HELLRAISER: FWIW this thread is nearly 4 years old and has had no replies.
The diagram attached to 'Halton Hills''s original posting seems to be out of a service manual, so I went to mine ( a 2005 version) and looked up 'tension link' and found the following verbiage, presented here somewhat edited, and without accompanying diagrams. It does appear that a 'special tool' or two is required.
NOTE: Use this information at your own risk!
TENSION LINK
REMOVAL
1. Raise and support vehicle.
2. On both sides of vehicle, remove wheel mounting
nuts, then rear tire and wheel assembly.
WARNING: Before opening fuel system, review all
Warnings and Cautions.
3. If servicing left side, remove fuel filler tube.
4. Position an extra pair of jack stands under and
support forward end of engine cradle to help stabilize
vehicle during rear suspension removal/installation.
5. Perform following if vehicle is equipped with dual exhaust
or are servicing right side on vehicle with
single exhaust.
a. Position under-hoist utility jack or stand several
inches below exhaust at muffler.
b. Disconnect exhaust isolators at muffler and
resonators hangers.
c. Lower exhaust down to rest upon top of jack or stand placed below muffler.
6. Position under-hoist utility jack or transmission jack
under center of rear axle differential. Raise
jack head to contact differential and secure in
place. When securing crossmember to jack, be
sure not to secure stabilizer bar.
7. Remove shock absorber upper mounting
screws.
8.Remove shock absorber lower mounting bolt
and nut.
NOTE: If equipped with AWD, when removing
crossmember mounting bolts in following step, be
sure to not to misplace spacers between crossmember
mounts and body.
CAUTION: When removing crossmember mounting
bolts it is important NOT to loosen or
remove crossmember mounting bolts on opposite
side of vehicle. Doing so will require rear wheel
alignment following reinstallation to ensure proper
thrust angle.
9. Remove both front and rear crossmember mounting
bolts on repair-side of vehicle.
CAUTION: To avoid damaging other components
of vehicle, do not lower crossmember any further
than necessary to remove shock absorber.
10. Slowly lower jack allowing repair-side of crossmember
to drop. Do not lower jack at a fast
rate. Lower jack just enough to allow top of shock
absorber to clear body flange.
11. Remove shock absorber by tipping top outward
and lifting lower end out of pocket in spring
link.
NOTE: Do not lower repair-side of crossmember
any further than necessary to gain access to link
mounting bolts at crossmember.
12. Remove nut and bolt mounting link to knuckle.
13. Remove nut and bolt mounting link to crossmember.
14. Remove link.
INSTALLATION
NOTE: When installing tension link, although link
is same end-to-end, make sure that center bow
is facing downward.
1.Place link in bracket on crossmember. Install
bolt and nut at crossmember
as shown. Do not tighten bolt at this time.
2. Install bolt and nut mounting link to knuckle as shown. Do not tighten bolt at this time.
3. Install shock absorber by setting lower end into
pocket in spring link, then tipping top inward
until aligned with upper mounting holes.
4. Install lower shock mounting bolt and nut. Do not
tighten at this time.
5. If vehicle is equipped with AWD, make sure spacers
on top of crossmember mount bushings on side of repair are in position.
6. Carefully raise jack, guiding coil spring and upper
end of shock absorber into mounted positions.
7. Install shock absorber upper mounting screws.
Tighten upper mounting screws to 52 N·m (38 ft.
lbs.) torque.
NOTE: Rear crossmember mounting bolts are
longer than front mounting bolts. Do not interchange
mounting bolts.
8. Install crossmember mounting bolts.
9. Measure distance between from tension link to body weld flange directly in front of it, just
outboard of front mount bushing. This distance
must be at least 12 mm to allow proper clearance
for suspension movement. If distance is
less than 12 mm, shift that side of rear crossmember
directly rearward until distance is 12 mm or
greater. To do so, loosen 3 mounting bolts slightly,
leaving one on opposite side of shift snugged to
pivot off of. Shift crossmember rearward and snug
loosened bolts. Measure opposite side to be sure it
also maintains minimum 12 mm distance.ug, but do not fully tighten bolts at this time.
10. Tighten all crossmember mounting bolts to 180 N·m (133 ft. lbs.) torque.
11. Remove jack from under rear axle differential.
12. If previously lowered, raise rear exhaust back to
mounted position and connect exhaust isolators at
muffler and resonators hangers. Remove jack or
stand below exhaust muffler.
13. If removed, install fuel filler tube.
14. Lower vehicle until front tires contact floor but rear
is still suspended. Place jack stands under each
rear suspension spring link. Place an appropriate
wooden block between stand and link to avoid
damaging spring link, then lower vehicle until full
vehicle weight is supported by suspension.
15. Tighten tension link fasteners to:
Bolt nut at crossmember – 85 N·m (63 ft. lbs.)
torque.
Bolt at knuckle – 98 N·m (72 ft. lbs.) torque.
16. Tighten shock absorber lower mounting bolt nut
17. Raise vehicle and remove jack stands.
18. Install tire and wheel assemblies. Tighten
wheel mounting nuts to 150 N·m (110 ft. lbs.)
torque.
19. Lower vehicle.
20. Perform wheel alignment.
So, after digesting all of that, if you wish, I could print and scan the appropriate service manual pages (complete with diagrams), and then e-mail those pages to you if you PM me your e-mail address.
Good luck with this project as it seems a bit ambitious for my taste, but then I've gotten a bit lazy in my retirement years.
PS: I'll throw in the 'special tools' diagrams too!
EDIT: Upon further review it looks like the 'special tool' is not required for tension link removal, but for spring link removal.
. The garages I knew wouldn’t touch it
