Dropping an FD Rear Subframe
 

Question -

Ill be starting the removal of my rear subframe soon and i would like to know if anyone has come across a good writeup for the FD. Ive checked out the FSM, and it seems fairly straightforward, but i always like to know what im getting into before starting the job. Any advise/tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

-Dave

If you provide more info on what you are planning to do, that might help focus input. Dropping it with the suspension and differential is a little different than dropping w/o. If you are planning to keep the suspension and diff attached, you will definitely need a transmission jack. While dealing with all that weight is a challenge on to itself, it may be easier than taking all the pieces off. Regardless, you will need to remove the exhaust, driveshaft, brake lines, and trailing arms where they connect to the body. There may be more since i'm going off memory, but it's fairly obvious what you need to disconnect by looking at it.

Thanks for the advice TomU. It seems like a good idea to disassemble the suspension and diff piece by piece (as I'm likely to replace the bushings and such), so really all I'm left with is just the subframe itself (I'm sure with 2 floor jacks and some buddies) the subframe removal won't be so bad. What do you suppose it weights?

-dave

If you are going to replace your bushings, it makes sense to disassemble everything. The axles pop out of the differential, just make sure you replace the C-ring on the spline drive and orient it correctly (believe the gap in the ring faces up, but check the FSM). You still should use a transmission jack for the diff as it's fairly heavy. That gone, the frame is fairly light (~25 lb?).

As for bushings, i replaced mine with poly, but that needs to be lubricated which is both a chore and a mess. A lot of people recommend only poly for the differential bushings. I only had 65k on my chassis and all the bushings were shot except for the trailing arms. The pillow balls were also shot.

Here's some how-to's on replacing bushings

https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-w...shings-648765/

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-arch...nstall-294744/

You'll need a press, some bar stock, and several large sockets to push the bushings. It is all doable, but somewhat of a pain and IMO worth paying someone to do it.

Good luck!