Anybody replaced fron & rear suspension bushes on a Carlton?

Specifically fron front wishbone bushes & rear trailing arm bushes? Are the arms themselves r&r'able or do I need to replace the entire unit?

Cheers!

'90 Carlton 2.0 estate (lovely!)

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First off, which of the bushes are you talking about? One of the front bushes has a vertical bolt, the other is a 'normal' horizontal one. The large bush (with the vertical bolt) can be a bastard to get out as its metal shell is thick and rusts well into the arm. Getting the new one in is also a right pig of a job unless you have a big press. The smaller rear bush is not too bad with usual length of M10 studding, some big washers and a couple of large sockets. Washing up liquid is your friend here too! On the rear, I assume it's the large bush covered by the plate with 3 bolts? These are easiest to get out with a crowbar believe it or not. Remove the plate the lever around the edge and they come out easily enough. Fitting is a doddle. Just use a trolley jack and 'push' the bush into place having greased it up with the soap first. I'm off out now but if you get stuck, post here and I'll contact you later and talk you through it. cheers, JB

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JB

Yep i Pretty much agree and i have done the front but not the rear however you can buy the whole arm on ebay for around 40 quid and remember to get a full allignment check as the camber and toe in settings might change and wreck your tyres

Reply to
Gary Millar

Hi, thanks for that.

It's the front, front bushes - the big ones with the vertical bolt. I was thinking of rigging up a trolley jack arrangement for those too.

On the rear, I think it's standard "top-hat" horizontal arrangement with two bushes on each trailing arm, and that like you say the bolt/washer/studding arrangement might work. The garage quoted 4 hours of labour for doing these. I wonder if I can pop the trailing arm out without having to completely remove it?

I've only been able to get the front bushes so far & will be having a go at the weekend.

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adder

You *will* have to remove the arms to do the front ones.It will be easier to buy new arms if you haven't got a press though. As for the rear, I'never seen a Carlton Estate with dodgy trailing arm bushes ever! My last one had over 297000 miles onit and it was still on the originals. It's usually the rear subframe-to-body mounting bushes which go first. I replaced 2 sets on my last estate. Getting the rear arms out isn't too bad but you can do it in situ with patience (and much swearing!). JB

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JB

JB, I had ordered a pair of bushes for the front but my supplier let me down and in the meantime I found

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where they have wishbones for about 22 pounds each! They're probably made in turkey out of old coins but I'll give them a go. Makes the job easy peasy I guess.

On the rear I did a "hands and knees" inspection today and the trailing arm bushes look to be in good condition. However, *one* of the bigger subframe to body mountings did look perished. The other one looked good though & even had that waxy finish that new rubber parts often have. I dunno whether the mot garage was trying to rip me off or just being incompetent - the failure sheet says "rear radius arms bushes worn to excess" & quoted me 250 to repair saying that the job takes 4 hours. I think I'll get the bigger bushes & try your trick.

I guess we're talking about these

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