Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[amba]

Seeing that by all acounts several sets of these were replaced at the recent Newent meeting ,could somebody in the know please advise the best way to get the bolts realigned when replacing.

Remember reading somewhere in last couple of days that ChrisG was taking a ratchet strap..is that what should be used ?

[TheBoy]

Anything that will hold subframe in correct position, be it racket straps, or jacks and bits of wood...

[Jimbob]

can be hellish.....one of ours would not line up, ended up driving at chocks and all sorts to move it.

[feeutfo]

Key IMO, is under no circumstances drop the Jack holding the subframe in place, unless the rubber washer between sub frame and chassis  does not line up, which can be felt when tightening the bush centre bolt once the bush is fitted.

So,place Jack saddle rearward but still on of the triangular plate, to allow the stand to clear the Jack. Jack and place stand on chassis by exhaust hanger. Mind brake pipes etc.
Remove Jack and re position with the vast majority of the car weight on the subframe arm, so the stand is almost loose.
 remove plate and bolts and note the orientation of the bush.
Re insert centre bolt and wind in 5 mill or so.
Pull bush out with baring puller using the centre bolt for the puller to push on and tap the puller claws into the recess on the bush edge with a hammer so they don't slip, slightly fiddly.  The bush will stretch past the spacer to show about 3 lines.
Remove puller........and bolt :-/ I was getting tired 
Lever the bush out the rest of the way with a claw hammer, or by hand. Should be very easy by now.
Clean the recess.

Febi bushes in the guide need nothing more than a bit of spit and a hammer to belt them in in the same orientation as before, the ones I've seen the solid section alines with the arm.  Lemforders are tighter and need a drop of fairy and another Jack to press them in as far as possible.
 
Once fitted re fit the centre bolt alone and tighten to a sensible level and belt the flat areas on the bush rim in again with a hammer to get it really fully home. Stand up and rest your arms and let the pressure of the bolt settle the bush, that's my excuse anyway.

Now, all being well the bush will have gone straight into the original position with the centre spacer fitting directly into the previously mentioned rubber washer between sub frame and chassis, and you can put the bolts back in with the plate job done in half an hour ish a side

 it takes an amount of feel that I can't explain in type to tell if the bush centre spacer fouls the washer, but if it does you need to drop the jack and arm to reach in and seat it by hand/ feel. Arguably first time you do it it's wise to double check, or you can drive the car and if happy leave it be.
Rest assured though, the bush will not push out if the rubber washer does not aline, it can't with an 18mill bolt holding it to chassis.

 The moment that arm moves when the jack is dropped though, position is lost and the real battle begins. Ratchet strap was unsuccessful in pulling the arm in place on jimbobs first car, so in the end we had to drive the car forward on a chock in front of the front wheel to get the rear wheels to drive the subframe forward. All sorts of rocking a nd wrestling failed.

If chocking had failed we where thinking of removing the rear spring to get it to line up. Unconfirmed if that would work though.

Techniques vary and we are still learning the best ways to go about it, so bare this in mind when doing the job, and if an easier way is found please do advise.

We managed to do three cars at Newent, and had time for more but we simply ran out of room in the end, apologies to Gaffers, will sort his soon hopefully. 

[Sixstring]

Chris....if you are up for doing a couple of these in my estate, would be interested to hear about folding beer vouchers and availability???

Now I'm towing a lot, they are starting to creak a bit, and seeing I have done all the front (wishbones, drop links all the steering and idler etc etc) had better do the rear to match!!

TIA,   Mike.

BTW, your'e only up the M4 from me, so could easily pop over if easier............

[Marks DTM Calib]

On Jimbobs car, the driving etc didn't help.

The technique I used was to get the bolt through the bush and into the hole (but not engaging the threads), this is not hard to do as the bsuh is quite pliable and the botls has a tpered end.

I then bolted the plate to the chassis, in doing this it pulls the bolt into alignment and it bolts in nicely.

I need to try Chris's puller technique again as in the past this has not worked for me

[feeutfo]

On Jimbobs car, the driving etc didn't help.

The technique I used was to get the bolt through the bush and into the hole (but not engaging the threads), this is not hard to do as the bsuh is quite pliable and the botls has a tpered end.

I then bolted the plate to the chassis, in doing this it pulls the bolt into alignment and it bolts in nicely.

I need to try Chris's puller technique again as in the past this has not worked for me

i think we would be alot further ahead with this teqnique if it was not for the carlton bush falacy, although we needed to try it , because i too had problems initialy with the puller in as much as tightening the puller bolt simply lifted the car in the air rather than pull the bush out. This must have been when working with carlton bushes which where far too tight a fit as we now know. Omega bushes just wiz out with a puller, simples. Just need to tap the claws in with a hammer to make sure they dont slip.

re driving against a chock, seems to have made a slight differance as i could not get the bolt in as you describe either prior to,  maybe driving gave us just enough do you think? :-/

Drop the arm at your peril imo.....?

[Vulpine]

hi
has anyone got pics of the location of this nasty bush?
alos, is this the bush that causes excesive camber when it fails?
cheers
Jon

[feeutfo]

Main symptom seems to be side play at the rear, steering from the back, over steer feeling in corners, that sort of thing. Some creaking suspected, but mine still creaks tbh, don't know if it's bushes or not, may be door seals perhaps  :-/

Location in the guide in maintanance, don't think they affect rear camber as it did not improve mine once changed, and camber is directly related to toe setting on the rear track rods on the omega.

[Vulpine]

ok. i need to have a look at this bush. can its condition be seen without fully removing it?
also, how hard is the other bush to check/replace?

[feeutfo]

ok. i need to have a look at this bush. can its condition be seen without fully removing it?
also, how hard is the other bush to check/replace?

Fair bet, they will be fubar, but, if the rear is jacked and placed on stands both sides, clime under the dif and look at the bush through the gap between triangular plate and subframe arm, get a thumb in that gap and push the nodule/bump stop looking things in towards the centre as far as possible. If they fold over and reveal a rusty brown mess replace them.
Or if more confident, again with car on stands, place a Jack under the arm itself and lift to take almost all the weight of the car, then remove the bolts holding the triangular plate on and examine from there, but if going that far, may as well go the whole hog and replace them at the same time.

Not sure what's ment by the other bush, they are the same job mirrored on the other side. 1 pair, 1 per side, per car.

[Vulpine]

nice one, i will have a look at weekend hopefully.
The other bush is the other mounting point of the arm ie two mounting points per arm/side

[feeutfo]

nice one, i will have a look at weekend hopefully.
The other bush is the other mounting point of the arm ie two mounting points per arm/side

Trailing arm bushes?

[Vulpine]

maybe?  :-/

[Shackeng]

I note that several have had these changed recently, I assume that life depends on loading, drive style etc., but like Vulpine, it would be nice if there was an easy check for condition.