Help/advice needed for shimming the rear axle (pinion angle)?

[XH29N0G]

Help needed: Look to second post below

I looked through the FSM and it looks straightforward (loosen 4 nuts on clamps holding driveshaft to rear leaf springs, slide shim in place, and retighten the same 4 nuts to 40 ft lbs).  Please let me know if there is something I am missing.   Thanks.

So far so good, one shim is in place.  Below are the pictures of the space where the shim finally went and of the 4 nuts (loose).  I knew there was a post for aligning the axle, but did not realize it required quite so much loosening.

Tomorrow night I will do the other side.

[XH29N0G]

Hi everyone,

Last night I managed to put a shim on the drivers side rear by following the instructions in the FSM.  

Tonight, when I went to do the same on the passenger side, I found that I could not get enough space between the leaf spring pin and the axle to insert the shim (see picture below) because I did not have enough thread left to loosen the nuts any more without taking them all off.  All four nuts were 2 turns from off in the picture.  Question is:  How do I do this.  I am worried that if I put the body on a jack, remove the nuts, lower the leaf spring, insert shim, and raise the body/leaf spring back up that I am going to have an issue with aligning the axle in the pin and rethreading the U-bolts that hold it all together.  Is this bad scenario a possibility?  Or should things line up pretty well? 

Is there another way to do this?   

I am inclined to call up a local shop and ask them to save me on this one.  Any advice?

Thanks,
 

[elacruze]

Just take off the nuts, drop everything in then put them back on. If you have gas-charged shocks you may need to take the lower shock eye off to get the plate back on. If your u-bolts aren't long enough to get a full length thread engagement after installing the shim, you'll need to get new ones. They're available at NAPA (if you live where NAPA does more than sell paint) or at nearly any spring shop.

[XH29N0G]

Thank you.

If I drop everything, don't I need to support something with the body (or the axle and tire move up).

Would you leave the tire on the side where the work is being done, or take it off.  This would mean I would already be supporting the body and the only issue then would be lifting the axle up to slide the shim in.

I know these questions are probably simple minded, but I have never done this before, and I just don't want the car to come crashing down in a way that I cannot put it back together again.

 

[ottawamerc]

Make sure you are supporting the chassis and not the axle then you can remove all of the nuts and raise the axle by hand with a helper or pry bars is how I do it. If you remove the tire first you get to eliminate that weight off of the assembly too Install your shim then reassemble, the alignment pin will stick up beyond the shim so just insure it goes into the hole of the axle mount pad then tighten away... EASY.. and no need to get the shop on the line. Just remember the support jacks go on the chassis/ body frame and NOT on the axle!

Scott

[XH29N0G]

Scott,

Thanks.  I tried something in between.  I replaced one of the u-bolts with a much longer one, and then did the same with the other.  This kept all lined up and also meant nothing would drop out, but I had the frame also supported.  The shim went in and it is tightened up with the long u-bolts.  My only problem now is that the original U bolts are a little bowed open, so they will not slide back in.  I think I will look into buying some replacement shorter U bolts to swap in place of the long ones tomorrow.

I really appreciate the feedback on the forum.  It helps a lot and makes it so that I am willing to try (and learn about) new things.

I checked the pinion angles and while they are a little high, they are now within spec.  I really want to take it for a test drive.

[ottawamerc]

Glad to hear you got'r done, good idea with the longer u bolts.   Mine also spring wider when I remove them but you can strong arm them back in with a good squeeze or large channel lock pliers, I also have put mine in a vise and re compressed them to get them to fit.

Scott

[XH29N0G]

The vise trick worked like a charm.  I just swapped the old u bolts back in.