Cheesy
New Member
Ok I did a bit of searching and couldnt find much on this topic so I thought I would give it a crack anyway. A bit of background, the diff whines and clunks and all the tyres chewed out their outside edges, the most logical problem seemed to be the control arm bushes.
I bought Nolathane front and rear bushes for the front control arms then started to pull the car apart.
1. Front bumper and fog lights, pretty much like the sticky post except that there are more screws around the flares, 3 plastic pins across the bottom of each wheel well and 4 M6 bolts holding the underside of the bumper to the cross member (you dont have to separate this panel from the front bumper).
2. I did one side at a time, so loosened the wheel jacked up one side put it on an axle stand, took the wheel off and put it under the chassis rail just in case. The looked at it and thought how the hell do I get that bush out....
3. I didnt take any photos as my hands were too dirty but removing the control are was pretty easy, first loosen the bolt on the front (24mm head), then the one at the rear of the control arm just under the steering rack boot through a hole in the cross member, in retrospect it is probably better to do the big one on the front while the car is still on its wheels. Finaly there is the 22mm nut on the bottom of the strut, now completely remove this nut then put it back on a few turns before you split the joint (I didnt and had to jack the arm back onto the taper to get the nut off). I used a hammer fork type splitter and just use one leg of it between the strut and the control arm.
4. Take the bolts out and the arm should come out relatively easily, the rear bolt head is pretty tight against the steering rack boot though. Now the rear bushes were easy to get out, cut the rubber lip off the end towards the back of the car and hammer them out with a suitable punch (I used a cheap socket that had no business being a socket)
5. The big bush that is pressed into the chassis, now all the bit of paper with the Nolathane bushes said was that it needed to be cut out.... So after sitting looking at it for a while I tried a 54mm hole saw, it seemed to work but no where near long enough and the drill wouldnt fit in the back side. So I cut the back off the hole saw and welded in a piece of exhaust tubing. I realise not everyone has the equipment to do this so I would be interested in hearing how others have done this.
I randomly had a bucket with a bit of water and car wash detergent in it, this made a pretty good cutting fluid (it gets too hot and just sticks to the rubber other wise). This took the centre of the bush out pretty quickly
Next I used a brand new hacksaw blade (saves aggravation), put it through the bush and started cutting (hacksaw upside down under the car with the teeth pointing down still cutting on forward stroke). The first bit of the bush is aluminium and pretty easy to cut through, I made two cuts through it, knocked out the little bit then the big bit. It may be possible to do it with one cut.... Then the steel outer, a bit of patience and more cutting with the hacksaw until I was most of the way through then I hammered a cold chisel through it and out it popped. Now if I had of had a sabre saw I would have used that but I didnt.
6. The new bushes go in really easily, the only tricky bit on reassembly is getting the rear hole of the control arm lined up perfectly (if its not you cant get the bolt past the steering rack). I pushed the front bolt into the arm and jammed the back bush as far into the chassis as I could (which wasnt far), then I lifted up the strut end and sat it on a piece of 6"x4" laying transversely across the car on the ground and hit the strut end with a piece of 2"x4" and a big hammer until it was further and higher than it needed to be. Then I gradually levered it back out and tapped it down until it was in the right place. Then I was only a matter of tightening the 2 bolts and nut (each side) and putting the bumper back on.
I bought Nolathane front and rear bushes for the front control arms then started to pull the car apart.
1. Front bumper and fog lights, pretty much like the sticky post except that there are more screws around the flares, 3 plastic pins across the bottom of each wheel well and 4 M6 bolts holding the underside of the bumper to the cross member (you dont have to separate this panel from the front bumper).
2. I did one side at a time, so loosened the wheel jacked up one side put it on an axle stand, took the wheel off and put it under the chassis rail just in case. The looked at it and thought how the hell do I get that bush out....
3. I didnt take any photos as my hands were too dirty but removing the control are was pretty easy, first loosen the bolt on the front (24mm head), then the one at the rear of the control arm just under the steering rack boot through a hole in the cross member, in retrospect it is probably better to do the big one on the front while the car is still on its wheels. Finaly there is the 22mm nut on the bottom of the strut, now completely remove this nut then put it back on a few turns before you split the joint (I didnt and had to jack the arm back onto the taper to get the nut off). I used a hammer fork type splitter and just use one leg of it between the strut and the control arm.
4. Take the bolts out and the arm should come out relatively easily, the rear bolt head is pretty tight against the steering rack boot though. Now the rear bushes were easy to get out, cut the rubber lip off the end towards the back of the car and hammer them out with a suitable punch (I used a cheap socket that had no business being a socket)
5. The big bush that is pressed into the chassis, now all the bit of paper with the Nolathane bushes said was that it needed to be cut out.... So after sitting looking at it for a while I tried a 54mm hole saw, it seemed to work but no where near long enough and the drill wouldnt fit in the back side. So I cut the back off the hole saw and welded in a piece of exhaust tubing. I realise not everyone has the equipment to do this so I would be interested in hearing how others have done this.
I randomly had a bucket with a bit of water and car wash detergent in it, this made a pretty good cutting fluid (it gets too hot and just sticks to the rubber other wise). This took the centre of the bush out pretty quickly
Next I used a brand new hacksaw blade (saves aggravation), put it through the bush and started cutting (hacksaw upside down under the car with the teeth pointing down still cutting on forward stroke). The first bit of the bush is aluminium and pretty easy to cut through, I made two cuts through it, knocked out the little bit then the big bit. It may be possible to do it with one cut.... Then the steel outer, a bit of patience and more cutting with the hacksaw until I was most of the way through then I hammered a cold chisel through it and out it popped. Now if I had of had a sabre saw I would have used that but I didnt.
6. The new bushes go in really easily, the only tricky bit on reassembly is getting the rear hole of the control arm lined up perfectly (if its not you cant get the bolt past the steering rack). I pushed the front bolt into the arm and jammed the back bush as far into the chassis as I could (which wasnt far), then I lifted up the strut end and sat it on a piece of 6"x4" laying transversely across the car on the ground and hit the strut end with a piece of 2"x4" and a big hammer until it was further and higher than it needed to be. Then I gradually levered it back out and tapped it down until it was in the right place. Then I was only a matter of tightening the 2 bolts and nut (each side) and putting the bumper back on.