Question on replacing rear subframe. HELP!!

[Ter240sx]

long story short, friend installed s14 vlsd into my hatch, cross threaded the vertical bolts before the differential sat snug with the subframe. diff moved everytime i gave and let off the gas. stress against the subframe in the 4 horizontal bolts at the rear of the diff. casusing my subframe to crack. bought new subframe. now in process of removing the cracked subframe.

Question: I've already removed catback exhaust & disconnected drive shaft. do i try to remove my diff first or take all the other suspension parts off first then, have room to easily disconnect axles to take the differential off?thanks

[OutToWinPAHC]

Drive-shaft out, and exhaust out. Remove the 12 axle bolts, remove the 4 diff cover bolts, place jack under diff and unbolt the two large diff bolts. Lower diff down and set it aside.

Remove brake calipers, and unbolt the e brake cable holder from the subframe. Make sure nothing is connected to the sub frame of obstructing it.

Remove the bottom strut bolts and slide them off the studs.

Using a tall floor jack and a board (I used a 2x6) place the board under the subframe to balance it and hold it in place with a jack. Remove the 4 subframe nuts and the subframe brace bars (whatever we call them). Spray some WD 40 or PB blast around the 4 large subframe stud. and lower the jack an inch or two. If your luck it will drop down, if its stuck then put the jack and board under it, but keep it about 1/4 an inch away ane try prying it off the studs.

[Ter240sx]

thank you!im gonna do that this morning and if i run into troubles i will post here asking again

[OutToWinPAHC]

I forgot.... remove the axles after you drop the diff, but before you remove the brakes. You gonna need them to crack the axle nut loose.

[Ter240sx]

so i just removed all 12 of axle bolts connecting to the diff. now unbolt the brake calipers? would i need to unbolt my coilovers from the hub too? and what exactly do you mean by the axle nut?

[OutToWinPAHC]

Lock the ebrake and pop the center-cap off the rear hubs. There is a big nut under there, you need to take those nuts off (32mm I think) Once that nut is off, release the brakes and remove them and get the lanes and cable out of the way. Lower the diff down, and slide the axles out of the hubs from under the car.

Then for the shock / coilover remove the 19mm nut that secureits to the spindle stud and slide it off the stud and let it rest out of the way

[Ter240sx]

okay i can figure out the nut part but i will have to take the subframe out with the diff attatched..... because the two vertical bolts on the diff were crossthreaded and now stripped out. so i might have to take a saw zaw to the bolts in order to pull the diff off of the subframe. the 4 bolts on the rear of the diff should come off no problem tho. any suggestions other than cutting the bolts to free my diff?

[OutToWinPAHC]

You dont have to pull the diff, just makes it a bit lighter to drop it.

[kouki munster]

The rear axle nuts are 36mm.

[Ter240sx]

yeah ill do the axle nuts in a bit and use my jack to help guide the whole thing down. hopefully this works out well

[Dill_XD]

Its really not too bad. I did it with hand tools and a can of wd40 in a day. I think its easier to just drop the whole thing with with the diff in it, then switch it all over to the other subframe. Just my 2 cents. Good luck and tell us how it works out.

[kouki munster]

Now that I think about it, don't even worry about taking the axle nuts loose, just unbolt all the control arms from the subframe and the axles from the diff, then swap the whole spindle, with control arms, and axle to the new sub frame.

[Ter240sx]

so too many bolts that are too damn rusty and won't break loose, im just gonna unbolt my coilovers from the strut tower and then lower everything together. then take everything off when i have more wrenching room on the floor. good idea?

[95jordan240]

i replaced my bushings and gas tank in the summer...it was pretty simple i mean me and a friend took it down in two hours and thats with him teachin me and makin me do it lol....i recommend getting solid subframe bushings since your subframe is down...all i did was take off driveshaft, exhaust, brake calipers, struts, and the ebrake cable and lowered the subframe...the tricky part is gettin it back up...mine had to go in a little tilted in....goodluck and let us know...

[Ter240sx]

i don't have the money right now for new bushing and the OEM ones on the new subframe are in really good shape so ill just stick with that.and so you kept all the suspension arms & differential attached when you lowered the subframe down?

[kouki munster]

so too many bolts that are too damn rusty and won't break loose, im just gonna unbolt my coilovers from the strut tower and then lower everything together. then take everything off when i have more wrenching room on the floor. good idea?

Thats how I always drop the rear subframe, put the car on jack stands, and use a floor jack on the pumkin to lower the complete subframe assembly. Just make sure that you have everything that attaches to the body disconected before you lower it.
Modified by kouki munster at 8:29 PM 12/13/2009

[Ter240sx]

so keep all the suspension arms attatched to the subframe still right?

[kouki munster]

Yeah.

[Salem240]

That's how I did mine. It's easier to get to all the bolts that way IMO. Def try and get some $$$ and buy some SPL solid sf bushings and install them while it's out, you won't regret it

[Ter240sx]

okay just took out my coilovers. tomorrow ill drop the whole thing =) im excited!!

and the bushings are tempting lol but that can come later down the road when i have extra money and want to turn my car into a pure track car instead of currently as my DD/weekend track car.

[95jordan240]

mine has never seen track time i still have solid subframe bushings...its just that better feeling you get knowing that there fine...but i understand money is tight...but ya its wayyy easier leaving the suspension arms on...

[Ter240sx]

yeah but like i said the ones on the new subframe i bought are in really good condition so ill just live with that for now, if i had an extra 200$ then hell yeah id upgrade haha

hopefully everything will just drop out smoothly tomorrow =) if there are any problems i will def post

[95jordan240]

ya man for sure let us know...