suspension arm bushes

allanmc · Post by **allanmc** » 04 Aug 2011, 08:41

I am about to replace the rear bushes on the suspsnsion arms on my Series 2 Xantia HDI and I am needing help as to how hard it will be the Haynes Manual, as usual is no help
Allanmc

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 04 Aug 2011, 13:35

its quite an easy job if you have some mechanical skills/knowledge,

they are actualy tapper bearings not bush's,

i usualy unbolt the calliper from the arm anm but leave it attached to the pipe, obviously support it somewere so not to strain the pipe,

and once you have the arm off drift the metal pivot tube out from the centre,

the when you are left with just the outter bearing race's in the arm, run two short beeds of mig at opposite sides of the outter race, this will not only heat the race up but will also give you something to drift it out by,

regards malcolm

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 04 Aug 2011, 13:50

Allan, do you mean on the rear suspension, or the rear bushes on the front suspension wishbones? I read it as rear bushes on the front suspension but citronut read it the other way!

allanmc · Post by **allanmc** » 04 Aug 2011, 16:57

Dommo, its the rear bushes on the front suspension arm
Allanmc

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 04 Aug 2011, 21:09

aaahhhh just forget i spoke

regards malcolm

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 04 Aug 2011, 21:36

I've done this job on two Xant's and found it tricky on both due to the anti roll bars getting in the way of the wishbones when you try to remove them. jacking up the wheel on the opposite side of the car helps move the ARB out of the way after you have undone the nuts and bolts holding the wishbone on. However go gently because the height corrector is attached to the ARB and can be moved too far and damaged I think??

Once the wishbone is off you can set about replacing the bushings, I know Dave Withington on here just replaced the wishbones complete with bushings. The rear one is nick named the P-bush because of its shape.

You then need to remove the old bushing which is a bit of a struggle, but make good note of how the bushing is located, make sure you fit the new one with the metal part in the same orientation, otherwise you'll eat through the new bushings really quickly. When I fitted my pattern part bushings it took a lot of force to get the old ones off and the new ones on.

Not sure if anyone else on here has any more hints or tips..

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 05 Aug 2011, 07:55

they come off very easy,
once you have removed the outter metal P shaped section, just cut through along the length of the inner metal sleave with a cutting disc on an angle grinder,

but be very carefull NOT to cut into the spindle the bush fits onto,

i usualy cut almost through the sleave then finnish splitting it through with a small cold chisle,

as said above the oriantation of the bush is very important, so make sure the new one goes on exactly the same angle/position the old one was,

regards malcolm

allanmc · Post by **allanmc** » 05 Aug 2011, 21:05

Thanks Guys, for the infomation didnt realize that the wishbones had to come off, so the Haynes Manual wasnt wrong after all, so I will get to it in the next couple of weeks, might get back if I get stuck.
allanmc

Dommo · Post by **Dommo** » 06 Aug 2011, 08:54

citronut wrote:they come off very easy,
once you have removed the outter metal P shaped section, just cut through along the length of the inner metal sleave with a cutting disc on an angle grinder,

but be very carefull NOT to cut into the spindle the bush fits onto,

i usualy cut almost through the sleave then finnish splitting it through with a small cold chisle,

That's exactly what we did, used a grinder to cut a groove in it and smacked the groove with a cold chisel until it split. Wasn't sure if that was the best way so didn't post it up!

citronut · Post by **citronut** » 07 Aug 2011, 11:05

i cut them very close to right through then use the chisle, well with a hammer behind it

regards malcolm