Rear suspension - removal and refitting

Suspension / Rear suspension - removal and refitting

1 Raise the rear of the car, support it securely and remove the rear road wheels.

2 Unhook the brake pressure regulating valve arm tension spring from its bracket.

3 Disconnect the handbrake cables from the brake backplate levers.

4 Disconnect the flexible brake hose at its junction with the rigid pipeline adjacent to the pressure regulating valve. Cap the open ends of hose and pipe.

5 Support the trailing arms and then disconnect the shock absorber upper mountings.

6 Unbolt the trailing arm forward end support brackets from the body, lower the complete rear suspension and withdraw it from under the car.

7 Refitting is a reversal of removal, but tighten the trailing arm pivot bolts to the specified torque only when the car is loaded with four occupants and 40 kg (88 lb) of luggage (photo).

11.7 One side of the rear suspension

8 Bleed the brakes as described in Chapter 8.

Fig. 11.11 Handbrake cable and lever at brake backplate (Sec 11)