trunnion bushing replacement

[Dana Loomis <dloomis@domain.elided>]

I just replaced the conical bushings in the torque tee (called the
"reaction trunnion" in factory manuals) in my '72 GTV with polyurethane
pieces from Performatek.  What a dirty, backbreaking job for a $15 part!
The outer bushing comes out easily, but the inner one is tough, because you
have to pull the differential pin out of the eye on the torque tee to get
access to it.  I was advised that the easy way to do this was to simply
"swing" the rear axle to the right until the pin disengages with the torque
tee.  I was surprised at how far right I could shove the axle, but it
wasn't far enought to disengage it.  I ended up unbolting the torque tee
from the car.  That was easy, but getting it back in was tricky.  There are
3 holes in each end of the t-bar, and they have to match up with the bolt
holes in the body, and with the holes in a pair of shim that fit between
the bar and the body.  I ended up gluing the shims to the body so they
wouldn't fall out while I fussed with the bar, then I attached the bar to
the body by one bolt at each end.  The other two still didn't line up, so
with the bar free to pivot on the two bolts, I used a jack under the
differential to rotate the axle upward until everthing lined up.  If I did
the job again, I'd probably unbolt the rear ends of the trailing arms from
the axle and see if I could push it far enough over to disengage from the
axle pin.  

Dana Loomis

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