Control arms for the front, but the rear?

[GTRS Fiero]

I can get upper and lower control arms for the front from TFS, but how about the rear?

[Fierofool]

They have them for the 84-87 but not the 88.  Check out these sources.

http://www.car-part.com  There are several in the Dubuque area.  Some in Michigan and Ohio, too.  Just put in the car and part name and your zip code. 

[GTRS Fiero]

I guess I'll plan on rebuilding mine.

[Raydar]

I pressed my lateral link and toe link bushings out with a bench vise and a socket. It's not difficult.
I left the trailing arms alone.

[GTRS Fiero]

My tri-links have been replaced in their entirety.

The control arms, knuckles, and wheel bearings are next.

[Raydar]

The 88 rear doesn't have control arms. I'm confused.

[GTRS Fiero]

Does that mean that, once I've replaced the tri-links, I'm good?  Do the knuckles connect to the tri-links?

Why are there control arm bushings for the '88?

[Raydar]

The toe link and lateral link are the two parallel links that connect the knuckle to the side of the cradle. They kind of take the place of a rear control arm. They support the side-to-side positioning of the knuckle, and the front link of those two (toe link) is used to set the toe-in. They are connected to the knuckle with a long bolt that goes through both arms and the knuckle.
The trailing link is the long link that joins the very bottom of the knuckle with the front of the cradle rail. That link provides the front-to-rear positioning of the knuckle, and also absorbs most of the impact when you hot a pot hole. (For that reason, I left rubber bushings in my trailing links.)
So yeah... Six bushings on each side, in the rear. that's it.

The two bolts that connect the strut to the top of knuckle are loosened to adjust the camber (tilt) of the rear wheel. The bottom hole is slotted, allowing adjustment. The top of the wheel can be tilted in or out. When the setting is correct, the bolts are tightened. (Or a cam bolt can be used, to assist the adjustment.)

The only real control arms, on the 88, are in the front. One upper, and one lower, on each side. Each arm has two bushings.

[GTRS Fiero]

Found an image:


Like that?

[Raydar]

Found an image:


Like that?

Yup.  The two links that go straight vertical in your pic are the toe link and lateral link. The toe link should be towards the front, however. The solid lateral link should be the rearmost link. (I'll check to make sure. If I'm wrong, I'll edit my comment.)

The link that goes upward in the pic at a ~45 degree angle is the trailing link.

The wide silver thing between the two parallel links is the knuckle. Hard to distinguish where it's pointed in the pic, but it points up towards the top of the shock tower. The bottom of the strut is fastened to it, with two 24 mm bolts.

It's much prettier than mine.

[GTRS Fiero]

Mine, too:

[Raydar]

Mine, too:
...

Yours is prettier than mine, too.

[GTRS Fiero]

You're being modest.  Mine is rather rough.

I don't know about your other car, but wouldn't the torque of the 4.9 in the blue-grey car be too much for anything worse than mine?

[Raydar]

You're being modest.  Mine is rather rough.

I don't know about your other car, but wouldn't the torque of the 4.9 in the blue-grey car be too much for anything worse than mine?

I'm not sure I understand the question.

When I had the swap done, poly bushings were mandatory (for an extra fee, of course.) If I had it to do over, i would have insisted that the trailing links (the long ones) remained rubber.
They also reinforced the front cradle rail with a welded-in steel plate. There is no dog bone, but the engine is mounted at five points, including the trans mounts.
I believe you could pick up the car by the engine, and shake it until the body panels fell off, and the engine would still be securely mounted.

[GTRS Fiero]

I worry that, if the tri-link area was rusty, the strength could be compromised.

Uh-oh.  My tri-links are all poly.  Will I lose teeth?