I took the LCA's off of my firebird to have them boxed and now i can't put them back on.Whenever i try to put them on,one of the bolt holes will line up,But the other one won't.Someone told me to jack the back of the car up real high,since it was sitting kind of low (the back of the car is sitting on blocks that are lying on their side),But that didn't help.Then i tried jacking up the rear end (another suggestion)to try to get it to align,But that didn't help either.I'm at the end of my rope. COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I'M DOING WRONG??!!

 

The rear end has moved to the front or rear of where it should be. Without the LCAs there's nothing that's holding the wheelbase where it's supposed to be. You need to simply move the axle whichever way it needs to go to line the holes up, with a big prybar or huge pair of pliers or something. It will be easier to do if the axle is hanging down as low as possible, since that way there will be less tension in the springs.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

Only one LCA should be removed at a time, sorry this doesn't help now.

 

Maybe the heat warped the "LCAs". If so, (I really hate to tell you this) it's time for aftermarket ones.
Sorry to be so pessimistic, Rick

 

Okay, here's the deal....Don't sweat it just yet firebird305. You'll get it.

I just got my rearend back together last night, and it took a little maneuvering. Then again, it took maneuvering the last time I installed my stock LCA's before they were boxed.

Put the rear of your car up on jackstands as high as you can (put the stands on the jack points just forward of the rear tires). Take off your tires if you haven't already. Let your suspension hang all the way down. Put a floor jack under the diff case and just slightly "unload" your suspension so that it isn't just hanging with all the weight on the shocks. It would probably help a little bit to disconnect the shocks from their bottom mounts after you have the rearend supported, and definately disconnect your end-links or you risk bending the bolts. Now, hook up the front portion of each LCA, and just hand tighten the bolts. Let the back portion rest on the ground. Have a friend guide one of the sides into its resting place on the axle as you wiggle the rearend around. Place a bolt in it, and hand tighten it.

Now the fun part. Once again, have your friend finagle the tail end of the other LCA into its perch on the rearend as you bump, twist pull, and wiggle the hell out of the rearend. You'll get it, it just takes a little playing sometimes...even on non-modified LCA's.

Lastly, MAKE SURE that you're putting them back in the original way. The newly welded piece of metal that you boxed them in with should face the ground, and the jagged portion on the end of the LCA should face toward the front of the car.

After you get it back together, don't forget to tighten the LCA bolts AFTER the suspension is loaded (car on the ground, or the rear supported with jackstands on the axle tubes).

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[This message has been edited by Steves ZZ5 (edited April 04, 2001).]

 

When I swapped axles, I didn't have a problem lining up the LCA's- but, my springs were out. I bet if you took the springs out, life would be much easier.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

A word of caution. Just be careful how far you lower the rear end with the car supported way in the air. Or you'll snap off your rear brake line. Don't ask how I discovered this. But let's just say I needed a new Russel ss braided hose afterward. 8^( With the pumpkin of the rear end supported in the floor jack you should be able to move the rear end enough to get the LCA to line up again. Sometimes you have to use a center punch to line up the hole so the bolt will go in. I've done it solo many times, but having someone help you never hurts.

Lon

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90 RS Convertible
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Good point Lon.

That's why I made sure to post that the rear must be supported with the floor jack. Not only the brake lines, but possibly the end links and the parking brake cables risk damage too.

Ohh....and watch your toes and other bodily parts....Don't let that rearend fall on ya. It's pretty unstable on the floor jack, just balancing there in the middle.

[This message has been edited by Steves ZZ5 (edited April 04, 2001).]

 

Thanks for the help guys!!! With the explanation i got from steve i was able to get the lca's back on,And your right,Haveing a frind give you a hand realy helps!!!