Suspension bushes - and more

You will need a press, but by far the cheaper option will be to go into a parts suppliers such as partco etc and buy yourself a new wishbone, ready to fit with both the bushes and a ball joint. Regards Slim

======================== I'm aware that a press is necessary, as I indicated in my post. The point is that a pair of wishbones will cost about £80-00 but I can buy a 10 ton press for about £160-00. I don't know if 10 tons is enough to remove and re-fit the balljoints etc.

Cic.

easily, but why bother? whack on a wishbone, job done, down the pub, or whatever. otherwise, get press, make special adapters, spend time changing the bushes and the balljoint, then refit wishbone. money can be saved and satisfaction gained, but not a real saving in overall stakes

mrcheerful

If the Arm needs both bushes and the ball joint I dont see how you would make a real saving . The ball joint and each of the bushes is going to cost roughly a tenner , so thats sixty quid before you even start removing the old bushes and ball joints. If you shop round the Motor factors you will get the complete arms for not much more. Steve the grease

In my workshop, I have a 50 ton press, but out of choice, I would buy a wishbone ready to fit. Regards Slim

Or buy them for 14.89

================ Thanks for all the suggestions.

It seems that most people prefer to discard rather than refurbish. I suppose I'll just have to go with the flow and contribute to our 'easy come, easy go' culture.

It's rather sad to realise that large steel components like wishbones are going to the scrapheap when they could be so easily reclaimed and refurbished.

Cic.

But, you have the press for next time, or for pressing cider, or ...

You Dont realy get it, do you??

To replace the bushes and ball joint, first you remove the arm, then clean, make a suitable tool to press the bits out, then press them out and clean the holes of rust etc.

Next it's pay out =A310 or so for each bush and the ball joint, press all the bits in. If you want to finish off the job properly, give it a coat of paint.

Time taken, poss up to 3 hours.

Or buy a wishbone ready to fit in a bag usually for less than =A325, fit the thing and stick the old one out for scrap,

Time taken 1 hour

The wishbone is not exactly wasted, as when disposd of properly you could be drinking beer from it in a couple of weeks time, whilst you sit down and watch your mate struggle with bushes!!

So it's not an easy come easy go culture, it's doing the most cost effective method of repair.

Regards Slim.

I have a press, I am not even sure exactly where it is, although I work in the motor trade I can't remember when I last used it. !!

mrcheerful

To replace the bushes and ball joint, first you remove the arm, then clean, make a suitable tool to press the bits out, then press them out and clean the holes of rust etc.

Next it's pay out £10 or so for each bush and the ball joint, press all the bits in. If you want to finish off the job properly, give it a coat of paint.

Time taken, poss up to 3 hours.

Or buy a wishbone ready to fit in a bag usually for less than £25, fit the thing and stick the old one out for scrap,

Time taken 1 hour

The wishbone is not exactly wasted, as when disposd of properly you could be drinking beer from it in a couple of weeks time, whilst you sit down and watch your mate struggle with bushes!!

So it's not an easy come easy go culture, it's doing the most cost effective method of repair.

Regards Slim.

Hey, that is what I tried to say!!

mrcheerful

So it's not an easy come easy go culture, it's doing the most cost effective method of repair.

Sign of the times etc. Labour is nowadays far more costly than parts, which are largely produced by automated processes.

My first job in a garage was at a Rootes, Rover and Triumph dealer, where things like re-bushing and brushing starter motors and dynamos, and changing bushes or ball joints was a daily occurrence, some ball joints could even be dismantled and adjusted or shimmed to get more life out of them.

As the kid just out of school, my responsibility was the lube ramp, I would change the oil(s), grease all the nipples, and there could be loads, and then the car would go further into the garage for the more experienced to do the rest of the servicing. One of the things I had to do regularly was to lube the water pump on Triumph herald/Vitesse models. I had to get a 7/16" spanner, remove a plug from the water pump, fit a grease nipple, grease it, remove the nipple, replace the plug. When I suggested leaving the grease nipple in place for the next service the boss went bananas. " Have you seen the price of grease nipples?"

It was cheaper to get this 16 year old to do all that than to provide a grease nipple. Think about that when you're next changing a wishbone.

Steve

Yes. Complete bushed up wishbones are so feckin cheap that it isn't worth the time, effort and expense of pressing out the old ones and putting new ones in.

Change the whole thing and take the old arm to your favourite metal recycling point.

You're shopping in the wrong place then.

So you want to spend £160 on a press when you could spend under £40 on a pair of bushed up wishbones?

Muppet.

Says the guy who spent an afternoon driving around trying to get a 90p off the shelf stud turned up at an engineering place...

Who the f*ck said I spent an afternoon driving around?

And its not an off the shelf stud.

Knob.

====================== I'm surprised that the two simple questions I asked should generate so much heat without actually producing any relevant answers. It's clear that nobody actually knows (or doesn't want to say) what strength of press is needed to remove and re-fit the bushes and ball joints. It seems equally clear that no respondent has any actual experience of doing this job.

Buying a press is no different from buying any other tool and a press will have other uses besides the immediate purpose of refurbishing wishbones. I've always found that buying the right tool for the job is cost effective in the long term even if the first job doesn't seem to justify the expense.

In fact I was considering fitting polyurethane bushes as part of a substantial rebuild. It would make more sense to remove old bushes from old wishbones rather than buy new wishbones and discard the standard bushes before fitting new polyurethane bushes.

At the time of my original post I had only one price for new wishbones (GSF car parts - £92-00 + carriage for the pair). In view of that price the cost of buying a press and new polyurethane bushes to fit to old wishbones seems worthwhile. Since I've now found a press manufacturer on Ebay offering a new

12 ton press for about £100-00 delivered the option to buy a press is even more inviting.

I would welcome any information from anybody who has actual experience of this job. I'm not really looking for advice on how to get the cheapest / fastest job done. I'm considering a major rebuild of a car to replace the one I rebuilt about 18 months ago which is now an insurance write-off thanks to a youth in a hurry to get nowhere.

Cic.

its because no one does it, its far cheaper for our customers and timewise for ourselves to fit complete arms.