trailing arm bush fitting

[vi-cious]

hey peeps mot time again and my T.A bushes are shot to bits
so thought id share the fitting of my trailing arm bushes with you and give a few pics...

done the first bush no probs, only took 15 mins (using the ramp at work-much easier)

...came to the second one and came out all ok but wouldnt do up...turns out the good folk at rover didnt weld my captive nut in the chassis rail so when i poked the bolt up it pushed the nut into the black hole of oblivion that is the chassis rail!...


ended up having to use a snapped hacksaw blade and a pair of mole grips to cut "petals" in the rail, bending it open like a flower and hunting around with a magnet looking for the damn nut before trying to hold it in place while trying to lift the trailing arm with my shoulder and gun the bugger up and not cross-thread it....half hour job anded up taking two and a hlaf hours to do but on the plus side the car no longer feels vague or skippy round the corners so yay ...now i need some zs shock and springs anyone got any??????????

[ALFA12177]

where did you get the bushes from mate ?i need to do mine.

[graphic]

Have you welded a patch over those cuts? If not the chassis rail will be weakened.

[Chrisund123]

Originally Posted by ALFA12177

where did you get the bushes from mate ?i need to do mine.

You can get them on ebay, £20 for the pair delivered. Mine need doing, but as I don't have a ramp and didn't have any luck doing it on my back under the car I'll try buying the special tool for it.

[thescamper]

Originally Posted by Chrisund123

You can get them on ebay, £20 for the pair delivered. Mine need doing, but as I don't have a ramp and didn't have any luck doing it on my back under the car I'll try buying the special tool for it.

Ouch, could you not get the bush out or put the new one in.

If you struggled to get the old one out you could have used an hacksaw and cut through the out steel of the bush, This will the allow the bush to effectively shrink and then should be easier to bash out.

The proper tool is damn expensive.

[Craig MGR]

Good work . Just out of interest , what bolts did you undo to lower the arm?

From what I've read , you can get away with just undoing one ( and obviously the two bush retaining nuts )

[thescamper]

[quote=vi-cious;3960602]hey peeps mot time again and my T.A bushes are shot to bits
so thought id share the fitting of my trailing arm bushes [quote]

Did you leave the wheel on?

[vi-cious]

hey hey ....yes i left the wheels on...made it easier to pull the arm down, yes theres only 4 bolts that need removing the two on the bush, the slide bolt at the end of the arm (those 3 are in the pic above) and the only other one is the handbrake cable securing bolt (lil 10mm on the arm).....and ive had the slots welded back up and have undersealed it to help stop any tin worm taking hold as there is none on the car at the moment and id like to keep it that way lol....all in all wasnt too bad a job even with the loose nut but this is a really easy job on a ramp but will prob be a ***** on the floor as ya need sum room to swing the hammer to knock the buggers out of the arm but other than that its all good . Oh and i picked up both bushes from my local unipart/partco dealer for £!5.85 for the pair inclusive of vat

[sprayer]

Originally Posted by vi-cious

hey hey ....yes i left the wheels on...made it easier to pull the arm down, yes theres only 4 bolts that need removing the two on the bush, the slide bolt at the end of the arm (those 3 are in the pic above) and the only other one is the handbrake cable securing bolt (lil 10mm on the arm).....and ive had the slots welded back up and have undersealed it to help stop any tin worm taking hold as there is none on the car at the moment and id like to keep it that way lol....all in all wasnt too bad a job even with the loose nut but this is a really easy job on a ramp but will prob be a ***** on the floor as ya need sum room to swing the hammer to knock the buggers out of the arm but other than that its all good . Oh and i picked up both bushes from my local unipart/partco dealer for £!5.85 for the pair inclusive of vat

Does the bush cum out by knockin it out from under the car to the ouside & the new bush from outside in & did you use a six sided ring spanner on the front link bolt as u cant get a socket on it & i only got the ordinary 12 sided ones but don't wanna risk rounding it off cos its probs well tight lol

[vi-cious]

Originally Posted by sprayer

Does the bush cum out by knockin it out from under the car to the ouside & the new bush from outside in & did you use a six sided ring spanner on the front link bolt as u cant get a socket on it & i only got the ordinary 12 sided ones but don't wanna risk rounding it off cos its probs well tight lol

hey there no i used an air ratchet on the chassis link and a gun on the t.a. bush bolts and yes coming out the bush is hit from under the car outwards and going in its outside inwards with the tapered end going inwards and as long as you have reasonable socket set it shouldnt round them off

[sprayer]

Originally Posted by vi-cious

hey there no i used an air ratchet on the chassis link and a gun on the t.a. bush bolts and yes coming out the bush is hit from under the car outwards and going in its outside inwards with the tapered end going inwards and as long as you have reasonable socket set it shouldnt round them off

Thanks for that but where exactly did you purchase them as my local unipart/partco want £27.59 for the pair

[igundwane]

Low Cost Spares in Bately £10 each, Also the Honda Dealership in Huddersfield £10.00 euro car parts £10.00

Pleanty of local places.

[sprayer]

Originally Posted by igundwane

Low Cost Spares in Bately £10 each, Also the Honda Dealership in Huddersfield £10.00 euro car parts £10.00

Pleanty of local places.

Cheers matey,never thought about the honda dealers tbh lol
Is it the civic that uses the 400 series platform ?

[thescamper]

Day off booked on Friday to do them, mates ramp booked, air-hacksaw and air chisel primed and ready to go, wish me luck!!!!

oh and I forgat to add WD40 liberally sprayed tonight.

[MrSpok]

Blimy scamper, your better armed than the special forces...

[west4]

when these bushes have gone does it make the car feel like it is drifting on the road.

[vi-cious]

flipping hell scamper you removing the bushes or punishing them ? lol

as for price i get trade discount at my local depots and a trade card at halfords helps no end as well... when the bushes are on the way out the back of the car seems to jolt side to side over bumps and esp' on corners it feels like the rear end isnt connected properly... if i dought jack it up and see if the rear arm moves easily when hanging free or if the rubber bushing is coming away from the metal surround....Phil

[richardbrock73]

changed my trailing arm bushes today, absolute doddle. dropped the car off to a very nice man at half 8 picked it back up by 11 and he charged me 40 quid. easiest job i ever did!

[thescamper]

Originally Posted by vi-cious

flipping hell scamper you removing the bushes or punishing them ? lol

Having changed bushes on various other vehicles from Cortina void bushes to landrover spring shackle bushes I know that there is nowt worse than getting half way through a job and not being able to finish it, coz you can't get the bush out, especially so as my mates workshop is 4 miles from home and in the middle of nowhere and I have an aversion to walking.

Steve

[thescamper]

Originally Posted by richardbrock73

changed my trailing arm bushes today, absolute doddle. dropped the car off to a very nice man at half 8 picked it back up by 11 and he charged me 40 quid. easiest job i ever did!

HA HA HA HA HA. The world hates a smart****