After having gone through yet another pair of tyres on the front of the 2.5TD it was time to do some further investigation.
Last time the fault was easy to diagnose, both front strut tops were completely shot. I replaced them and thought that the problem had gone away. Certainly the tyres took longer to wear but wear they did.
On the nearside tyre there was still 1-2mm of tread left on the outside edge but the inside edge has worn down to the fabric.
Jacked the car up and tried to rock the wheel up and down first. There was some movement but not masses. Then I rocked the wheel horizontaly from side to side. There was loads of movement. Crawled under the car and got someone else to rock the wheel. All the movement was coming from the larger of the two bushes on the lower swinging arm.
Has anyone replaced these before? Am I going to need the services of a hydraulic press? What sort of job is it?
any help appreciated as usual.
cheers
noz
XM lower front swinging arm bushes
Moderator: RichardW
I don't know about the XM but I have done these on other motors, and also swing-arms when I had bikes in my youth, and I can't see it being any different-you struggle for hours with big vices, hammers, blowtorches, etc, and in the end give in and go to the local engineering shop where they charge you a drink and do it on the big press,old bush out,new bush in, in about 2mins.
This is just one of those jobs,like tyre fitting, where its much easier to hand it over to a workshop.
Put new bolts through at the same time as these will probably have worn as well.
This is just one of those jobs,like tyre fitting, where its much easier to hand it over to a workshop.
Put new bolts through at the same time as these will probably have worn as well.
I'm not saying you can't do it by hacksaw, etc, but thats doing it the hard way, and it can be difficult to get the new ones pressed in. If you can get to a machine shop then it's worth paying someone to do the pressing; it saves so much time.
I learnt this years ago with wheel bearings; why spend ages bashing with hammers and drifts, heating and re-heating?[}:)] Lifes too short!!!All I do now is the dis-mantling, and then take the hub and new bearings to the engineers; in and out in minutes, and the job done with a lot less hassle!!!!!!
I learnt this years ago with wheel bearings; why spend ages bashing with hammers and drifts, heating and re-heating?[}:)] Lifes too short!!!All I do now is the dis-mantling, and then take the hub and new bearings to the engineers; in and out in minutes, and the job done with a lot less hassle!!!!!!
Hi guys,
Just been to GSF in Glasgow and got all the bushes. The front bushes are in two halves and the rears in one part. I bought all six parts so I can do both sides at the same time. Total bill £35.
The clunking seems to be getting worse but I don't have the time to fix it before the weekend. I just hope it lasts until next week.
Cheers
noz[8D]
Just been to GSF in Glasgow and got all the bushes. The front bushes are in two halves and the rears in one part. I bought all six parts so I can do both sides at the same time. Total bill £35.
The clunking seems to be getting worse but I don't have the time to fix it before the weekend. I just hope it lasts until next week.
Cheers
noz[8D]