suspension bush tools

[swwnz]

Hi All ,
Has anyone got a drawing of the press tools required to extract/refit the suspension bushes for the elan.??

[Jason1]

Hi

I would use a bench vice, an impact socket and a peice of wood.

Put the wishbone in the vice with a block of wood behind it allowing enough room for the bush to come out and put a socket the other side of the bush. The socket needs to be small enough to pass through the bush mount. Wind in the vice, the socket will push the old bush out the other side. Take care not to damage the wishbone.

An alternative way to remove the bush is to melt it with a blow torch. I have seen people do this and it creates a lot of smoke so if you do it do it outside! I do not like to breath nasty fumes so push mine out.

To install the bush, line up the bush in the wishbone and squeeze the bush back in by winding the vice in.

This is how I have replaced bushes on many different cars in the past. Strictly speaking the correct way is to use a press, but I have never had one but have always had a decent size bench vice in my workshop

Hope this helps

Jason

[tower of strength]

somewher I've got a bush puller I made up using some tube and high tensile studding. I still had to use a bit of heat to ectract the bushes but not enough to burn the rubber.
to make the tool, you need to pieces of tube, one the same size as the bush diameter, the other sized to allow the bush inside, a friend made up some closers for the tubes with holes drilled centrally(any machine shop will do this for a couple of quid)then a couple of nuts and studding to pass through the bush.A long ring spanner can then be used to wind the old bush out and draw the new one in afterwards.
2 sockest and a vice can work just as well though
if I can find it (i keep lending it out!) I'll post a pic or a drawing if interested

regards

Mark

[RotoFlexible]

I tried pressing out the outer rear bushings (the smallest of the lot) with my medium sized bench vice and a couple of sockets. Thing wouldn't budge; it's probably been in there for 45 years. The vise isn't large enough to accommodate the larger bushings with suitable sockets.

The Buckland book shows two tools:

1. a support with a large diameter hole into which the bush is pushed, having a small recess cut around the diameter to locate the wishbone, and a relieved area for the wishbone arm.
2. a shouldered pressing mandrel having two diameters, one that fits inside the bushing's outer metal sleeve to pilot the tool, and one slightly larger that bears on on the sleeve to drive it out. (This assumes that the rubber and inner sleeve have been removed already.)

He includes a photo of the tools in use noting that it took 8 tons of pressure from a 10-ton press.

Since I lack both a press and the tools (or means to make them, i.e., a lathe), I am probably off to an automotive machine shop.

[tower of strength]

you could try one of these and some suitable bits of tube,

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... =200326415

the uk price for some thing similar is a lot higher!!

regards

Mark

[RotoFlexible]

you could try one of these and some suitable bits of tube,

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/ ... =200326415

the uk price for some thing similar is a lot higher!!

regards

Mark

That's a good price. Getting a press is not a problem, it's getting the press tools made up for what is probably a once-in-a-lifetime operation on four bushings.

[tower of strength]

Andrew, if you have access to a press, just use either some suitable tube (steam pipe is ideal) or 12 point sockets. the hardest part is getting sufficient leverage/pressure without bending the suspension component, a hydraulic press is by far the best way to go if you have access to one.

regards

mark

[pmallinson]

Like most other people I recommend the use of a suitably Sized tube or socket on the back of the wishbone arm for the bush to come out into, then a smaller socket on the front to push the bush through the wishbone.

I have a 4" vice and this always seems to get them done with not too much Drama, if they are really tight I have been known to leave them under compression in the vice overnight and found they have succumbed to the pressure by the morning.

I do confess to NOT having none them on a Lotus (yet but have just bought a complete set of the nylon bushes with intention to get this done this winter) but have done them on a variety of other cars such as 3 Scimitars, MGB's (why the hell I owned that I'll never understand ) and others as well all using this method

A squirt of brake fluid or thin oil (NOT WD40 as this swells rubber) often helps if you force a screwdriver into the area between the bush and the wishbone to break the seal / corrosion and inject your lube into there.

Cheers

[tcsoar]

Hi,
I removed the bushes front and back last year and used the vice and socket method. I also used a bolt that passed through the bush snuggly with a turned down head to slide into the socket behind the wish bone to guide it out straight. Oh, I also used alot of heat on a couple that where proving stuborn.
The bolt idea was also useful in keeping the bushes square to the wishbone when pressing them back in.

[tcsoar]

Hi,
I removed the bushes front and back last year and used the vice and socket method. I also used a bolt that passed through the bush snuggly with a turned down head to slide into the socket behind the wish bone to guide it out straight. Oh, I also used alot of heat on a couple that where proving stuborn.
The bolt idea was also useful in keeping the bushes square to the wishbone when pressing them back in.