Rear Suspension Removal

[californiabristol]

The dis-assembly of the 411 is nearing completion.
All of the wiring is off the car now. The rear axle was
removed in January. The last mechanical bits remaining
are the rear suspension items. I've started on the right side, and have removed the torque arm and the bolted strap on the back end of the torsion bar. The torsion bar is free, but cannot be slid out from the rear bearing housing because it is blocked by the forward bulkhead of the trunk(boot).

I am guessing that removing the bearing housing is the next
step followed by the the surrounding bearing housing carrier. Alternatively, I could just remove the entire carrier along with the bearing housing and torsion bar.

My 408-410 Spares Handbook was copied incorrectly and doesn't have all of the pages(missing pg.121-132) showing the rear suspension. I do have page 120 which shows the rear suspension unit. It appears to be different in some minor details with the 411 S2 unit.

Will removing the suspension unit bolts and moving the suspension unit allow the torsion bar to slide back out from the chassis cross beam tunnel, the suspension unit itself,
passing below the boot floor?

All advice welcome.

Thanks,
Greg Woog

[408VIKING]

You need to remove the suspension house and slide the torsion bar forward.

Carefully inspect the bearings in the suspension house. I had in mind to turn them 180 degrees but the needle bearing had rust damage. I found them on internet at 120 Euro/pair. The ball bearing is a standard (SKF).

You also need to carefully inspect the bush in the rear axle and the surface wear on the suspension arm (the short one)

I will add the pictures on my reassembly of the rear suspension soon.

Per

[californiabristol]

Per,
thank you for the instructions on the suspension unit and the suspension arm.
Once the rear suspension is off the car, I will start investigating paint removal.

I look forward to seeing the progress on your car.

Regards,

Greg

[Peter.Kent]

A few years ago Clyde Lennon and myself posted an article about the whole routine complete with pictures. No idea where it is on the forum. Subject to that I`m wondering if the fact that you have removed the axle first means that the rear of the torque bar is standing too high as it has n`t got the weight of the axle to drag it down below the scuttle. Peter

[californiabristol]

Peter,
thank you for your reply. I do have your article on the adjuster bolt replacement, and your description of the torsion bar and torque arm was the most representative of the situation with my car. I did not understand that the torsion bar is fixed merely by the retaining strap on the rear end which fixes it to the suspension control arm. Once removed, the torsion bar was
easily pulled backwards freeing the front end of the torsion bar to come out from the floating bearing which literally flops around in its hole in the chassis.
Also, removing the torque arm was exactly as you described. I removed the split pin from the bottom of the torque arm using a suitable drift, et voila, it slid off the splines.

It was possible to push the torsion bar backwards through the splines on the rear control arm, but was blocked by the forward end of the boot floor reinforcement section. Removing(i.e. lowering) the rear suspension unit allowed enough angle change on the torsion bar to slide under the boot floor and free of the rear suspension unit. To remove the 6 nuts securing the suspension unit to the chassis, I used an 18mm socket with a hefty breaker bar after scraping dirt off the bolts and spraying them with a rust penetrant.

As far as the the axle is concerned, I believe it has no effect on the position of the suspension unit which is fixed to the chassis.

To recap Removing the torsion bar and rear suspension unit(axle removed):

Scribed position of the torque arm relative to the torsion bar.
Scribed position of the rear of torsion bar to suspension unit control arm.
Remove the retaining strap from rear of the torsion bar.
Remove the torque arm by removing the split pin in base of torque arm.
Pull the torsion bar backwards. The front will come out of the front floating bearing.
Slide the torque arm forward off the splines and away from the torsion bar.
Loosen the 6 nuts securing the suspension unit, remove all but 2 lowering the unit on its studs until the suspension unit is almost clear of the studs.
This should be low enough to allow the torsion bar to slide back out of the
suspension unit below the boot and free of the car.
Remove the last 2 nuts holding the suspension unit and remove from car.

Again,
thanks to you and Clyde

[Peter.Kent]

Excellent. So glad you`ve got there. Clyde (what a loss) and I did this from scratch ... which was fun! I wonder if you can add your post to our artcle? P