[fortythirtyfive]

Trying to fit my new B16 coilovers and the rears are being a real PITA.

I managed to get everything swapped over and reinstalled.. however the last bolt that goes through the control arm will not line up.

Stole this photo from an installation video, but it's the exact bolt that won't realign..


The bushing on part 3 is adjustable on the ends but only allows me to realign one side whilst totally throwing the other side out


Does anyone have any advice for getting this b*stard back in? I spent 5 hours from sunset last night trying to wedge it back in

The only thing I can think of that might be skewing the alignment is that I'm working on a slanted driveway with only the rear right side jacked up. Is it essential to have the entire rear axel up in the air?

[Billfitz]

I believe you've identified the problem.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

I believe you've identified the problem.

I've managed to get the full rear axel in the air and it still won't align..





I'm now wondering if adjusting my camber/toe bolts (wherever they live) will help me realign the bolt?

[Billfitz]

In your first picture the bolts are both facing the same direction. They're supposed to face in opposite directions. If you're trying to do it that way it could be the problem. Watch this:

[FaRKle!]

Yeah, that bolt is a tricky one. Sometimes those holes don't align closely enough till the arm and wheel carrier are jacked up to about where they'd be at ride height. Put your jack under the arm under where the shock mounts and jack it up, then pull the wheel carrier up to see how close it matches. Keep going up till it's close enough you can physically pull the wheel carrier (by grabbing the rotor caliper) away from the car and make it align.

Additionally you can loosen the camber adjustment on the subframe side of that arm and move the eccentric bolt to push the arm outwards to help align things better. You'll want to take a paint pen and mark where the bolt is before you do this so you can set the camber to what it was before, after you get the wheel carrier done. Note that you'll want to jack the wheel carrier/arm up to ride height before you retorque the camber adjustment since it's a bushing and not monoball like the camber arm to wheel carrier interface.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

In your first picture the bolts are both facing the same direction. They're supposed to face in opposite directions. If you're trying to do it that way it could be the problem. Watch this:

Yeah I made sure to stick with that orientation.

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Yeah, that bolt is a tricky one. Sometimes those holes don't align closely enough till the arm and wheel carrier are jacked up to about where they'd be at ride height. Put your jack under the arm under where the shock mounts and jack it up, then pull the wheel carrier up to see how close it matches. Keep going up till it's close enough you can physically pull the wheel carrier (by grabbing the rotor caliper) away from the car and make it align.

Additionally you can loosen the camber adjustment on the subframe side of that arm and move the eccentric bolt to push the arm outwards to help align things better. You'll want to take a paint pen and mark where the bolt is before you do this so you can set the camber to what it was before, after you get the wheel carrier done. Note that you'll want to jack the wheel carrier/arm up to ride height before you retorque the camber adjustment since it's a bushing and not monoball like the camber arm to wheel carrier interface.

A bit of WD40 specialist, an impact wrench (used sparingly) and finally got it to budge free. After altering the eccentric alignment it got much closer, then I used your advice to use all my weight and pull on the disk whilst hammering the bolt through and wallah! Bingo.

Went onto install the other rear and came up against the same issue, luckily I had already preplanned an alignment so that’ll be happening in the next 7 days.

Just out of curiosity there isn’t anyway of tightening the alignment bolts is there? I had a dumb moment of panic where I didn’t know how to tighten them back down without altering the alignment, then it kinda clicked and I wondered if they were only tight due to them rusting.. is this correct?

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

Just out of curiosity there isn’t anyway of tightening the alignment bolts is there? I had a dumb moment of panic where I didn’t know how to tighten them back down without altering the alignment, then it kinda clicked and I wondered if they were only tight due to them rusting.. is this correct?

Are you talking about tightening the eccentric bolt connecting the camber arm to the subframe? Hold the bolt in place, and tighten the nut on the other side. That's how you clamp it without altering the alignment.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Are you talking about tightening the eccentric bolt connecting the camber arm to the subframe? Hold the bolt in place, and tighten the nut on the other side. That's how you clamp it without altering the alignment.

Sorry for the delayed reply, I had a crack at fitting the fronts plus some replacement bits and it's taken all day.

It was the first bolt that finishes inside of the frame, there was only the second bolt below which had a nut on the other side.