Just what the title says- I am getting ready to replace the rear lateral link- should I do this with the rear wheels up on ramps, or with the car on jack stands and the suspension dangling?

Thanks!

 

https://maxima.org/forums/advanced-s...rear-beam.html



I haven't worked on the rear as much as I'd like; that's a final frontier for me and these cars.

 

You need the rear torsion beam unloaded to replace that dogbone. This thread gives all the details:

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...gs-review.html

EDIT:

You'll need the rear wheels removed while on jackstands to remove those shock bolts.

 

Thanks for the links guys that makes it pretty clear. I did not realize I had to take the whole rear assembly off!

It is still somewhat apart from doing the trailing arm bushings so hopefully those lateral link bolts will respond to my breaker bar!

 

The rear torsion beam doesn't need to be dropped. Before removing the lateral link and control rod only the shock bolts need to removed.

As stated step 2 of the link I provided you just need to support the rear beam with jacks before unloading the shocks from the beam.

2. Put a jack under the center of the rear beam, and remove the bolts at the bottom of the struts.

 

Before final tightening of the bolts the weight of the car needs to be put on the tires. This is because the bushings are vulvanized rubber and tightening them unloaded will put a bind on them later.

 

Thanks-

replaced it this morning in a couple of hours- the lateral link did need to come off completely, which I think the instructions said, but it was not difficult. Even with bad struts the new dogbone and trailing arm bushings managed to firm things up noticeably.

By next week I will have the struts and springs replaced- can't wait to see the difference then!

 

What trailing arm bushings did you install? I inserted ES polyurethane bushings on the rear torsion beam I recently replaced. With the rear beam off my max replacing those bushings was quick and easy. Those polyurethane bushings reduced the understeer.