Trailing arm shim question

[Lynn S.]

Restoring a 69 L89 coup with F41 suspension. Production number 8804. Replacing the trailing arm shims but I can find no hole in the frame to insert the long cotter pin? Were some trailing arms installed without pins? Thanks

[John C.]

Re: Trailing arm shim question

1969 model year cars did not use the long cotter pin to hold the shims in place. In 1969 the shims had holes in them that the trailing arm bolt passed through to hold them in place. Late in the 1970 model year they switched to shims with slots in them to ease servicing. This required the use of the cotter pin to hold them in place.

John

[Terry M.]

Re: Trailing arm shim question

This is one of the examples I use in the Advanced Judging School. The hole for the cotter pin appeared in the AIM and frames during 1969 model year, yet the cotter pin didn't appear on the cars until the last week of 1970 model year production. This is one example of why the dates given for changes in the AIM sometimes mean little. The cars always tell the real story -- but getting enough examples to have a meaningful database is a challenge.