OEM 2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser Axle Beam

2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser Axle Beam Parts and Q&A

• Q: How to Service and Repair an Axle Beam on 2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser?

  A: On rear drum brake vehicles, place the trailing arm forward brackets over each side of the axle by lining the bushing's center hole with the matching hole in the bracket. Guide the thru-bolt through the bracket and bushing from the outside to place the threaded end inside, so it doesn't get damaged by the vehicle body while mounting the axles. Apply the nut tightly to the inboard end of the bolt when there is some resistance, but don't torque it all the way until the car reaches curb height. Place the axle beam in the middle of a transmission jack that's at removal height, after which pull the trailing arms up to position the brackets with the scribed marks you made when removing them. Screw all eight axle-to-body mounting bolts using your hands, but don't completely tighten them yet. Use the brackets to match up with the beams' marks and tighten each bolt to 54 Nm. Make sure to install rubber isolators at both ends, having the rubber abut against the flat spring end, then arrange the coil springs properly on the axle spring perches. Turn the coil springs so that the level side of every upper spring coil is beside an imaginary line running alongside the axle beam. Pull the vehicle up onto the jack, allowing the coil springs to enter the spring mounting brackets and keep going until you can fit the shock absorber bolts through the axle brackets and lower mounting eyes. Attach the shock absorber and nut to each lower mounting bolt and tighten them to 88 Nm. Once you've removed the jack, install both stabilizer bar cushion retainers into the rear axle if your car has one. Hook their lower ends into the slots, lift the loose ends, put the mounting bolts in and tighten them by hand to 61 Nm. When you attach the watts links and the bell crank to the axle, place them upright on the bell crank shaft. Secure the watts link to the center of the axle using a tightened bolt, washer and nut which requires 149 Nm. Insert the spindle, seal and support plate onto the axle end, clean the bolt threads used for the disc brake adapter and spindle, apply Mopar(R) Stud AND Bearing Mount Adhesive to the threaded portion and fasten the four bolts to 95 Nm tightness. Whenever you have antilock brakes, fit the wheel speed sensor head in the disc brake adapter, secure it using a 12 Nm screw and use routing clips to fix the sensor to the axle and trailing arm. Hold the cable against the hole in the trailing arm, line up the routing brackets with their spots and attach them to the trailing arm using the bolts, tightening to 11 Nm. Run the parking brake cable through the brake shoe support plate and make sure the locking fingers are open, press the spring that comes with the cable and put the cable onto the parking brake lever. Set the hub and bearing onto the spindle, tighten a new hub nut to 217 Nm and replace the hub and bearing dust cap. When needed, tinker with the rear brakes, install the brake drum, attach the brake flex hose to the axle, set up the tire and wheel and tighten the wheel mounting nuts to 135 Nm. Adjust the vehicle so the rear wheels move just above the floor, then fix the parking brake cables in the equalizer attached to the parking brake lever's output cable. Pull the pin punch out of the parking brake lever to allow the cables to adjust automatically, operate the parking brake lever to position the cables and test that the wheels can spin easy without dragging. Place the vehicle on a lower setting, install the center console, park the vehicle using the parking brake, remove supports from the tires, connect the negative cable to the battery, set the air cleaner cover in place and raise the vehicle on an alignment rack or drive-on hoist. When the vehicle sits at curb height, secure both trailing arm to mounting bracket pivot through-bolts to 122 Nm and do a rear wheel alignment, adjusting the thrust angle by slackening the axle trailing arm bracket bolts and either sliding the axle back or forward before tightening everything to 54 Nm.