Poly Bushes

[Marooncobra]

Hi,

 

Just thought I would show some pics of fitting new Poly bushes front and rear.

 

Tools needed:

 

Trolley Jack

Axle Stands

10mm socket

12mm open jaw spanner

14mm ring spanner

17mm socket

17mm ring spanner

19mm socket

22mm socket

Torque Wrench

Drift

Hammer

Hacksaw

10 Ton Hydraulic Press (purchased off EBay AUS$130 new)

Angle Grinder

Drill & 6mm Drill Bit

3 leg puller

Washing up liquid

 

FRONT CONTROL ARMS

 

1. Jack up front of vehicle, place axle stands and remove road wheels.

 

2. As I wasn't replacing my front ball joints I simply undid the three mounting bolts holding the ball joint to the control arm, the two bolts holding the rear bush captive plate and the front bolt. Whole control arm is then off without having to take wheel station to bits.

 

3. The end bush I removed by using a three legged puller. Once removed the new poly bush slides on with no problem.

 

4. The front bush was a bit of a nightmare. Due to the curviture of the control arm I could not get it to fit on the press. Also the OE bush can only be pressed in one way, therefore it has to come out the reverse way it went in. Good old Nissan have fitted it so the shoulder obscures the control arm so even if I could have got it on the press there was no way to push it out using a socket!! Cunning means were required. A 6mm drill was used to drill through the bush at equal distances so I coud then press out the rubber/crush tube centre of the bush. An angle grinder was then used to remove the shoulder. A hacksaw was then used to cut through the bush shell. Take care not to cut through your control arm!! A hammer and drift was then used to remove the shell. All in all it took 45 mins.

 

5. Fitting of front bush was easy as the version of Poly bush was in two halves with seperate crush tube. I pushed the two halves in the control arm and then used the press to push the crush tube into the poly bush.

 

6. Control arm refitted but not fully tightened. Wheel replaced, car driven forward and backwards twice to settle suspension. Torque up bolts to all mounting points on control arm. Repeat for other side.

 

REAR PANHARD ROD

 

7. Remove rear panhard rod from car, 1 x nut and 1 x bolt. Find socket of the same diameter of the bush and press out old bush. Quite alot of pressure is required but once the bush moves it is easy sailing.

 

8. Fitting of the new bushes was slightly tricky as the bush is one piece and has shoulders. I lubricated the bore of the panhard rod with washing up liquid and then used the press to generate a small amount of pressure on the bush. I then used a punch to push the shoulders of the bush into the hole. Once the shoulder was in all the way round I continued to use the press to push the bush into place. I then used the press to push the crush tube through the centre of the bush.

 

10. Refit the panhard rod and replace nut and bolt/nut assembly. Once vehicle is on the ground with road wheels fitted tighten to manufacturers torque.

 

REAR STABALISER BUSHES

 

11. Whilst holding the stabaliser rod link with a 12mm open ended spanner use a 14mm ring spanner to loosen and remove the nut. You need to do both sides at the same time to allow the rod to drop through the holder and allow you to replace the bushes. Once complete retighten. There is no need to for the vehicle to be on the ground for this.

 

REAR LINK ARMS

 

12. Biggest problem with the rear links was that I was doing the work on the garage floor and therefore did not have much space to loosen the bolts. Remove one link at a time and replace bushes. Refit link arm before taking the next link arm off or you will have real problems in realligning the axle back up. Not a problem if you are built like a body builder.

 

13. Again select a socket the same size as the bush and use the press to push it out. As I opted for the shelled poly bushes the refit is using the same socket to push it back in. I used washing up liquid again to act as a lubricant and it woirked really well.

 

SUMMARY

 

12. The vehicel feels a lot tighter whilst driving now and I dont have any of the sloppy feel whilst driving on dirt roads. Just need to book it in for a wheel alignment next week and that should be it. I will, if can get it over a pit or on some ramps, check the tightness of all bolts once I have covered 500km.

 

13. The Hyd press was a life saver and well worth the money. The front control arm bush removal is not difficult for mechanically minded people but just take your time whilst hacksawing through the shell of the bush.

 

I will try and upload the photos but I see from the page that the max is 150 kb and each photo is about 140 kb!!. I will try and load each one seperately

Edited July 28, 2007 by Marooncobra

[Simon]

use photobucket.com. Upload all your photos there. Then, when posting here, put the address of the photo within the [iMG] [/iMG] tags on it, and they'll show up in your posts.

 

Alternatively, you can post 1 picture per post......so you'd have to reply to your topic as many times as you have pictures to get them all in the topic.

[nissandoms47]

How does it ride,handle,feel with new bushings?

[88pathoffroad]

Uploading attachments works fine for me. *shrug*

[Marooncobra]

Photos at last. Many thanks Simon

 

The 10 ton hydraulic press

 

 

Another angle. No I am not an alcoholic, it is my beer stash for when the fridge runs out upstairs!! Anyone for a VB?

 

 

Front control arm off without stripping down wheel station. Note ball joint still attached to stub axle

 

 

Control arm ready for new bushes

 

Edited July 28, 2007 by Marooncobra

[Marooncobra]

Removing rear bush from front control arm with 3 legged puller

 

 

Another angle of 3 legged puller

 

 

Pressing rear panhard rod bush in 1st phase. Note shoulder that has to be pushed into hole with drift whilst exerting the pressure from the press

 

 

2nd phase

 

 

Panhard bar back on vehicle ready for tightening

 

 

Stabiliser bushes fitted

 

 

Closer shot of stabiliser bushes

 

 

 

My camera looks like it must have had a fit as the pictures of pushing in the bushes on the rear links and front control arms are missing. Technology is great until it goes wrong!!!!

Edited July 28, 2007 by Marooncobra

[Marooncobra]

Found the photos. Looks like my camera makes new directories as it goes!!

 

I am using a 50mm hole cutter as the tool to push the bushes 'in' and 'out' as I didn't have a socket large enough to do the job. I had to modify it with an angle grinder so it would fit within the bore of the bush holder. Unfortunately the cutter is the same colour blue as the new bushes but to avoid confussion it has slots cut in the side unlike the bushes that have a complete shell. I am not pushing on any other part of the new bushes apart from the shell.

 

New Poly Bush & old Rubber bush Rear Link Bushes

 

 

Pressing old bush out of rear link

 

 

 

 

Setting up new Poly bush to fit in rear link arm

 

 

 

Rear link and New Poly Bush fitted on vehicle

 

 

 

Vehicle drives very well, handling improved, no sway on rough ground.

Edited July 29, 2007 by Marooncobra