Suspension bush replacement - attempt 2!

[X5girl]

I have now completed the installation of the polyurethane rear subframe bushes, front thrust arm bushes and the adjustable front and rear sway bar links.

I have taken a lot of pics and sorted them in an appropriate way to show the install but they mey well swap from side to side or in a strange order to tell the story better so please bear with me.

Firstly, we jacked the car up on one corner,



supporting it securely with an axle stand.



We then cracked-off the wheel bolts and removed the wheel.



Next you can see the bushes in situ, look fine don't they?



The rear mount supports the rear silencer and this now requires removal.



Trade secret next, if you don't wish to remove the entire rear end of the exhaust to do the bushes, heat up the exhaust hanger pin and bend it out of the way!



Now remove the 2 bolts holding up this side of the subframe and as the frame lowers......oops, that bush looks worn,



in fact it is in 2 seperate bits! At just 50,000m and it looks like its been like that for a while.



So here we have the subframe hanging, good pic of my anodised alloy hub centric ring there too!



but we just need a little more clearance so in goes a lump of wood to hold it down as we gently lever the frame lower.



Lots of penetrating spray around the bushes both front and rear, and leave to soak for a few minutes.





Next we use the special bush tool to pull out the remains of the old bush.



Half had already just fallen out! Using a spanner on the bottom we wound out the casing of the bushes.



And this is all that was left.



Next you see the bare tube of the subframe at the front



so we repeated the procedure for the rear.



The replacement bushes are installed simply by hand



and then lubricated with special grease before installing the center tube/spacer.



The original washer is refitted on the top of the bush.



Here you can see that this washer must locate on the shoulder of the tube



which must be fitted shoulder end up to locate with the washer



between it and the chassis locating tube.





We used pipe grips to push the tube through and locate with the washer.



With both front and rear subframe bushes now installed with the upper washers located on the tubes



We removed the timber wedge and jacked the subframe up slowly to locate on the subframe pins and get the lower washers fitted and the subframe bolts started by hand.



The subframe bolts can now be tightened and torqued to spec.



The previously "adjusted" exhaust hanger can now be bent back into position and the hanger mount refitted to the rear subframe mount lower washer.



We then lifted the car, removed the axle stand, refitted and torqued the wheel and proceeded with the other side . Install both bushes by hand



Exhaust hanger "adjusted" to clear again.



Grease upper bush



Followed by lower bush



Insert alloy tube, shoulder side up



pushing it fully in



If too tight to do by hand, it can be safely levered in



until the tube shoulder can be clearly seen



at which point the upper washer can be correctly located



and the lower washer and bolt refitted.





again tightening up and torqueing to spec.



finishing off by refitting the exhaust and hanger.





and thats how we fitted the rear subframe bushes!!



and these are what we fitted from PhoenixMotorsport





the shorter bush is the top bush to allow installation without further lowering of the subframe



Here's an old and new comparison.



And so onwards and upwards to the front. We replaced these split front thrust arm bushes



With these new polyurethane bushes from Phoenix.



Together with these new H/Duty adjustable roll bar drop-links.



Here we can see the offending standard thrust arm bush installed



We undid the pivot bolt at the front of the arm



and undid the lower balljoint nut and with some gently persuasion with a chisel, seperated the arm.



With the help of a small press, we pushed out the old bushes from the arms



Greased the new bushes, here we used copper grease as the bushes were a development set which we needed to be able to remove again later without damege, for the correct installation, USE A LIQUID SOAP here and use the copper grease supplied on the central pin. NOTE that the production bushes are thicker around the shoulder than these pre-production/development ones we used here.



Before pressing them in the arms.



Here we see the arm with the new bush fitted





The front of the arm is now refitted back into the chassis



refitting the pivot bolt and torqueing to spec.



completing this install by refitting the lower balljoint nut and tightening to spec.

Next it's the turn of the droplinks, not rattling yet but replacement imminent sooner rather than later. Here you can see the stock link in position



For the initial install, the 2 links were set to the same length until the suspension has settled. Here the links are loosely fitted. To remove any bar preload, lift both sides of the car together.



Each end balljoint of each link is now tightened whilst the center section is loose. The center section is now tightened with the 2 lock nuts whilst each end balljoint is square to its attachment.



The car can now be lowered to the ground and the same repeated for the other side.

To adjust the drop links properly, drive the car for a while to allow the suspension to settle properly. With the car on the ground, disconnect one end of one side drop link. Now get the driver to sit in the car. Depending on which link you disconnected, the link will either be too long or too short to easily refit. Now adjust that link so that it fits smoothly onto the roll bar again. Re-lock it to that length as before with the 2 locknuts and thats it all done, front roll bar correctly pre-loaded for that driver. Do exactly the same with the rear adjustable drop-links and the job is done.

PHEW!!!

X5Girl, xxx