Superpro trailing arm bushing Install (for rear drum-equipped B15s) | Impressions

[MN01GXE]

Sorry, but I was busy trying to get a few things done on my car and still salvage my saturday, so no pictures of my own, just some borrowed ones. If you need help visualizing any of this, see David's thread (http://www.b15sentra.net/forums/show....php?t=117267), the FSM for your car, spend some time under your car looking at everything, or feel free to ask me any questions. Now, on to the steps:

1) The first step is to support/lift the car. A lift is very nice if you have access to it, or you can support the rear end of the car on jackstands (making sure you block the front wheels so that the car does not roll).
2) Remove the rear wheels. (8 nuts and counting)
3) Next, remove the e-brake cable brackets and then you can freely move the e-brake cable as necessary. (tally: 4 screws, 8 nuts)
4) Next, remove the dust caps and rear drums. This can be accomplished using a small screwdriver or other flat tool to pry the dust caps off, and then pounding on the edges with a rubber mallet to loosen it and then slide it off, or two bolt holes are located on the face of the drum which can be used in a similar manner as when you are removing a pulley (think bolt/pulley puller). (tally: 4 screws, 8 nuts)
5) Remove the rear hub nuts. This will allow you to remove the rear brake assembly without having to disconnect the brake lines and e-brake cables. If you want to go this route instead, skip ahead two steps. (tally: 4 screws, 10 nuts)
6) Undo the four bolts at the center of the the rear brake assembly, and move them out of your way. If you are careful with the lines, you should be able to ziptie/bungee cord the entire assembly to the spring above. (tally: 4 screws, 18 nuts)
7) Remove the lower bolt attaching the shock assembly to the rear axle assembly on each side. Unless you really need that much more room to work, you can leave the upper mounts attached to the top of the wheel well. (tally: 4 screws, 20 nuts, 2 bolts)
8) Now loosen the bolts going through the oem rubber bushings on the trailing arms. Take the nuts completely off, but leave the bolts in place for now. In order to access the driver's side bolt/nut, it is much easier to either dent and remove part of the gas tank heat shield. On my car, two plastic plugs held in the side of the heat shield that was in my way, so I removed them and pushed the heat shield down for more access to the bolt (see round black plug on the heat shield, just to the right of the blue bushing and highlighted by the red arrow in the picture below). (tally: 4 screws, 20 nuts, 2 bolts)



9) Be sure to support the axle. Using a lift for this job, a tranny jack or patient friend comes in handy. If you are doing this on the ground, another jackstand or a floor jack will come in handy. (tally: 4 screws, 20 nuts, 2 bolts)
10) Raise the rear beam axle as necessary to put as little pressure on the bolt as possible, and remove the bolt/nut going through the lateral link. (tally: 4 screws, 21 nuts, 3 bolts)
11) Now go back and remove the bolts holding in the trailing arms. You should be able to *slowly* lower the entire rear axle assembly out of the car now, taking care not to pinch or rip the e-brake cables. (final tally: 4 screws, 21 nuts, 5 bolts)
12) In order to later accommodate the new bushings, you will need to remove locating tab on each trailing arm bracket. If you are up on the lift and have steady hands, you can actually leave the bracket on the car and use an air chisel to remove the tab. Alternatives include removing the bracket (three more bolts) and drilling out the outside weld and then knocking off the bracket, or any other method you can think of. Once the tabs are off, grind/dremel smooth and apply a little paint to help with rust issues.

tab still on:


tab removed:


13) The next step is to remove the oem rubber bushings. The easiest way I have found to do this is to locate a hole saw just barely smaller than the metal sleeve which houses the bushing, and the then use to remove the bulk of the bushing. A small hand-held propane torch (or other suitable heat source) can then be applied to the outside of the sleeve and the remaining rubber can literally be peeled out of the sleeve. A small bit of grinding may be required, as you really want to start with a smooth lining on the metal sleeve.



14) Apply some of the supplied grease to all sides on the new bushings and slide them in to the metal sleeve on the end of the trailing arms. Grease the two metal tubes as well and slide them into the center of the bushings.





15) Again using the tranny jack/floor jack/helpful sidekick (depending on your actual install method), line up the ends of the trailing arms and slide the bolts through to hold it in place. Loosely attach the nuts to the other side, and let the rear axle assembly hang.
16) Using the tranny jack/floor jack/helpful sidekick for leverage, line up and bolt on the lateral link.
17) Re-attach the brake assembly, drums, dust caps, e-brake cables, and tighten the trailing arm nuts/bolts. Put your wheels back on, lower the car, and slowly drive the car a bit to make sure everything is tight.

Driving impressions:
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Once making sure everything was tight, I took a few spins around my favorite local esses. These bushings definitely complimented my existing suspension work (most noticeably the added turn in from the lower tie bar, front strut tower bar, and coilovers) by allowing the rear to rotate better without having to compensate for excessive amounts of oversteer (very neutral feel). It also made a noticeable difference in rear body roll through turns. All in all, a relatively easy install for someone relatively comfortable around their car and a few tools, and an excellent value for those continuing to strive to get the best rotation from the rear end of their b15.


Differences in load-bearing surface between OEM and SuperPro:


If you want a set of these, Chuck a long time member of the se-r community is selling them. I would highly recommend working with him any time you get the chance!

Look here:
http://www.b15sentra.net/forums/show....php?p=1655532

[1SentraNotEnuff]

i wants

[Dangling Fury]

Great writeup for the GXE guys, very nice Rich!

[MN01GXE]

A few pictures added for sake of clarity (used without permission, original authors let me know if you want them removed). For more pictures, still see David's thread.

[MN01GXE]

A little bit of additional information to go along with the install procedures, taken directly from whiteline's website:

Originally Posted by http://www.whiteline.com.au/

Poly Bushes - Whats the correct tightening procedure?
Both materials are comfortable with the concept of "crush" or pre-load" where by a certain amount of force is applied as part of the fitting procedure however rubber can tolerate more due to the nature of the material. Poly is much more sensitive to the extent of "crush" and this forms an important part of the design process.

For example, poly shock or swaybar link bushes should only be tightened till the material is firmly held but before it distorts. Too much pre-load can result in prematurely failure of the associated steel components. This is a common problem with broken Commodore front swaybar links as people over tighten the replacement poly link bushes. Generally all bushes should be tightened with the vehicle at normal ride height. This is good practice with all chassis parts but is particularly critical for rubber components. On the other hand, bushing made from poly can be tightened in any position, but it is good practice to check and re-tighten all nuts and bolts after a test drive and ideally this to be done at normal ride height.

In summary, the number one rule with poly is do NOT over tighten and use plenty of grease when fitting.

POLLY BUSHES - HOW DO THEY DIFFER TO RUBBER
Rubber is a natural material that can compress and change its volume with load. Polyurethane (or poly for short) on the other hand is a synthetic compound derived from crude oil that acts like a liquid. That is, its volume stays constant so it can not be compressed. A rubber ball squeezed inside the palm of your hand will shrink in size relative to how hard you squeeze. Poly on the other hand will simply try to squeeze out between your fingers. This has a bearing on the way each product works, its strengths and weaknesses along with opportunities for use in the automotive industry.

For example, rubber works very well as a noise and vibration dampener as it can actually seem to absorb energy although ultimately it does convert kinetic energy to heat. Poly on the other hand needs to move in another direction to accept the load. It too will heat up but it will work much more effectively as a bearing surface than rubber for example. Rubber perishes over time (worse if exposed to sunlight) and will break down if contaminated with chemicals like oil and petrol. A perfect example is CV boots or steering rack mounts that get covered in engine oil. Poly on the other hand is relatively impervious to these sorts of chemicals.

Rubber bushings are often made with the inner and outer shells bonded together using the rubber compound in between. The rubber is allowed to flex and distort with twist while acting as a damper for NVH. Most aftermarket poly bushings that replace these types of rubber applications are simply pressed in between the inner and outer shells, without an actual bond. Even if bonded, it will only ever be to one surface as the material will try to tear itself apart if bonded to two surfaces. Unlike rubber, the poly alternative operates with a bearing surface allowing one side two turn on the bush relative to the other. This is why grease is so important.

*NVH (for those who haven't heard it before): A car industry term that stands for "noise, vibration & harshness". It is used to describe the group of symptoms that we relate to when we say a vehicle is rough, noisy or harsh.