Hey guys and gals. I have a new "How To" page up for ya. For those of you who care and would like to see, I replaced the torque arm bushing on my '91 RS yesterday and took pics of it all and put it on my web page along with my other rebuild pages. My RS has 80K on it and the stock bushing was shot to hell. I suspect a lot of your are gone, too. These ES bushings are a perfect fit, are cheap ($20), and really get rid of the "thud" I felt when I put my cars in to gear.


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tarami...er72/my_photos


I will be doing a tech article on it when I get a chance...after I get those posi rebuild sheets up.


Ed, wrenchin' away

 

U da man Ed!! Thks!

 

thats going to be very helpful!! thx

 

Where did you say you purchased this bushing and it polyurethane? Thanks in advance. Mine is thudding big time.

 

Either Jeg's or Summit, it's the Energy Suspension poly piece. Part number 355-3-1111G, $12.99

This is the bushing with the lips facing away from the driveshaft. Both my '88 and '91 cars needed this same part number.

Ed

 

just make sure you get the right bushing...there are like two or three different versions of the torque arm on 3rdgens...sometimes different in the same year.

 

you wouldnt happen to still have this info or another walkthrough would you?

 

The link posted above doesn't work..try this one, it's the same info:

Yahoo! Photos - taramiller72's Photos - Camaro torque arm bushing replacement.

Ed

 

Thanks for taking the time to make the how-to guide.

 

 

Neither of the original links are valid anymore....does anybody else have a walkthrough for this?

 

Its pretty easy. Get your car up in the air, best to get all four corners up and on jack stands. Use a jack under the rear differential housing to support the weight of the axle. follow the torque arm (big I beam thingy bolted to the differential next to the pinion up to the front of the car. At the front of end of the arm it will be slipped through a bushing. The bushing is in a clamshell style assembly that bolts to the transmission housing. It is three bolts, like 12mm I think (could be wrong there). The bolts are different lengths so remember which goes where.

Strongly recommend using a poly replacement, the rubber ones will just tear under the load from anything beefier than stock.

To fit a poly replacement, remove the original rubber unit, the clamshell will come apart in 2 pieces once it is removed. the rubber is held on by 2 or 3 rivits on each piece. You will need to grind or drill those out to remove the rubber and backing plates. Once removed the clamshell will fit around the one piece poly replacement bushing. Make sure you put it on the right way, it will only fit one way. Grease liberally with the proper grease (should come with the bushing). and then back under the car.

Under the car slide the assembled bracket and bushing onto the end of the torque arm, it may be tight and require a little force, but you dont have to be Popeye. Line up the bolt holes and hand thread the bolts to get em all in and lined up. Then snug them and then make a nice tight quarter or half turn. They need to be tight but again you dont need to be Popeye. Be very careful threading the bolts, you really dont want to get these crossthreaded.

Very, Very , Very Important: Look under the car BEFORE you buy the poly bushing. There are 2 different styles of torque arms. There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind which one was used on each car. So CHECK. They are "lips in" or "lips out" the end of the torque arm will either look like an E with the lips facing the transmission or a 3 with the lips facing away from the transmission.

 

Thanks, I'm about to do the same thing. I would assume it is very similar to do the trans mount? Both those bushing are half gone so I figured they could use replacement.

Mike

 

Well since you are under the car already the trans mount isn't much more work.

Take your pick here poly or stock. Unless you have a radical setup pushing loads of torque the stock piece works well. The poly isn't much more expensive but I've heard people complain about them squeaking.

The trans mount is sandwiched between the bottom of the transmission housing and the transmission crossmember. I've had people say its possible to change the mount without dropping the crossmember, but I never had any luck.

The trans mount is held on to the tranny by I think 1 bolt and to the crossmember by 4 smaller ones. the crossmember is bolted to the subframe with 4 bolts.

Definately do the torque arm and the trans mount one at a time. You have them both off at the same time, it will be a real pain getting all the bolts lined up again. Use a jack to support the weight of the transmission when you do the mount.

 

Sorry about the links, yahoo photos went offline a while back and moved everything into Photobucket. Here ya go:

http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...20replacement/

They are in reverse order and I can't seem to figure out how to rearrange them yet. Read descriptions on each shot, they will help.

Ed

 

GJ, thanks for the write up. Ordering replacement parts now.

 

Ed, Thanks for the instruction/plan. How was your car lifted during the work? all 4 corners?? by the sub frame or by the axles??

Cheers Haz

 

3 nights ago i heard a clunking sound coming from under the my car, when i was backing up. next day i checked it, it didnt have a bushing on the torque arm lol. then i realized that the passed owner had welded this weird bushing from the torque arm to the bushing mount, i guess it was cheaper for him than buying the proper bushing, but the bushing thing he welded flew off i guess while i was driving, which started the noise.

im ordering from summit the proper bushing !

ps i think ill put this in the most ghetto thing found in your car thread.

 

Front wheels were on ramps, rear axle supported on jackstands, plenty of room.

Ed

 

Mine is loose in the back where it bolts up to the diff is there a bushing there too? I got under the car today and bounced it up and down and I could see the rear bolts moving when I bounced

 

there is no bushing in the back, but when I got my car the back bolts were loose and it made a clunking sound, just tighten them up, the torque spec is 100ft-lb

 

cool thanks man

 

Interesting, this bushing is something I've never given much thought to however I decided to look at mine after reading through and mine is upside down from what is in the photos. Where to 2 pieces come together with slot is on top and the bolt and nut is on bottom. Is this a problem?

 

Has anyone done a similar pictorial writeup with the manual tranny torque arm bushing? It looks to me like the manual tranny mount bolts to the torque arm differently... or is the process the same? I thought a bolt went through the end of the torque arm where the holes are?

 

I would just like to bump this thread and give thanks to the orignial poster (EBMiller). The pictures you provided here were a tremendous help in replacing my torque arm bushing. My only additional suggestion: I had a HELL of a time trying to close the clam bracket far enough to get that top bolt in. I must've spent over an hour trying to muscle it before I was ready to throw in the towel. Then what finally helped were vice grips. I used two pairs to clamp the bracket all the way tight, and the bolt BARELY made it through the hole...but it worked.

Now I have to wait for the warmer weather to see if this new poly bushing solves the issue I had. But THANKS AGAIN EBMILLER! Your help is much appreciated!