how to remove rear bushes

not for the faint hearted!

jack up swing arm
use axle stands just in front of rear bushes on chassis / 'inner 'sills
spray wd40 on rear bush bolts and the bush / housing
break bolts, keep the wd40 going
remove bolts, let swing arm dangle supported by shocks
drill all the rubber out surrounding the centre
burn out (if safe) / remove as much rubber as possible
use a hacksaw to cut 2 grooves 20mm apart in the metal casing, not swingarm!
smash a 20mm masony chisel between casing and swingarm between the 2 grooves
this peels the groove, releasing the pressure of the casing (there a very tight fit), when you get about 15mm from the end the whole thing pops out.

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DONT refit ford bushes; very tight fit, you need a press etc. poly bushes are an easy fit, not much more and last forever

only do this if you hate your life and you can't possibly find anything better to do...

it has been the worst thing of the last 2 days for me when changing my axle and suspension.

yup! foooking horrible job!

I am swapping my polys for standard Ford ones soon, think that is going to be a beam off job, which though not difficult, will be time consuming.

flame thower with combustable gel is a good option as well. simply burn away the rubber and the bush will just push out becareful not to set the fuel tank of fire though

i done my drivers side one a few months ago...still need to do the passengers side one, do it next week if i cant find anything else to do :wall: :wall:

lol mine are both polys now and i hope i never have to look at them again!

i think the ford ones will need pressing in....garage job....must be doable with a hammer but er.....

Defo one for a friendly garage this one peeps!

Don't worry, will be doing it at a garage, getting a technician to fit to beam, then I will refit beam.

RED IMPACT said:

Defo one for a friendly garage this one peeps!

Click to expand...

:shock: Who said that!?

Lol

Welcome back!

yeh but my local friendly garage wanted to charge me £45 labour PER bush! sod that!

Eldude did mine (with standard Ford ones) very reasonably.

i did both mine... just cost me a few chisels and a few trips to anger managment after lol

i have just done my ones on my frp, a couple of weeks ago. i can't honestly see what the fuss is about!!

A hole cutter on a drill that is just small enough to fit within the outer metal casing of the bush, drilled from both sides of the bush will get rid of the rubber inside, then it was probably 5-10 minutes with a hack saw (pop the blade off, put it through the bush, then re attach to the handle) doing what is shown above. Then spend some time wire brushing and cleaning the inside of the sleeve, maybe filing some of the damage away created with the hacksaw.

Putting them in really isn't too hard either, i think the way that i done them couldve actually been done on the car, but i took my beam off to clean and paint it. you need: a piece of long threaded rod (just big enough to fit through the centre of the bush), the appropriate nuts to go on the threaded rod, some washers, then the most important part: some sockets, one that sits round the outer casing of the bush nicely and one the sits round the sleeve on the rear beam, thick walled sockets help!

you put the whole lot together on the rod so that when you tighten the nuts up the socket will simply pull the bush into the rear beam. the important thing is to make sure everything is lined up straight. apply some oil to the thread where the nuts will be under pressure. and it'll be a good idea to make sure you don't pull the bush to far through! Mine really didn't take to much man power to pull in, just done it with two spanners and two men!

Hope this helps, it really isn't that hard!


Do ya wanna know what the hardest thing was? getting the bolts out the old bushes to get the rear beam off!!!

it sounds so easy when your on a workbench etc cos iv been there but did mine (as most are) under the car & its knackering! muchos swearing!!! so much easier off the car if you can.

best way iv found with friends cars is to have a spare arm / swingarm etc, do the bush / paint etc at leisure then swap them easily & i tend to use stainless bolts if i can get away with it too cos undoing rusty bolts aint fun!

Stainless bolts in the rear beam...lol

I'd replace the oem items....

The long high tensile M12 bolt that goes through the bush is F1127011...
+ the nut is an extra strength Nyloc nut and a different part to the M12 nuts on the front arms... F6179298
The 4 (x2) bolts that bolt the beam up to the car (self locking with washers) are F6491695

around £20 for that lot + £33 ish for the bushs...

well worth replacing them, and looks a tidy job too afterwards...

the Strong Nyloc nut is particually difficult to tighten fully underneath the car on stands, as you just don't have the room to get a good swing on a decent breaker bar...do'able but frustratingly bloody awkward!..

i only use stainless to save corrosion issues in future, in theory very bad as not hi-tensile, in practice mine have been fine, same for front lower arms, all engine mounts etc etc. nothings dropped off yet and some of the bolts are on there 2nd car!!!

in theory your fine just using stainless nylocs to prevent corrosion issues but in theory you should replace nylocs after one use, over 10 years experience has shown you can use a nyloc 3 or 4 times.... as long as it bites it wont come undone. bad practice tho.

def budget for new nuts & bolts tho as the old ones may not come off in a re-useable condition!

I removed the old bushes in much the same was as detailed in the first post (but you did not include cracking your hand with a hammer!) Once I cleaned out the area in the rear arm for the bush I lubricated it with grease, as my car was on axle stands and not very high I decided to press my new (ford) bushes in with some hydraulic pullers, I know not everybody has them but they are handy to borrow. This gentely pushed the new bush in, I did use a drift though of the correct OD of the bush. It is a hard job at road hight but once done its done. I also fitted M12 S/S bolts and nylock nuts, The car will not cause enough stress for none High tensile bolts to be a problem and S/S is a higher tensile rating than mild steel anyway. I am an engineer by trade so tools and nuts bolts are not a problem, but with garages charging 50-60 £ am hour, with the money you save you can buy some quality kit to help next time!


Chris

Pullers-
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el dude said:

Stainless bolts in the rear beam...lol
The long high tensile M12 bolt that goes through the bush is F1127011...

Click to expand...

where did you get that code? that part number is for a bolt for a mondeo not even listed for the puma lol

the puma bolt is 1661753, could well be identical though