One short shaft done and one to go.
Stopped by a local Chev dealer to get the positraction additive and some of their hypoid gear oil. They only had synthetic so I hope it doesn’t leak too much. Pricey stuff at $22 for the additive and $32 for a litre of hypoid gear oil. If this doesn’t clear up the chatter then I’m in deep do-do!
Oil changed in the differential. Much easier with the short shaft out of the way and the spindle assembly and caliper also removed. Still it takes quit a bit to suck out all the old oil with a vacuum pump. Quicker to get the new fluid and additive in using a squirt cap and small length of tubing on one of the litre bottles – in the photo above this one.
Time to clean up the trailing arms. really rough welding on the various metal sections. I managed to break off the clip holding the parking brake cable to the frame bracket on the forward side of the arm. The bracket was bent from some happening the car experienced in the past.
Sanded off the corrosion on the studs which should help with refitting the spindle assembly. I also ran a tap on the to straighten and clean the threads.
Once the trailing arms are cleaned up I’m going to replace the spring bushings with new polyurethane mounts. I would have preferred rubber, but it was all that was easily available . They shouldn’t make the ride any harsher as they might if I did the front end with them.