The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Trailing Arm

Today I was under my 66' checking the fluid levels on my transmission and rear-end when I noticed that the rear trailing arm bushing connecting to the axle had failed and the arm had slid down to rest against the differential and break line. I've never had to deal with replacing a rear end, god willing, and I was wondering if there were any tricks to removing this arm. It feels like it's really tight so do I need to jack up the back of the truck or the axle? Also I noticed the arm has a slight bend in it. Do I need to either straighten the arm or replace it? I checked the arm on my parts truck but it's bent worse than the one on my truck. Thanks for your inputs.

I believe you mean Panhard bar, not trailing arm. The trailing arms run from the trailing arm cross member, laterally, to below the rear axle. The Panhard bar runs from the rear axle to the upper portion of the driver side frame rail. Jack the truck up at each axle tube & put on blocks or jack stands. This will keep the stored energy of the coil springs & shocks in the suspension. The Panhard bar it to assist in controlling lateral movement of the axle. I don't think the Panhard bar on a '66 Chevy C10 had a bend in it, so it may need to be straightened, which can be done by applying heat and bending back into shape.

Has your truck been lowered?

Reason I ask is if it has a previous owner may have heated and bent the panhard bar (a.k.a. "Track Bar") to center the axle. That may also be why the bushing failed too.

Could you maybe link some photos so we could see what's up?

FYI, Replacing the track bar bushings is definately something you can do. Mine came right off with a bit of help from my 5 lb hammer. I then used a drill to make a series of holes thru the rubber to get the sleeve and old rubber out, cleaned everything up, reinstalled the new bushings, and remounted the track bar to the rear end and frame.

Thanks,

John

Thanks for your responses. I'm not sure if the truck has been lowered but it definitely has been through some stress on the rear. When I first got the truck the rear was sagging. When I inspected the rear-end I realized that the springs had 2x4s running through it presumably to help with the sagging. Also the factory shocks were replaced with air shocks. Everything should be back to normal now as I have replaced the rear coil springs with new ones and installed the proper rear shocks. I would post photos but as it so happens, my camera is out of commission. But anyway, I believe the rear-end is back to normal so the replacing of these bushings should be a simple fix. Thanks a lot!

Replaced the track bar without problems. Thanks a lot on the info. While I was at it I did a grease job and realized that a ball joint was extremely loose and tie-rod end worn out. I'm always finding something. Anyway this shouldn't be too hard, I'll replace some parts and have it aligned. Thanks again!

I ordered every part for the front end of my 66 and it was only $150.00 from rock auto........might as well do it all and then have it aligned. Kieth

Yes, it's best to replace all ball joints & tie rod ends...maybe A-arm bushings, too, while you're in there. I ended up replacing all my brake lines & hoses as well, once I saw them.

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