Re: Alfa Spider shimmy

["George Schweikle" <schweikg@domain.elided>]

Greg,

Before disconnecting anything, have someone push the rear of the car
sideways while observing if any looseness is present. I have worked on the
rear axle mounting many times on my Autocross Spider and, while involved, it
can be a driveway process. The T-Bar connection at the upper differential is
through a hole in the bar that slides over a long fixed bolt that protrudes
sideways from the differential housing. Basically, all axle locating items
must be disconnected to allow the axle to be moved sideways enough for this
bolt to slide clear of the hole. I put the car on jackstands, support the
axle on separate jackstands, then disconnect everything and wrestle it
sideways. Having done this, the rubber bushings that fit on either side of
the T-bar hole can be renewed or replaced with polyurethane bushings.

 Components to disconnect are: bottom rear sway bar links, driveshaft at the
rear U-Joint, upper shock absorber connections, the axle limit straps, and
the front attachments for the trailing arms. None of this is difficult, but
everything will have lots of road grime, and it's a dirty job. I leave the
flexible brake line attached, but am carefull not to stretch or distort this
line. My Spider doesn't have a stock exhaust, and this item might require
more struggling, although I don't remember this as a big deal. The hardest
thing to remove (and reassemble) is the large bolt at the front of the
trailing arms. While the axle is supported on jackstands, the trailing arms
must have the weight removed by supporting with a floor jack. The idea is to
eliminate any up or down force so the bolt will slide out without binding.

Needless to say, the car must be very securely supported while doing this.
And, it becomes easier after the task is repeated: I had the spider axle off
to install stiffer springs last month, and will do this again tomorrow to
install my new Koni double adjustable shock absorbers (Murphy's law dictated
this stuff would not arrive in time to combine the installation). If you are
aprehensive over the task, you can survey the work area by jacking the car
up and just reviewing the parts that must be removed.

Good luck,

George Schweikle
Lexington, KY


----- Original Message -----
From: Gregory S. Youngblood <greg@domain.elided>
To: George Schweikle <schweikg@domain.elided>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2002 1:14 AM
Subject: Re: Alfa Spider shimmy


> Thank you for the very clear description of what to look for. How
> difficult is this (are these?) bushings to replace? In my case I only have
> my driveway to work on the car. Or is this something best left for "the
> professionals"?
>
> Greg
>
> On Wed, 15 May 2002, George Schweikle wrote:
>
> > Greg,
> >
> > Look under the rear end: the upper axle locating component is commonly
called a T-Bar. This cast iron part extends from left to right side of the
car, and terminates upward and inside the upper spring areas. An element
extends back to the top of the differential housing, where it attaches to a
long integral bolt, and is buffered with rubber bushings. If these bushings
wear, the side to side control of the rear axle is compromised and the car
can feel "wiggly".
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > George Schweikle
> > Lrxington, KY
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