Schmucker

If I'm going to remove the shocks, struts, and spring to replace them, should I just go all the way and send in my T-arms and get them rebuilt? Would it just be a matter of unbolting the pivot point, removing the half shaft, and misc brake pieces? My wheel bearings are fine, but one of my rear brakes squeaks as it rotates, is that a sign or rotor runout? Should I just got a bit further or not bother at this time?

vettfixr

I think it depends on the mileage of the car. I'm planning on doing my 74 but that's because I have almost 100K miles on the original bearings. If your car is up there in mileage it will probably save you a lot of work down the road by doing the job now and not having to take it all apart again and reassemble it later. As far as the squeak goes it could be a lot of things. It could be the internal parking brake shoe rubbing against the inside. Drive the car slowly and when you hear the squeak pull up the parking brake until it starts to grab. If the squeak goes away it's the internal brake. The internal drums tend to rust and get out of round. You might be able to have someone cut them to restore the surface for the parking brake. If it's not the parking break it could be rotor runout. Take a dial caliper and measure the runout once you have the half shafts removed. You should only have I believe .001 to .005 runout. If it's more that's your problem. You can have the rotors turned but make sure you take them to someone who knows what they are doing. Vettes are very sensitive to rotor runout and they may cause more problems than they fix. The other alternative is to replace the rotors. I replaced mine with rotors from the local parts store. They worked fine and were a lot cheaper than the catalog rotors. If the rotors check out OK with the dial caliper you may be hearing the start of bearing problems. If you are it's better to get them done now because if you let them go they can ruin much more than the bearings. Good luck.

Schmucker

I have 77k on the original bearings. If the parking brake worked I'd try that :D

GTR1999

A couple of thoughts to consider before diving in.

1-Chances are pretty good the bolt is seized in the bushing sleeve. If there's any rust around the bolt it's a good bet. I have removed the bolt and nut from non-rusted cars and those aren't too bad, BUT if you never removed them be prepared to use a "sawzall" or torch to cut them out. It can take a couple of hours per side on some cars.

2- The rear rotors were riveted to the rear spindle and turned together so they were concentric. I would check to see if they are still riveted or not. Most garages would not re-rivet them during a repair unless they were doing a NCRS restoration. If you need rotors you have to check the round out. Anything over .0025" and you need to shim or turn them. Turning them separate of the spindle is a crap shoot. So you may end up rebuilding eveything. I installed new HD spindles during a T arm rebuild and the spindle flange was out .005" I had to shim them and got them down to .001" runout.

3 -The parking brake shoes are probably rust seized too and these can be replaced while the arms are still on the car. They are a PITA, but can be done.

Lastly if they do have a lot of miles on the car and you're already rebuilding the rear suspension and have the cash - do them. You'll know for sure they're new and greased. If you have tools and experience rebuilding things to hold tighter tolerances then you can do them yourself. The tools are the high dollar pieces and usually not worth the money if you're only going to do one car. Maybe a club in your area has someone with the tools and experience?

Good luck,

Gary