Rear bushes - which way round

L

lunarboy

New Member
I have sent my Rear lower arm to have new bushes pressed in but as the old one was trashed it doesn't resemble the new one ( larger of the two bushes that the lower part of the elbow attaches to) which way round does the new bush go as it appears to be shaped ... Passenger side 1971 3500 auto
 
As far as I know, the Metalastik bushes aren't (or shouldn't be) shaped differently at either end. Are you using these? Or poly?

The cutouts in the rubber on Metalastik bushes need to be at 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock i.e. fore and aft along the arm.

I'm sure you know, but when refitting the arm the car's weight should be on the suspension before final tightening. The WM says refit the road wheel, but that can make access a tad difficult.

An alternative is to sit the elbows on stands to take the weight...but stay safe and have some additional secondary supports if you do!



Stan
 
Ok cheers ...will need to go back to garage and have a look! Defo just metalastik. Btw what wheels and tyre size have you got - they look fab?
 
I've just re-bushed the back of mine with standard bushes and as Stan says they are not tapered. I did grind a chamfer on one end to aid insertion though. They are a very tight fit! Trying to fit with two sockets and some studding was futile; a 10 ton press made short work of them.

The orientation of the holes in the rubber relative to the lower link arms and the tightening instructions are very important. When you tighten the bushes they are clamped in place. Movement of the lower links is then facilitated by twisting of the rubber bush. By tighten the lower link bolts with the car's weight on you are clamping the bushes and defining the 'normal' position. Movement of the lower links will then be about this point, up and down as required by suspension travel. Failure to do this will cause the bushes to twist too much in one direction and fail in short order. The same is true of the top link bushes.

As Stan says work safely. Always have a primary and secondary means of supporting the car ( should one or the other fail ) before working underneath.

Pat
 
Chuck the bushes in your freezer overnight, and then warm up your trailing arms just prior to fitting.

Do it fairly quickly, i.e. before the temperature normalises, and they'll drop in a lot easier.

Richard
 
I have ordered several pairs of bushes to give Hazel's (Ser 1 V8) rear end an overhaul. However, the top link rear bush is fractionally undersize - has anyone come across this before? They are 1" 885 thou (47.88mm) wheres they need to be at least 1" 892 thou (48.05mm). A small but important difference as the new ones are not an interference fit.
The old ones were too small as well, but that's a different story....;)
 
Just to bump this along - has anyone bought any V8 rear top link/boot wall bushes recently & have they fitted the arms tightly? These are the bigger V8 bushes.

I'm still having difficulty finding some correct ones. I would prefer rubber as everything else is, but will have poly if I need to.

Thanks.
 
are these the same as the 2200? i got a good set from Jrw years ago.

i cant remember how the v8 ones are cranked.

colin
 
Hi Colin,
The V8s have a large bush & a smaller one on each top link. The 4 cyls have the smaller ones at each end.
 
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