Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

[Carl R.]

Hello,

I'm in the process of moving and "re-discovered" my old worn RH 1967 trailing arm I replaced with a rebuilt unit about three years ago. Since I hate to have "rebuildable" parts around, I am considering sending this off to be restored. Who would you reccomend? I noticed an ad in the mst recent Driveline for Precision Engineering out of Wellington, FL who seems to have good price ($250) but want to make sure this is done properly the first time.

Thanks in advance,

Carl

[John H.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

Try Bair's in Pennsylvania or Van Steel in Florida - both have excellent reputations for this type of work.

[John H.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

Try Bair's in Pennsylvania or Van Steel in Florida - both have excellent reputations for this type of work.

[kenrobb]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

I had mine done through Corvette Central by Van's in Fla. Van's is good; though I got a surprise when they said they couldn't rebuild mine because of rust/corrosion condition. So I got a new "rebuilt" one and my old one was used as a "core"? Anyway, they did a good job and it works fine. there have been some posts on someone in Fla not doing such a good job I believe on brake calipers. Wasn't Van's though. There is a guy in central Indiana that people mention to me after I had mine done. This was in 1996, rebuild $278.45 plus *NPN $160.00; couldn't use my old one for core= $464.76 w/ tax. Call Van's direct would be a good start. KenKen

[kenrobb]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

I had mine done through Corvette Central by Van's in Fla. Van's is good; though I got a surprise when they said they couldn't rebuild mine because of rust/corrosion condition. So I got a new "rebuilt" one and my old one was used as a "core"? Anyway, they did a good job and it works fine. there have been some posts on someone in Fla not doing such a good job I believe on brake calipers. Wasn't Van's though. There is a guy in central Indiana that people mention to me after I had mine done. This was in 1996, rebuild $278.45 plus *NPN $160.00; couldn't use my old one for core= $464.76 w/ tax. Call Van's direct would be a good start. KenKen

[Joe L.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

John------

I agree with both of your recommendations and would add Carter's Corvette of Livermore, CA. I do my own trailing arms (but, ONLY for me, and no one else), but if I were going to have my trailing arms rebuilt by others, I would only use Bair's, Van Steel or Carter's.

[Joe L.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

John------

I agree with both of your recommendations and would add Carter's Corvette of Livermore, CA. I do my own trailing arms (but, ONLY for me, and no one else), but if I were going to have my trailing arms rebuilt by others, I would only use Bair's, Van Steel or Carter's.

[Joe L.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

Ken-----

Your old trailing arm probably suffered from corrosion damage. This is very common for trailing arms that have lived for any period of time where the roads are salted. The condition is usally "terminal" with respect to the life of the trailing arm, itself. However, the rest of the parts of your trailing arm assembly (i.e. bearing support, spindle, caliper bracket, spindle flange) may have be usable as a core.

[Joe L.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

Ken-----

Your old trailing arm probably suffered from corrosion damage. This is very common for trailing arms that have lived for any period of time where the roads are salted. The condition is usally "terminal" with respect to the life of the trailing arm, itself. However, the rest of the parts of your trailing arm assembly (i.e. bearing support, spindle, caliper bracket, spindle flange) may have be usable as a core.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

Carl,

I've had a few sets done by Van Steel in Florida now. I wouldn't send them anywhere else, but I know many people have used Bair's with good success as well.

Have you moved yet?

Patrick

[Patrick H.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

Carl,

I've had a few sets done by Van Steel in Florida now. I wouldn't send them anywhere else, but I know many people have used Bair's with good success as well.

Have you moved yet?

Patrick

[Juliet P.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

I just had both my T-arms rebuilt at Tony's Corvette in Gaithersburg MD. Man o man they are georgous! Now I just need to reinstall them.

http://www.tonyscorvetteshop.com

[Juliet P.]

Re: Advice on 1967 Trailing Arm Rebuild

I just had both my T-arms rebuilt at Tony's Corvette in Gaithersburg MD. Man o man they are georgous! Now I just need to reinstall them.

http://www.tonyscorvetteshop.com

[Brandon K.]

BAIR vs Van Steel

I have had work done by both. Van Steel is OK.....however, what they do is instead of surfacing the spindle to remove runout, they index the rotor to the spindle, and you lose the ability to adjust the parking brake without removing the caliper, removing the rotor, turning the rotor until the park brake holes line up, adjusting the shoes, and then putting everything back together. BAIRS, on the other hand makes life simple by turning the spindles to zero runout so you dont have to worry about "selective alignment" of the rotors. If your rotors are straight you shouldnt be able to change your runout anyway.

I'm surprised no one has caught onto this before. Because of this small difference, I would only use Bairs from now on.

DEFINITELY do NOT use VetteParts Online. They will rip you off!! I have the t-shirt and the trophy for that one. They used to be known as Fl Caliper and keep changing their name because they are trying to hide from people who have been cheated.

Brandon

Brandon

[Brandon K.]

BAIR vs Van Steel

I have had work done by both. Van Steel is OK.....however, what they do is instead of surfacing the spindle to remove runout, they index the rotor to the spindle, and you lose the ability to adjust the parking brake without removing the caliper, removing the rotor, turning the rotor until the park brake holes line up, adjusting the shoes, and then putting everything back together. BAIRS, on the other hand makes life simple by turning the spindles to zero runout so you dont have to worry about "selective alignment" of the rotors. If your rotors are straight you shouldnt be able to change your runout anyway.

I'm surprised no one has caught onto this before. Because of this small difference, I would only use Bairs from now on.

DEFINITELY do NOT use VetteParts Online. They will rip you off!! I have the t-shirt and the trophy for that one. They used to be known as Fl Caliper and keep changing their name because they are trying to hide from people who have been cheated.

Brandon

Brandon