I'm about to go get started on replacing mine. Long story short, I bought the car knowing it had some unusual tire wear in the rear, previous owner said he didn't know about it and found out that the rear axle is bent (or at least I hope that's what it is and not the frame itself). The passenger rear tire is moved back in the wheel well towards the rear of the car about an inch further than it should be, and both rear tires are worn past the wear indicators on the inside while the outside still has plenty of tread. This car has become a nightmare, the guy I bought it from lied about everything he could on it.

I picked up a complete SS rear axle assembly, FE5 suspension obviously, 5 bolt hubs, abs, all that good stuff from Morad Parts Company (great guys, been dealing with them for years for stuff for my old GTP) and I'm swapping them out today.

I'm not new to car work so I'm not concerned about my ability to do it, I'm just wondering if any of you guys who may have done it before have any tips or know any tricks to make my life easier?

 

ls1fbody has done a time attack swap he might be able to help

 

i just swapped mine a couple weeks ago. not very complicated at all.

where in ne ohio are you?

 

i think ls1fbody even did a how to on it

 

jack up the car and put it on stands. remove rear wheels. disconnect the wire harness from the body(easy to get at), disconnect the brakeline where it connects ontop of the beam. unbolt the calipers and lay them next to the car. ummm unbolt the shock from the beam. now put your jack under the rear beam and remove the three bolts from each side that hold the beam in place. lower beam and remove.

swap over anything you may need to and lift the new one up in there. once its in and you have the 3 bolts in on each side theres an alignment hole u can stick a punch in to adjust the rear end. bolt everything else back together and go get an alignment. hopen this helps some

 

Thanks for the responses guys. After I made this post I kinda forgot about it. A friend of mine stopped by to lend a hand and we had them swapped out in a little more than 2 hours. Everything is now in order, the wheels are where they should be. I actually snapped some pics that I'll post tomorrow of what it looked like before. But anyhow, all is well and I'm off to find some new tires to replace the worn ones.

 

This is how the passenger rear wheel was positioned in the wheel well before the axle swap:



And the Driver side rear:



Everything seems to me in order now. Replaced the badly worn tire and I'm getting an alignment done. Hopefully after that I'll have no more weird tire wear issues. the wheel is in the same place in both wheel wells now though, and the alignment holes in the axle lined up with the ones in the frame of the car perfectly, so I'm pretty sure everything is good.

Driver side now:


Passenger side now:

 

 

I'm sure it took him a couple of hours to complete but you won't get an answer as the thread is 8 years old

 

 

Lol you're a pro at taking cars apart tho

 

He is a professional shade tree mechanic.

 

2 hours? i did one a little while ago on an hhr, took 20 minutes from the time it drove in to the time it drove out.

 

Another professional shade tree mechanic.

 

With my luck it will turn into a whole weekend thing lol

 

 

He failed to mention he's part of a NASCAR pit crew.

 

Havent done one in a delta but I did on my cavi when it got wrecked, took maybe 1.5-2 hours but I also had to take it apart to swap the backing plate, and brakes from the old one to the "new" one. With no swapping anything and a lift it should only take 30-45min or so if its rust free and most of that time would be bleeding the brakes. Of course you might need a alignment after, or be cool with a little dog tracking.

 

 

was a drum brake car, and it was in a shop with a hoist and air tools. pretty simple really, pull the wheels, and slide the drums off, unbolt the wheel bearing and the backing plates come with it, pull the brake line, undo the shock, pull the springs out, and unbolt the axle from the body.

keep in mind, when i was doing re/re in a transmission shop i used to be able to average 18-22 book hours in an 8 hour day.

 

I swapped mine after drifting into a curb. It's a hell of a job with 2 people. Can only wonder what it's like by myself...

 

I did the same this past winter. How’d things work out. Planning on doing this very soon. Still have to find the part. Rear tires are worn on the inside treads. Any tips are greatly appreciated. Do you know if it’s repairable? Or maybe where I can find a decent price one? Or should I just go to the junkyard? Its an 05 Cobalt base model. Many thanks.