Removing/installing leaf spring bushings

The best way is to pay someone else to do it. ;)

Seriously, when we did the ones on my Camaro it was a whole lot of manual labor to get them out and clean up the rubber goo that was left in there. I'm curious to see what other people come up with.

IIRC, we used a combination of sawzalls, air grinders, c-clamps, tried to press it out, tried to pry it out, tried burning them out... what a production.

Ray

I don't know which operation you are doing, installing new springs or just new bushings, so the following is general bushing banter...

Sometimes the location of a bushing makes mechanical removal difficult. Further that, heavy corrosion combined with the undesireable steel/rubber/steel cross section of the typical bushing makes even destructive and forceful extraction difficult. A common last ditch method (or first ditch method if you're experienced) to get the stubborn, frozen cross-bolt out of the center sleeve is to use a torch. Have a water hose ready for safety and open all doors if working inside, as it is the messiest, nastiest repair work you are likely to ever do to a vehicle. Blast the bolt head side and the nut side after heating them to cherry red. You need to save any reused parts nearby, so aim is critical here. Also, the fuel tank(s) is/are usually near at least one spring bracket. Fashion a temporary metal shield between the work and any lines, tank, hoses, etc. for safety. The bushing rubber will catch on fire too, so that sucks, and it is hard to extingish.

If you are referring to removing a bushing from a spring that has been successfully removed from the van already -- you can try various hand or air chisel bits that are edge sharpened to only grab/cut the thin outside shell of the bushing. If you go around the entire perimeter of the shell on one side and 'curl' the shell metal inward, it will give you something to pound or press on with an appropriately sized socket. Support the other side of the spring with a larger socket or makeshift press blocks so that the bushing will be able to pass through during the pressing operation.

You can clean the surface rust off of the inside of the springs with sandpaper and lightly tap the new bushing in until it is started and square -- I like to use a soft faced, shot filled hammer first to limit damage to the bushing flange -- then press or hammer in with appropriately sized socket placed on the outer sleeve.

Either way, replacement bolts and shackles are a good idea to buy beforehand.

Toyota MDT in MO

Pulled a pair of leafs from the wrecking yard. I'm going to need to push the old bushings out to replace them. Not so much that they need replacing, but the old bolts are pretty much "welded" in place by corrosion.

Considering the amount of work to pull the replacements off at the wrecking yard, I think I'll just pick up the bushings and take it to a local mechanic who will have the necessary tools and experience to do this job.

Man... six nuts per side and hours of swearing...

: )

Burn the rubber out with a torch, and/or drill through the rubber with a drill bit to weaken it and push the center piece out with the bolt still in it. Then assemble a hacksaw with the blade through what's left of the bushing so you can cut through the outer shell. Once you've cut a slot or two in the outer shell you can drive it out with a hammer and an appropriately sized socket or a blunt junk screwdriver or punch.

To pull the new bushings in, you will need some heavy all-thread and nuts and washers, and a socket that will sit on the eye of the spring and another that will just pass through it. Set the bushing in place, put the bigger socket on the opposite side of the eye from the bushing, and pass the all-thread through the socket drive hole, the hole in the bushing, and then pull it into the spring with the smaller socket. Some light oil may help but don't go nuts with it, oil is not kind to rubber. When you put the springs in the van, don't tighten down any of the bushing bolts completely until the van is sitting completely on the ground (you don't want to put any twist in the bushings at normal ride height.)

If you are really anal retentive, you may want to disassemble the springs, have the leaves blasted and painted, and then reassembled with new sliders. Personally, for a vehicle for which new springs are available, I'll pay the $2-300 for brand new springs with bushings to save all the forking around.

Yeah, that's another good option. Hydraulic presses are your friends.

nate

That is the 'best' way to do them, they 'are' a serious pain in the butt. I have used the drill method and the threaded rod with two sockets when helping a friend. If you drill enough holes in the rubber it will fall out. If you can core it, you can use a threaded rod like mentioned.

On my own set, I paid someone to do it. They used a torch. :-)

Mike

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