Complete Rear bushing and 3.91 gear swap DIY
 

Here is my rear bushings and 3.91 gear swap build thread. I'm focusing on road racing track preperation but most of these mods will be applicable to all gen 5 camaro owner.


I built a simple tool that worked for the majority of the trailing, toe and control arm bushings. I only had 2" square tube lying around but it worked really well.
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Here you can see just how well the square tube works
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For the trailing and toe rods I removed one side of the rubber bushing lip to make it easier to press out. I also used a little heat from a map gas torch to soften things up as I applied some pressure.
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Here is one finished compared to the factory unit
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Complete
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On the hub side the square tube also worked well
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Last year I installed the pedders allignment bolts front and rear. In the rear I didn't need the full range of adjustment so I didn't open the slot. While I had the subframe out of the car I took the opportunity to open the adjustment slot. I used a long shaft burr. Total job only took 10 minutes.
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Now on to the subframe bushings. I started with the rear bushings by removing the fiberglass tab on the bottom of the bushing so the cup could sit flush.
Attachment 498032

I also cut the rubber tabs so the the press pipe could sit flush on top
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Here you can see I used a 4" PVC coupler and some 1/2 inch threaded rod. I used my earlier tool as a back plate and the steel cup that is removed from the bottom of the bushing as a top plate.
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I applied some heat very carefully so I didn't melt the PVC too much. I was able to use the PVC pipe for both sides which only took about 3 minutes each to setup the tool and remove the bushing (Using just hand tools)
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For the front subframe bushings the bottom cup can be removed by tapping a large screw driver or pry bar from the top.
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I also had to remove the tab from the front bushing sleeve
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The front required a 2" threaded cap to press the bushing out from the top.
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I used a cylinder hone to LIGHTLY clean and hone the bushing seat. Sandpaper could have done the same job but I think the hone was much quicker and consistent. Here is the cleaned and painted seat.
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And.... The finshed bushings
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Next the upper control arm bushing was pressed out by a friend at a local garage using a ball joint press.
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The differential bushing are like sausage, we like how it tastes but we don't want to see how it's made. It wasn't pretty

First I started by cutting the rubber core and steel ferrule out using a 1 3/4" hole saw. I used WD-40 as a cutting lubricant which kept the blade from binding in the hot rubber.
Attachment 498045

Then I cut the steel jacket in two places using a sawsall (Careful not to cut into the housing) then punched the steel sleeve out using a steel punch and hammer

Here you can see the carnige. The diff bushings were like excerising a demon.
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I did nick the housing a few times so I carefully filed down the sharp edges and used a little honing, careful not to really remove material but just make it smooth.

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and here it is with the bushing in place. even with the clean-up work it only took about 10 minutes per bushing.
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More to come. This week I'll be getting a pinion depth guage and showing how I setup my 3.91 gears.

Awesome write up! Subscribed and thanks! :thumbup:

I have done almost all of the bushings that you have shown here. another way to get the bushings out with out having to make the 'custom' tool out of pvc is heating the out side metal like you showed with a torch and then taking about 3-5 very firm hits on the top of the bushing to 'pop' them out. watch your toes....

Also I would definitely like to see your gear instal instructions. I am installing mine this weekend. And am also waiting for the pinion depth/backlash gauge to arrive.

thanks for the DIY!

Thats a great tip although I hope to not have to do it again anytime soon!

I should get my depth/backlash gauges this evening but I'm having a hard time finding specs the only one I can confirm is 18-25 inch lbs of rotational torque for the bearing preload.

I still need torque, backlash and pinion depth specs etc. for everything else. do you have any of these specs?

Here is a pic of the finished upper control arm bushings. I hope to have most of the rear cradle assembled this evening

Attachment 499316

Torque Specs that I'll use for the re-assembly. I saved these from another post so I can't take credit for somone elses work here... but hope it helps.

• 4 Strut Mount to Body Bolts 43lbft
• Strut to Strut Mount Nut 33lbft
• Strut to lower Control Arm 59lbft 120 degrees
• Lower Control Arm Inner Bushing at Adjuster 85LBFT
• Lower Control Arm at Knuckle Assembly 30lbft 120 degrees
• Upper Control Arm Rear Bolt to Bushing 37lbft 120 degrees
• Upper Control Arm Rear Bushing Bracket Bolts 59lbft 120 degrees
• Upper Control Arm Pivot Joint 59lbft 120 degrees
• Upper Control Arm to Knuckle Assembly 44LBFT 90 degrees
• Toe Link inner to Subframe Adjuster 85LBFT
• Toe Link to Knuckle Assembly Bolt 103 lbft
• Trailing Arm to Subframe Assembly (Inner) 74lbft
• Trailing Arm to Knuckle Asembly 30lbft 120 degrees
• Front Cradle(Subframe) Bolts to Body 74lbft 120 degrees
• RearCradle (Subframe) Bolts to Body 74lbft 120 degrees
• Front Differential Bushings 59lbft
• Rear Differential bushings 59lbft
• Driveshaft to Differential 85LBFT
• Caliper Bracket to Knuckle Assembly (L99, LS3) 30lbft 90 degrees
• Caliper Bracket to Knuckle Assembly (LLT) 30lbft 90 degrees
• Rear Sway Bar End link Nuts 36lbft
• Sway bar Bushing Bracket bolts 16lbft

Here I'm installing the upper control arm bracket. After appling some Loctite I torqued the bolts to 59lbft and then 120Deg. I bought this handy little tool to show the degs of rotation.

Attachment 499743

Note: Although some will say it is overkill, TTY (Torque to Yield) bolts should not be reused.

For the backlash I read .005-.007
torque to seat the crush washer I have seen 150-200ftlbs. I haven't read anything on depth except along the line of the pattern looked good and that they didn't feel the need to measure because of it, so non was given.
I have a good article on patterning if you are interested that talked about what adjusts to make and all that.
Also I got my parts in today! Here some teaser pics:
Attachment 499512
Attachment 499513
That is the full Richmond kit from Jegs, along with fluid twice over, and a trick flow multi use gauge kit from summit. The gears are from parts taxi a forum sponsor!

From what I have read on a few of the threads on here i won't actually be needing the instal kit. Just the pinion, crush sleeve, nut, and ring gear and fluid. Many said that they were able to use the OE shim setup because of the way its designed and that it makes it much simpilar because of it.
I will still measure for all of the different things and check the pattern but if its all checks out then I will be shipping the instal kit back.

I'm also hoping that I get lucky and the factory shims get me right back in spec but just incase I want to have the right guages ready to get everything right. Thanks for the pics

I finished collecting all the tools. Some I may not need but wanted anyways and some that are a must have. If I reassemble and the factory shims get everything lined up then great but if I need to adjust some shims it's a lot easier with the right tools.

But I'm sure that GM assembled MY rear end with great care and precision :doh:

So here are my tools

This bearing separator/puller is from Pittsburgh tools and I picked it up for under 30 bucks. I'll used it to separate the yoke from the pinion as well as the pinion bearing.
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Next is a dial indicator and magnetic base for measuring backlash
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This is a universal pinion depth gauge. I may not need this but I plan on using it on some future jobs when I'll be starting from scratch without the aid of the factory shims.
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One of the most important tools is this inch pound dial indicating torque wrench. This one that I picked up from summit has a memory dial and a nice case but it wasn't cheap. I paid $200 for this one.
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I also picked up this assembly bag for a couple bucks that has gear marking compound and well as a brush, loctite and some sealant. It was too convenient to pass up.
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Last is a 32mm deep well axel nut socket. I had a standard 32mm socket but it wasn't deep enough so I picked this one up from AutoZone for 10 bucks.
Attachment 499750

In addition you'll need standard sockets, a click type lbft torque wrench and a few other common tool which I will highlight as I walk thru the project

You may want to check if you need to run a friction modifier additive with that fluid. I run Royal purple and it says no friction modifier is needed but better safe than sorry.

Jeremywes. That bearing puller kit won't work by the way.
It's not nearly big enough.
Might want to go get the bigger one before you start

I have used their(redline) friction modifier in the past with no change in gear noise from the stock setup. So I'm not really sure how much it matters. I originally bought a 5oz bottle so ill just use the other half when I get ready to refill it all

Just for clarification purposes
Redline gear oil does not need friction modifier as per the bottle. Mobile 1 does since there are no markings of it having modifier in there.

Thank you for this DIY thread! Very informative!!!