Bushed bushes ?

[Jimbo]

These two pics are of the rear offside top shock top mount bush, and the offside trailing arm end bush - the truck is currently sitting on a level surface, and is unloaded.........yet the bushes look distorted to me. I'm thinking that as the vehicle was ex-utility, and probably spent most of its 12,000 miles before I got hold of it, loaded to the roof, that the bushes are knacked.

Any advice ?

[spinkster]

looking at the rear trailing arm picture.....have you got a suspension lift?? if not the bush could be goosed.......if you have thats entirely normal due to the different angle of the tgrailing arm the front one looks [!Expletive Deleted!] too btw

[Eeyore]

Ex utility vehicles are also (usually ) well maintained (if a little abused).

The top shock bush is difficult to judge by the picture, so grad the shock and heav it about a bit. Some rotation is okay, but the shcok musn't 'piston' up and down on it's bushes.

If it doesn't piston, you're okay. But check the bottom bushes as well, they seem to be the ones that go first.

Now, with the radius arm, get a big flat-head screwdriver, or better yet, a crowbar and try and waggle the bush about. See if the radius arm moves in relation to the bush. If the arms moves and the bush doesn't - it's lunched. Try is with the wheel jacked and the bush in the neutral postion too. A very limited amount of slack can be taken up by tightened the radius arm nut, but again, this is a sign that the bush is heading south and will be in need of retirement shortly.

HTH

Cheers
 8)
Eeyore

[Jimbo]

Thanks for the advice so far. The truck is not lifted, but is a 'heavy duty' factory jobbie. I've removed the rear helper springs already (small coils, sit within the main rear coils), this has helped soften the rear end, but it didn't alter the overall height of the truck.

If I hold the shock and rotate it, the top mount does move around the bush - as if the bush is a little tired!............I guess it's back to the million dollar question.....

Stick with OE bushes, or go for Polybush etc, etc.......

[Eeyore]

I'd stick with OE, given the option.

Polys are great, but you need to keep a close eye on the major bolts, as they seem to be subject to geater wear when using them. OE's are cheaper and are easy to replace at the chassis end of the raius arms and on both ends of the shocks. The bushes at the axle end of the radius arm are a pain in the bum to change, but garages can whip 'em quickly enough if you do find 'em difficult.

Cheers
 8)
Eeyore

[Jimbo]

The axle ends of the radius/trailing arms are the ones that need gas-axing out yes ?.........and then a big press to get the new ones in ?

[Eeyore]

I'd press 'em out and in. There is a tool called that can be used at home for removing them but I've no idea how good it is (called a Bushwacka, I beleive).

Burning removes the rubber, but still leaves ther outer metal sleeve which will require extricating by fair means or foul. I'm always wary about applying a heat source to the front arms as they're a forging.

Cheers
 8)
Eeyore

[Litch]

No need for burning or a press when replacing OE bushes.

Use a hole-cutter to cut through the rubber and then cut through the outer-sleeve with a hacksaw, with a cut along its length it will pop out quite easily. Clean up the surface of the hole, lubricate with a little oil and press the new bush in using a vice or tap in using a suitable piece of pipe or a socket as a spacer.
I use this tried & trusted method and can do each of the radius arm bushes in about 30-mins no trouble.


OE bushes are my personal choice, I have had a set of Pollybushes in my garage for some time now (bought on a whim) but can't bring myself to fit them! The OE bushes last well (my current ones have been in place for about 4-years now and are still showing no signs of wear), perform well, are cheap (you can buy two or three sets for the price of a set of genuine Pollybushes) and in my experience, not difficult to fit.

[Jimbo]

Litch - can you really fit OE bushes without a press ?, I'm not doubting you, it's just that everywhere you look, peeps say you need a 20T hydraulic monster !!!!

I read an interesting article on the Difflock forum, the guy was raving about Polybush 'Blues', and how he had used blues for the trailing & radius arms and shocks, and reds for the A bar thing on top of the rear axle - the article said that blues were just like OE for ride quality, but that they had a longer life - about 4 times..........but then, the Polybushes seem to be 4 times more expensive than OE

I guess it all comes down to personal preference, and how much spare cash you have burning a hole in your pocket when it comes to bush-buying time  :roll:

[Litch]

'Litch - can you really fit OE bushes without a press ?, I'm not doubting you, it's just that everywhere you look, peeps say you need a 20T hydraulic monster.'

Most definately. That is the DIY method out of the workshop manual that I followed and I found it very successful, I thoroughly recomend it.
Using nothing more specialist than a hole-cutter and a hacksaw I can replace even the most stubbon OE bush in around half an hour.
At first I thought than cutting through the outer sleeve would take ages but with the rubber-core removed it took only a few minutes. With a full depth cut and a bit of penetrating oil the sleeve just pushes out. The knack to inserting the new bush is to make sure the surface of the hole is clean & smooth, with some lubrication and correctly applied pressure it should slide in without too much force.

[Jimbo]

Think I'll give this a go now, another article I found on the web said to make two cuts in the outer sleeve - about 6mm apart, you then remove the 6mm wide 'sliver' of sleeve, this allows you to compress the sides of the sleeve in slightly, so it should almost drop straight out.

Do the usual online places stock OE bushes - or are they main stealer only ?

[Litch]

You can make two cuts but I have always found that a single cut (which removes around 2mm of metal) is more than enough to allow the sleeve to compress and pop out.

You can get genuine bushes (main or any decent non-franchised dealer), OE (decent non-franchised dealer) or pattern (unknown quality from non-franchised dealer). Any well known on-line place should sell OE quality.
I have fitted OE in the past which can in no way be considered expensive, they have performed extremely well over the past few years and still show no signs of wear.