Suspension Crossmember

D

Duane

Member
Hi Team,

I have just ordered a set of crossmember bushes as mine are completely stuffed.

Any tips on how to replace these? Is it just a simple case of supporting the diff extension, unbolting that centre bolt, and then the bush bolts, and lowering the crossmember slightly to allow access to the bushes? I don't fancy having to disconnect the suspension arms, so am hoping I can get the new bushes in without the need for a press.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
 
hmmm.. I wouldn't do it that way, those road springs will be pushing down on the trailing arms with quite a bit of force. I would suspend the car with the wheels off the ground, remove the rear wheels, then with a jack under the rear of the trailing arms, undo the shocks, then disconnect the arms from the elbow. Let the arms down slowly and remove the springs, you may have to remove the top of the shocks as well, depends on how high the car is off the ground. Then support the diff extension, remove the centre bolt, noting where all the washers etc are.

If you pop the bolts back into the rear of the trailing arms, through the elbow, it will help when you undo the crossmember bolts as it will stop them waggling around and putting stress on the bolts. You can then remove the cross member along with the trailing arms, in one unit.
 
Duane said:
Hi Team,

I don't fancy having to disconnect the suspension arms, so am hoping I can get the new bushes in without the need for a press.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
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Hi Duane,

I agree with Richard, you'll need to take the trailing arms out with cross member. It might seem like more, but it will make things much easier. The bushes in the cross member will need to be pressed out and the new ones in.

Ron
 
Thank guys. What you are saying makes sense but I think I will have a go at my plan first. The crossmember only needs to come down 100mm to allow access to the bushes. If I can press them out and back in in-situ with a big G-clamp it would be a relatively simple job. Big if though eh?

The existing bushes have turned into a brittle plastic and are just crumbling apart so they should come out easy enough.
At the end of the day, if that plan doesn't work, I can remove the whole assembly as you have suggested.

Will let you know how I get on. New bushes are on the way to NZ from Wins. They are poly ones, unlike the metalastic type ones all the other suppliers seem to have.
 
quattro said:
Yeah, you're kind of scaring me now o_O

I really wouldn't be dropping that cross member without releasing the rear spring pressure first.
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I agree. You really don't want to be working under the car with stored energy (the spring) above you unless you know where it's going to go. If you release the spring, you are then only dealing with the weight of the components, which is a bit more predictable and controllable.
 
I'd urge on the side of caution over anything else when it comes to springs on these cars. I've survived doing the front springs recently by being over cautious.
 
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