Here you can find information regarding repairs to the Chevy Malibu rear end system. These repairs include the
rear control arms installation, the rear swaybar information and bolt torque specs,
the rear diff fluid change procedures, and the rear end watts system installation. All of these repairs and
procedures include in depth details on how to perform the replacement and or repair. They
also contain all the detailed torque specs needed for each bolt involved in the repair.
Rear Wheel Hub Torque Specs
The Malibu rear wheel hub is held to the vehicle much like the front wheel hubs. There are 4 bolts which torque into nuts that
hold the hub onto the rear wheel suspension. To remove these bolts and the hub assembly you will first need to jack up the vehicle and
remove the braking system from the corresponding side of the vehicle. Once out of the way you can remove the bolts by using the access
holes on the hub plate itself. Be sure to hold the nuts on the other end with a wrench. Once all 4 have been removed you can then remove
the rear hub assembly and place a new part into its place. The 4 bolts can be torqued down to 47 ft-lbs.
The rear suspension of the Chevy Malibu consists of a solid axle that is held to the vehicle through the use of rear control arms and
a spring suspension. The control arms of this rear suspension make up a critical part of the suspensions functionality and without them the
rear end would detach from the vehicle. This is why it is important to tighten down the bolt specs to manufacturers specifications. The rear control
arms range from the vehicles frame to the rear axle. On each side there is a bolt and a nut that needs to be installed. During installing make sure to
tighten the bolt side down to 80 ft-lbs and the nut side to 60 ft-lbs. This can be done on both the axle and frame side of the control arm. There is also
a track bar and a torque arm that runs from one side of the axle to the other. The track bar will need to be tightened down to 61 ft-lbs and the
torque bar can be tightened down to 96 ft-lbs.
Chevy Malibu Rear Control Arm Nut Side Torque Spec : 60 ft-lbs
Chevy Malibu Rear Control Arm Bolt Side Torque Spec : 80 ft-lbs
Chevy Malibu Rear Track Bar Torque Spec : 61 ft-lbs
Chevy Malibu Rear Torque Bar Torque Spec : 96 ft-lbs
Rear Shocks Installation
To replace the rear shocks on a Chevy Malibu you will need to remove two sets of bolts/nuts located at the bottom
and top of the shock. Both of these fasteners can be accessed from underneath the vehicle by jacking it up and removing the
wheel. Once you have removed the 2 upper nuts and the single lower bolt the old shock can be removed from the vehicle. From here
we can install the new shock in place of the old one and tighten up the upper nuts to 18 ft-lbs. The lower bolt can then be installed
and torqued down to 133 ft-lbs. Once both set of fasteners have been installed you have finished installing the new rear shock and can
reinstall the wheel and go for a test drive.
To replace the rear stabilizer bar on the Chevy Malibu you must first remove the old part from the vehicle. The stabilizer bar
consists of a large bar that goes from one side of the vehicle to the other. There is one endlink on each side of the bar which
can be removed and replaced. The bar contains 2 brackets which hold it up to the vehicles frame. When installing new parts be sure to torque
down the stabilizer bar brackets to 50 ft-lbs. The endlinks can be torqued down to 55 ft-lbs.
