Replacing L-series bushes - ADVICE NEEDED

L-BJ · Post by **L-BJ** » Wed May 21, 2008 5:34 pm

Just been to pedders and given a cleaner bill of health than i thought (my shocks are a little soft, but they wouldn't recommend replacing them... i was a little - shocked <comic drum roll>- pardon the pun) but...

Told need to replace rear trailing arm bushes, and here's the clincher... just under $300 for them to do it... 2 bushes!

Got the kit for nearly half what they were charging for parts (SuperPro bushes) and now need to know any tips on doing this.
1 - what type of press is need to take the old ones out (could be pretty shagged so not sure if this is needed) are there any reg. tools that can do this job?
2 - new bushes come in 1/2s (1 for each side of bush) which means i don't need a press to place new ones in?
3 - where do the other 2 bushes go? - connection to trailing link?

cheers

BlackMale · Post by **BlackMale** » Wed May 21, 2008 10:01 pm

I can not comment on your bushes as I (obviously) can not see them. That being said this is what I did…

1) I actually had the entire bar out then undid the trailing arms.

2) Then punch out the old bush out.

3) Now with mine, I went with some flash virtually impossible to flog out bushes, which meant that once I had the old bush out I then needed to cut out the inner sleeve. Bit of a bugger but I decided to do it with a hacksaw then once I had cut through the sleeve drove a wedge in there, bent the sleeve which instantly released the preasure and allowed the old sleeve to just fall out.

4) Once out I gave it a very light clean with fine file (just to clean up any little burs).

5) Take the new bushes, now my bushes were in 2 halves so leave the centre pin in 1 of the halves and then grease them right up, both inside and out – you can not use enough grease I reckon.

6) Now with attempt to line the bushes up with the pin, and centre as best you can and then apply some decent force. I used 2 small plates (to equally distribute the load across the bush) and then got a ‘G’clamp to lock it all together and then slowly did it up. You need to go slow as the bush will want to ‘spit’ out. I used a flat blade screw driver to help keep it all ‘square’.

7) Eventually the bush will slide within the arm and then its very easy to do up the clamp. Just screw it up nice and tight to ensure you have the bush all the way in and its nice and tight because if it is not you have some difficulty getting the arms back into the rear bar and the diff hanger back on (if you have the bush in your pack).

I am sure that with a press and some other tools this job would have been a bit easier/quicker, however with some time and basic tools you’ll be alright and its not difficult… an extra pair of hands would be a huge help but I did the entire job without them.

I have attached a link (http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh11 ... 010010.jpg) to my rear bar and you can see the new bushes in the centre of the picture - they are yellow (not to be confused with the shocks which are yellow as well – lol).

This is just what I did and it worked out for me, maybe others have a few other ideas/comments/experience. Hope that this was clear and helps you out (and saves you a few hundred bucks… so you can put that in the fuel tank).

AndrewT · Post by **AndrewT** » Wed May 21, 2008 10:10 pm

Some good advice there, helpful to me too as I will eventually have to do mine to tighten the rear end up a bit more.
What type of grease was used? I ask because I suppose it would be important to use one which will not react with the new bushes and cause them to perish over time.

Matatak · Post by **Matatak** » Wed May 21, 2008 10:25 pm

nice writeup Blackmale, step by step is good.

and if they are Nolathane Bushes then they come with a little grease packet inside them. not sure of other brands

otherwise some LMM grease (used for CV's) will work the same.

Xtreme_RX · Post by **Xtreme_RX** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:06 am

Matatak wrote:nice writeup Blackmale, step by step is good.

and if they are Nolathane Bushes then they come with a little grease packet inside them. not sure of other brands

otherwise some LMM grease (used for CV's) will work the same.

Correct! LMM is the grease to use.

L-BJ · Post by **L-BJ** » Thu May 22, 2008 7:13 pm

Huge help BlackMale, will let you know how i go (broke finger so mite be a while) i got the SuperPro Polyurethane Bush kit (part # SPF1144K if anyones interested - they're blue!) so hope they are as good as the Nolathane ones
And yes AndrewT the kit (Nolathane or Polyurethane or are they the same??) should come with some grease in it.

tex · Post by **tex** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:30 am

Nolathane bushes perish when they come into contact with anything car related (ironic) except the grease they come with I.e. Oil fuel grease etc so poly urethane ones may be better but I don't know much about them. Also a little tip to make the bushes last longer is to put them in loose then once the weight is back on the ground and the car at ride height tighten them up!

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Sun May 25, 2008 7:46 am

Buy a can of silicone spray, it wont hurt plastics and is very very slippery

We use it at work to make it easier to pull cables through conduits.

Xtreme_RX · Post by **Xtreme_RX** » Mon May 26, 2008 8:09 am

Nolathane Brand bushes WILL NOT perish if the come in contact with oil, fuel solvents Etc.

RUBBER bushes WILL.

Nolathane is a BRAND of Polyurethane bushes NOT a material.

DO NOT use silicone spray on polyurethane bushes regardless of brand, the silicon spray will dry out / wash away & the bush WILL squeak. Use the Grease supplied with the kit. Put a good amount of grease on the pivoting surface NOT the retainer / holder etc.

If you have any questions relating to the fitment of polyurethane bushes please feel free to ask as I fit / sell it for a living......

tex · Post by **tex** » Mon May 26, 2008 1:27 pm

sorry for misleading people, Although I knew that nolathane was a brand everyone I've ever talked has said that oil and grease does that that's why they give you special grease, I take it all back!