Buick Regal 95' engine cradle replacement

> The cradle is very replaceable, but it's going to be quite a bit of work.

You've got that right. Let me see if I can think of how it's done.

Remove the entire left and right strut assemblies. Remove the right axle,
might as well remove the left axle too. Remove the sway bar. Support engine
from above. Unbolt left and right transmission mounts. Unbolt cradle.

I'm sure you can get away without remove the strut assemblies and axles, but
that's the easiest way I could think of getting to the trans mounts,
especially the one on the right.

Come to think of it, doesn't sound like that much work. I'm going to have a
harder time replacing the rear springs on my 12 year old Jeep.

Steve
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On Jan 28, 7:34 am, "Steve Mackie" wrote:
> > The cradle is very replaceable, but it's going to be quite a bit of work.You've got that right. Let me see if I can think of how it's done.
>
> Remove the entire left and right strut assemblies. Remove the right axle,
> might as well remove the left axle too. Remove the sway bar. Support engine
> from above. Unbolt left and right transmission mounts. Unbolt cradle.
>
> I'm sure you can get away without remove the strut assemblies and axles, but
> that's the easiest way I could think of getting to the trans mounts,
> especially the one on the right.
>
> Come to think of it, doesn't sound like that much work. I'm going to have a
> harder time replacing the rear springs on my 12 year old Jeep.
>
> Steve


I have another one. I know the transmission and the axle's would be a
pain so is it completly neccecary to take those off also? Thanks for
the help so far guys keep it coming. I have it in my garage and
getting some jack stands and other various odd's and ends for it
tommorow...
 >> Stay informed about: Buick Regal 95' engine cradle replacement 

wrote:

> I have a question about my buick regal,as the subject line said. I
> have recently did a bit of damage to the engine cradle of the car
> (bent it) by slilding the front end into a curb in a turn on some ice.
> Terrible incident I know. I already spun the wheel onto a new rim but
> I want to know if anyone has personally chenged one out and could
> maybe give me a bit of advice. I would really appreciate it.

It's not hard, but you need to have a good safe way to support the
engine and trans. You don't want to pull the engine and trans with
the cradle...that's "way" too much work. If you support the engine
and trans from above, you only have to remove the nuts from the
engine and trans mounts, disconnect the lower ball joints from the
spindle (no need to remove things like axles, struts, etc, they stay
up with the body), remove the bolts the hold the rack and pinion
to the cradle (leave the rack and pinion hanging from the tie rod
ends, probably a good idea to disconnect the intermediate shaft
from the rack...newbies tend to end up wrecking that shaft if
they are not careful, but leaving the rack in place means you do
not have to disconnect ps lines), make sure that any ps return
lines that may be bolted to the cradle are free, remove the four
corner bolts and lower the cradle. At this point, you can transfer
over the control arms, sway bar...etc. Do "not" tighten the control
arm bolts to cradle fully. The vehicle will need an alignment, and those
bolts should be tightened when the vehicle is back together and sitting
at it's normal ride height. Probably easiest to book an appointment for
an alignment, and let the tech know what you've done and ask him/her
to tighten those bolts while it's on the rack.

Ian
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> spindle (no need to remove things like axles, struts, etc, they stay

Oh, that's right, the sway bar is fully mounted to the cradle. Not sure what
I was thinking. However, thinking of the trans mount at the differential,
how do you unbolt it without removing the right axle?

> up with the body), remove the bolts the hold the rack and pinion
> to the cradle (leave the rack and pinion hanging from the tie rod
> ends, probably a good idea to disconnect the intermediate shaft
> from the rack...newbies tend to end up wrecking that shaft if
> they are not careful, but leaving the rack in place means you do

....and I completely forgot about the rack.

Steve
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"Steve Mackie" wrote in message

> > spindle (no need to remove things like axles, struts, etc, they stay
>
> Oh, that's right, the sway bar is fully mounted to the cradle. Not sure
what
> I was thinking. However, thinking of the trans mount at the differential,
> how do you unbolt it without removing the right axle?
>


Working from memory here Steve, but I believe it's quite possible. Long
extension and reach in from behind the right front wheel. Am I
understanding your question correctly?

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE.TakeThisOut@alltel.net
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Steve Mackie wrote:

> Oh, that's right, the sway bar is fully mounted to the cradle. Not
> sure what I was thinking. However, thinking of the trans mount at the
> differential, how do you unbolt it without removing the right axle?

I'm not sure what you are describing. I don't recall having to actually
remove any of the mounts....just unbolt them from the cradle and leave
them with the engine or trans.

Ian
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Thanks a ton guys this has been a big help. Today is the first day I'm
gonna get my hands dirty so wish me luck. Thanks for being so helpful

Oh, and for further detail its a 1995 Buick Regal Custom with a 3.8L.
Its also going to be sold soon and the money is going to be used on a
down payment for a Nissan 300ZX (Post 1991).
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Just an update on the situation. I took at the cradle and put the new
one in but one of the tards at the junk yard decided to give us a
drivers side control arm instead of a passenger side ( the one that
took the impact ). I also discovered some of the things I did to it. I
sucessfully made a bolts hole into a slot on the passenger side and
screwed both control arm brackets. Surprisingly enough there are no
bends in the tie rods and no seals broken on anything.

Thanks for the help guys and BTW no axels needed to be removed

Thanks a ton,

Joe W
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