Instructions to replace a REx yourself?

[james0157]

Remember when retightening suspension arm bolts, the suspension should be in 'normal' position, ie the same position as when the car is at rest on its wheels. If you tighten them when the suspension is hanging you'll put huge stress on the rubber bushes. As for drive shafts, I replaced one on mine and there was nothing unusual about it. I suppose the important bit is to make sure the slotted flange on the shaft engages properly with the hub as mentioned on the last part of the guide above. It's not splined like many cars are.

Hi Ted, so should I do the suspension arm bolts up to jointing torque whilst the car is up on jack stands, and then properly torque up when it's back down on the wheels, or would even that be too much? TIA

 

[james0157]

Remember when retightening suspension arm bolts, the suspension should be in 'normal' position, ie the same position as when the car is at rest on its wheels. If you tighten them when the suspension is hanging you'll put huge stress on the rubber bushes. As for drive shafts, I replaced one on mine and there was nothing unusual about it. I suppose the important bit is to make sure the slotted flange on the shaft engages properly with the hub as mentioned on the last part of the guide above. It's not splined like many cars are.

Hi Ted, just to be clear are you referring to the bolt that joins the wheel carrier to the end of the suspension, or are you also referring to the five arms that hold / control the wheel carrier?

 

[TedStriker]

Hi Ted, just to be clear are you referring to the bolt that joins the wheel carrier to the end of the suspension, or are you also referring to the five arms that hold / control the wheel carrier?

The ones I'm referring to are the bolts on each end of the five suspension arms. It's been a while, but from what I remember some have bushes built into the arms and some have bushes in the hub carrier and/or subframe. 10 bushes in total. The aim is to ensure that when the car is sat at normal ride height, the bushes are all in their natural position, ie not twisted axially. To achieve this, the bolts need to be in position but not exerting any meaningful clamping force on the arms - the metal sleeves inside the bushed need to be free to rotate. Then the suspension needs to be moved to its normal position at which point the bolts can be torqued down. The best way to do this would be to refit the wheel and let the car sit on its suspension, although you'll likely find it doesn't drop all the way down as once jacked up and lowered, suspension has a habit of not dropping all the way until the car's been moved a bit.