Overhaul of rear suspension and axle

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Ade
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 337
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:25 pm
Location: Northants

Overhaul of rear suspension and axle

Post by Ade » Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:33 am

Rear end overhaul

First step is obviously jack up the rear end of the car and support it on axle stands and remove the wheels. Ensure that it is high enough off the ground that you have room to lower and remove the axle assembly once the time comes.

Now, forget about picking up your spanners for a minute and get yourself a wire brush wheel in a drill and a can of penetrating oil. Please do not ignore this step as you will cause yourself problems later on (I speak from experience of working in the motor trade!)

Attack the following fasteners with your wire brush followed by a good soaking with penetrating oil:

Trailing arms (where they meet the chassis rail)

Rear support arms (where they meet the chassis rail)

Panhard rod mounting (on the axle)

Anti roll bar bush mountings (again on the axle)

Once all these points are cleaned up and sprayed, you can let them soak and move on to other preparatory work.

Now you need to remove the brake calipers. Start by disconnecting the handbrake cables and feeding them out of the guides. Place the cables somewhere out the way (I just tucked them around my axle stands).

Now you can remove the calipers (7mm Allen key, unscrew the slide pins under the plastic dust caps and pull them out far enough to be able to remove the caliper). You will also need to pop the retaining spring clip thing off the carrier.

Once you have removed the calipers tie them up out the way. You could remove them altogether but there's really no need and it saves you bleeding the brakes afterwards.

Leave the discs on if you so wish, there's no harm in it, you can always do work on the axle more easily once you have it on a bench anyway.

You will notice that the abs sensors are still in situ so the next job is to disconnect these. DO NOT try to take the sensor out of the hub unless you want to destroy it in the process, which you will unless you are very very lucky. The best policy is to disconnect the sensors inside the vehicle. The connectors are situated in the rearmost corners of the boot. To access them you will have to remove the side trim panels from inside the boot. I won't go into detail here, I shall assume that if you are competent enough to be thinking about removing your back axle then a couple of panels shouldn't cause you any drama! The only thing I will point out is that you will have to remove the abs controller from the little cubby hole on the passenger side. The method is fairly self explanatory once you see it.

Once you can lay a hand on the connectors for the abs sensors, disconnect them and push the grommets out through the bottom of the boot. Now, working under the car, secure the wires somewhere safe from snagging. They will come off complete with axle assembly so obviously not to the chassis!

The axle assembly should now be looking fairly free of things that might stop it coming off, now your going to be glad that you followed the wire brush and penetrating oil advice and woe betide you if you didn't!

Now down to business, the fun part.......

Grab yourself a 13mm spanner and corresponding socket with wrench and proceed to undo the two bolts which secure the anti roll bar 'D' bushes to the axle. Once these are removed, the bush mounts can be unhooked from the axle and you can swing the anti roll bar on its drop links out the way. Just let it hang, if you want to remove it to change drop links etc, my advice would be to just wait until the axle is out the way. This will allow much better access if (as they undoubtedly will be) the bolts are in a bad way.

Next, remove the large bolt which secures the panhard rod to the axle. Can't remember the sizes now, sorry. The panhard rod can be left in situ, remaining attached to its mounting on the chassis. Unless of course you wish to remove it to change bushes etc.

Now you want to remove the rear support arms from their mountings on the rear of the chassis rails. They are attached with an M10 bolt. You will need a 17mm spanner and a 17mm socket. Once you have removed the nuts, leave the bolts in for a minute and support the axle with a jack at its centre. Once the axle is supported, the bolts should come out fairly easily. Once the bolts are removed the support arms should pry out of the mountings pretty easily.

Now you need to release the dampers. I found that this was most easily done from the top (the bolt is visible in the inner wheel arch) because the thread is actually inside the car so won't be seized.

Once the dampers are released, you should be able to lower the whole assembly down and remove the springs. Be aware that the spring seats will probably be shot. This is the reason I removed my axle. Later on I will tell you how to can repair these really cheap and easy if you have/have access to a welder.

The whole assembly should now be hanging by just the trailing arms. Grab your 17mm spanner and socket again and remove the bolt either side which mounts the trailing arms to the chassis. Once the bolts are out and the axle is lowered, the whole axle assembly, complete with dampers, support arms and trailing arms can be pulled out from underneath the car (use your jack as a dolly if it's a bit heavy, or get the help of a glamorous assistant!)

You may now congratulate yourself with a pint of your favourite beverage/tea/sandwiches etc. whilst you survey your rear end!

I believe this method of removal is probably the best considering the state of many of the bolts on our beloved rust buckets as it involves the minimum of undoing whilst everything is still attached to the car (ie awkward to get at). Now that the whole assembly is off, you can clamp it to a bench or in a vice and working on it becomes ten times easier. A bolt that looked impossible on the car starts to look feasible!

If you want to clean everything up and paint/underseal and change bushes etc then I suggest stripping the remaining parts off the beam. This is fairly straightforward now that the beam is off the vehicle and if you've come this far then I don't think I need to go into detail about how to take the remaining parts off the beam. Same rules apply as regards penetrating oil and wire brush.

Now, if your in the same boat as me and your spring mountings are knackered then your going to want to do something about it right?

You might be thinking oh no, where am I going to get a decent rear beam from? Fear not, an elegant solution can be implemented with a minimum of time and expense, you will need a welder though. If you don't have one then you could do all the preparation and even clamp your new parts in place ready for welding and take the beam to a local workshop and I'm sure for a few beer tokens they'll weld it up for you.

So, the elegant solution......

You will need a piece of 50mm diameter steel tube and a piece of turbo hose etc that fits nicely over the tube (ie a rubber/silicone hose with a 50mm internal diameter).

You need to cut two pieces of the steel tube to approximately 30mm in length. I have the luxury of having a lathe in my garage so was able to face the ends up nicely, if you don't then I would suggest doing it with a hacksaw to try and get a nice square end rather than chewing it up with an angle grinder, or better yet get your steel supplier to cut the pieces to length for you with a bandsaw. Most places will do it for a nominal fee.

Now cut two cross sections off your rubber pipe approximately 15-20mm in length. The best way to do this neatly is to clamp it in a vice flat with the length you want sticking out the top then slice through it with a sharp knife. These will serve as a seat for the spring later on to prevent metal - metal contact.

Now you need to remove what's left of the original seats. Cue the angle grinder......

Grind the top surface of the beam flat but leave the bits on the side attached. These will serve as a location reference for your bits of tube.

Now you can place your tubes on top of the beam and centre each one relative to the beam and the remainder of the original seat mounting bracket (the bits left on either side of the beam)

Now clamp them in place and get welding. Bear in mind that the spring will actually sit on the weld so try to make a nice job of it and keep the height of the weld as similar as you can all around and from side to side. The details of how you weld it I will leave to your imagination but I would try and make sure that most of the circumference of the tube is welded. I put a run around each side and then welded front and back inside the tube. Going nowhere!

If anyone wants pictures then pm me with an email address and ill email you some pics. Alternatively, if you like the sound of this repair and like the look having seen some pics but don't feel confident to tackle it yourself, I'm always open to the opportunity of earning a few beer tokens if you can bring your beam to Coventry!

Now you can shove your rubber bits over the tubes and work them down over the weld so the spring will sit on the rubber rather than directly on the weld. Once you have completed this, try your springs on there. If they don't quite go over the tube then just fettle the inside of the end coil of the spring with a file/dremel etc until they are a nice snug fit over the tube.

Your beam is now better than when it left the factory all those years ago! Depending on the general condition of it, you may want to lay a bit of extra weld down in a few spots but it tends to be the spring seats that go. The rest should be pretty solid.

The only downside is that you will no longer have bump stops, this isn't an MOT issue so either live with it (you'll never know the difference unless you put SERIOUS weight in the back and hit a speed bump!) or get creative! I'm sure some rubber object could be fitted inside your tubes if so desired.

Now that the fun part is over and you have a nice beam to work with you can change all the parts that you can afford to get!

Bushes for the support arms and panhard rod are available from PFV online and I have found the trailing arm bushes on eBay. Everything else (springs, dampers, hubs, brakes) can be found at your average motor factor (MVC,euro, GSF etc).

The method of reassembly could vary quite a lot with no right or wrong way. How far you build up the beam before offering it up to the car is a matter of personal preference, bearing in mind the following;

The springs need to be seated on the beam when it is jacked into position and anchored 'home' by the support arms and trailing arms. The dampers will ultimately stop the axle sagging down to prevent the springs becoming loose.

Bushes should be tightened in the position that they would naturally sit in otherwise it puts excessive and unnecessary strain on the rubber at all times. To achieve this you must refit the beam but without fully tightening any of the bushing bolts, then re support the car by the beam with a pair of axle stands (ie relocate your stands) to allow the suspension to sit how it will sit naturally when the bolts are finally torqued up.

Finally, talking of torque, you may wish to know that the hub nuts should be tightened to 180Nm.

I hope this guide has, if nothing else, made for a decent read, given you a few ideas and maybe inspired you to fix something that many would condemn as scrap! It is only with this creative 'have a go' attitude that our 480's will endure in years to come as parts and knowledge become ever sparse.

Good luck rebuilding your rear ends folks! My turbo is almost drivable again, just a few other niggles to sort out and then I can enjoy my fabulously brand new feeling arse end!
O.C. 480 D.

CaptainQwerty
Knows where Volvo is from
Posts: 104
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2009 9:43 pm
Location: Cumbria, UK
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Re: Overhaul of rear suspension and axle

Post by CaptainQwerty » Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:05 am

Fantastic timing sir.... I am in the process of doing exactly this part of my Volvo 480 restoration project!

volvo480.premiercarscumbria.co.uk <- Only part I have done so far is calipers off and pan rod off which is what I am currently working on, I have got it back to bare metal, got it smooth with a flappy paddle on a drill and primed so it wont get surface rust while I get new bushes in the ends then its time to clean up the ends and then paint it :)
.:Volvo 480 Turbo:.

gsa60
Started learning about 480
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 10:18 pm

Re: Overhaul of rear suspension and axle

Post by gsa60 » Sun Aug 14, 2016 7:20 pm

Hi guys,
I'm able to clear the rear springs from the top mounting.
However, the bottom of the spring is stuck due to the bump stop. I'm not able to remove the bump stop (at least in one piece). It does not have a retaining pin that I can find.
Any one knows how to remove it?

gsa60
Started learning about 480
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 10:18 pm

Re: Overhaul of rear suspension and axle

Post by gsa60 » Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:58 pm

Anyone?

Ade
Can tell where the 480 was built
Posts: 337
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:25 pm
Location: Northants

Re: Overhaul of rear suspension and axle

Post by Ade » Sun Aug 21, 2016 6:24 pm

Not sure on that buddy, mine had already parted company with the beam and were floating around inside the spring :D

There wasn't much left of my original spring seats but from what I can remember it looked like the bump stops were pushed over a lip, not bolted or anything so I guess it should pry off. I guess the result of said prying will very much depend on the condition of what's underneath the bump stop. You may have to go down my route of re engineering it, might be better that way anyway, my 're engineered' back end has done about 40k now with absolutely no issues to report and should well outlast the rest of the car.

Hope that's a little bit helpful, best of luck with it!
O.C. 480 D.

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