jack under centre of differential carrier, jack up rear of
vehicle then place safety stands under body rear jacking points.

2. Remove wheel covers (steel wheels) or centre caps (alloy wheels).
3. Mark relationship of wheels to mounting flanges. Remove road wheel attaching nuts and remove wheels.
4. Disconnect exhaust system from rear of catalytic converter
5. Remove the two retainers from the top posts and discard. Disconnect exhaust system support rings from the rear muffler assembly. Both V6 and V8 arrangements are the same
6. Remove muffler support to rear crossmember hanger retainers (2 places - V6, 4 places - V6 Supercharged and V8) and discard.
7. Support the intermediate section of exhaust system and remove intermediate muffler support rubbers. Remove intermediate and rear sections of exhaust system from vehicle.
8. Remove propeller shaft

9. Set park brake in fully released position. Release each of the underbody to park brake cable retaining clips and free cables.
10. Remove park brake outer cable retaining bracket bolt from the vehicle underbody.
11. Pull each park brake inner cable forward and up (1), out of the cable retainer, then pull rearward (2) to remove the cable from the underbody bracket.
12. Disconnect brake pipes from brake hoses at trailing arm brackets and remove brake hose retaining clips. Plug ends of brake pipes to prevent fluid loss and foreign matter entry.
13. Pull out differential carrier breather hose from vehicle underbody crossmember hole.
14. If vehicle is fitted with ABS, pull both sensor lead connectors from the underbody retaining clips. Separate the sensor connectors from the body harness connectors by levering out with a screwdriver.
15. Using a scriber, mark rear mount to vehicle under body location. This will aid in rear crossmember alignment on installation.
16. Support weight of differential carrier with floor jack.
17. Remove rear mount to vehicle underbody attaching bolts and discard. Lower differential carrier and rear crossmember assembly by at least 60 mm.
18. Position a second floor jack under left and right trailing arms in turn and raise jack slightly to take spring load off trailing arm. Disconnect rear shock absorber lower mounting bolts from trailing arms and pull lower end of both shock absorbers from trailing arms. NOTE:Bruising to the inside of the drive shaft constant velocity joint boots will occur if the shock absorber is disconnected from the trailing arm before the rear of the differential carrier and crossmember assembly has been lowered by at least 60 mm. Bruising of the boot will lead to premature failure of the boot and eventual failure of the joint if unchecked.
19. Remove rear springs and insulators from vehicle underbody and trailing arms.
20. Raise differential carrier and rear crossmember on floor jack until rear mount contacts underbody.
21. Remove brace to vehicle underbody attaching bolts.
22. With the aid of an assistant, remove crossmember to underbody bolts and braces.
23. With assistant supporting front end of rear crossmember, lower assembly on jack and remove from beneath vehicle.
24. Remove differential carrier and crossmember assembly from jack and support trailing arms, drive shafts and differential carrier on wooden blocks.

25. Remove stabiliser bar mounting bracket attaching bolts. Using a screwdriver, lever up brackets from mounting points and remove brackets.
26. Remove differential carrier to crossmember attaching bolts, discard bolts.
27. Remove trailing arm to crossmember attaching bolts and nuts. Discard nuts, as new ones must be used on reassembly. Disengage trailing arms from crossmember.
28. Swing back stabiliser bar from crossmember, and lift up and remove crossmember.

refitting is the reverse order of these guidelines. Have fun, not forgetting the $120 4 wheel alignment after you have finished if you don't want to chop your tyres out in very short order.

Because you have to disconnect your ABS, it will have to be checked by a brake specialist to ensure the system is competant after the work is completed.

[johnmic]

Many thanks for all that, really appriciate it