just want to share my experience with changing the dogbone mount and a few tips and tricks we used.
first we got the car on axle stands
then undone 4 retaining bolts holding the dogbone onto the car, 2 on the head and 2 on a trailing arm.
from here we went inside (it was cold haha)
this is where it becomes very fustrating and turns into a pig of a job.
how to remove bushes using normal home tools, although id definatley advise an extractor as it will probably do the job for you.
to undo the retaining bolt compressing the bushes, i stood on the dogbone whilst my stepdad used a ratchet to undo it (unless your one strong cookie i advise someone stand on it)
when thats removed you can split the head from the shaft (no inuendo's please) and remove the bushes, if they were standard there most likely half melted so you need to scrape all the gunk out.
now comes the real pain: removing the lower bush!!
we tried various methods, from sheer stupidity to sheer brutality, but a method that finally worked is one id advise you all to do
we used a 29mm hole saw (drill attachment) this seemed to fit perfectly over metal centre and took the rubber out. you will have excess rubber in there but nothing a a knife wont remove.
now you have a nylon sheef to remove (it looks like part of the mount but it needs to come out) we hacksawed a little nick out then hit it with a screwdriver which popped it straight out.
we then opened the 2 packs containing my polybushes, we started with the pain (lower bush). we lubed the hole with copper grease and used 2 bits of mdf (anything thin will do) and pressed the bush in using a vice. you really will need a vice or a press for this otherwise its nion impossible.
to fit the rear trailing arm onto top of the lower bush we filed the hole out a little bit as it's hexagonal hole.
fitting the 2 top bushes is easy as they only go in one way. although it gets tough to refit the retaining bolt and other obscure method was used. you have a fiddly little nut to manouvre under the shaft in order to fit the bolt. because new bushes are firm and tougher material you will have a hard time refitting the bolt. we moved the nut until we got the bolt in the hole and then my stepdad put his weight on the top whilst i tightened the bolt (it finally bit after 2/3 mins of messing about)
finally a complete upgraded dogbone mount. this job is not a 5 minute job (as some suggest) it took us a good 2.5 / 3 hours with no specialist tools or knowledge.
fitting it back onto the car is very simple, 4 bolts and bang! job done.
(i will try and get some pictures uploaded so you can see what im rambling on about) hopefully this helps someone out.
first we got the car on axle stands
then undone 4 retaining bolts holding the dogbone onto the car, 2 on the head and 2 on a trailing arm.
from here we went inside (it was cold haha)
this is where it becomes very fustrating and turns into a pig of a job.
how to remove bushes using normal home tools, although id definatley advise an extractor as it will probably do the job for you.
to undo the retaining bolt compressing the bushes, i stood on the dogbone whilst my stepdad used a ratchet to undo it (unless your one strong cookie i advise someone stand on it)
when thats removed you can split the head from the shaft (no inuendo's please) and remove the bushes, if they were standard there most likely half melted so you need to scrape all the gunk out.
now comes the real pain: removing the lower bush!!
we tried various methods, from sheer stupidity to sheer brutality, but a method that finally worked is one id advise you all to do
we used a 29mm hole saw (drill attachment) this seemed to fit perfectly over metal centre and took the rubber out. you will have excess rubber in there but nothing a a knife wont remove.
now you have a nylon sheef to remove (it looks like part of the mount but it needs to come out) we hacksawed a little nick out then hit it with a screwdriver which popped it straight out.
we then opened the 2 packs containing my polybushes, we started with the pain (lower bush). we lubed the hole with copper grease and used 2 bits of mdf (anything thin will do) and pressed the bush in using a vice. you really will need a vice or a press for this otherwise its nion impossible.
to fit the rear trailing arm onto top of the lower bush we filed the hole out a little bit as it's hexagonal hole.
fitting the 2 top bushes is easy as they only go in one way. although it gets tough to refit the retaining bolt and other obscure method was used. you have a fiddly little nut to manouvre under the shaft in order to fit the bolt. because new bushes are firm and tougher material you will have a hard time refitting the bolt. we moved the nut until we got the bolt in the hole and then my stepdad put his weight on the top whilst i tightened the bolt (it finally bit after 2/3 mins of messing about)
finally a complete upgraded dogbone mount. this job is not a 5 minute job (as some suggest) it took us a good 2.5 / 3 hours with no specialist tools or knowledge.
fitting it back onto the car is very simple, 4 bolts and bang! job done.
(i will try and get some pictures uploaded so you can see what im rambling on about) hopefully this helps someone out.
