Control Arm Bushes Nightmare

[Omi]

Went and paid £70+ for M3 offset bushes from BMW today.

Eventually got the old ones off, ended up removing the control arms.

The genius I was working with decided to heat up the lollipops so the bushes would drift in easier... Did so, and drifted in the new bushes.

Workshop stinks of burning rubber and the outside of the rubber section of the bushes has just melted, resulting in the rubber section drifting in and out of the metal sleeve as we try and mount the ridiculously tight inners.

Eventually got em on, but the rubber is not fixed solid to the bushes anymore.

Are they fecked? Who will do it properly if they are and how much will they charge?

Supposed to be on Donington this weekend and I'm just a bit fecked off with the car this week.

[cliffybabe]

PM stuartgallafant he done mine for me

[Omi]

Other end of the country... Going to take it for a ride tomorrow and see if the bushes move.

[Chris-W]

I suggest they are ex-bushes.

I'll happily press a set in for you, but distance is, as ever, the problem.

[Brianmoooore]

Ye Gods!! Some people shouldn't be allowed near a toolbox!!! Definitely ex bushes! Start again.

[buster]

Dude !!!! i told you on the phone the other day dont use the oxycetelene !!!!

[B7]

They have to be pressed in using a hydraulic press or at the very least a vice that can withstand in excess of 2 tons! I wrecked my Record 1 ton vice only the other week trying to put mine in! Guy next door but one did them for me after the vice wrecking and he reckons it took 2 tons of pressure to get them in! One new vice later (an additional £90) and a bottle of wine for Dave the nieghbour and I'm a wiser man.

As above you bushes are ex buses! You live and learn by experience.

[DanThe]

Fire and rubber do not mix well

[buster]

use it to remove old bush,then hacksaw the steel coller.Oxy great for that !!!
But press new ones in

[Ziggy]

Tell the idiot to heat up his shoes in the same manner before he puts them on. Better yet, do it for him while he's wearing them.

[chief]

would only dare suggest oxycetelene for removal, as 'DanThe' reccommends - fire and rubber not a great one for a lasting relationship

[jaistanley]

I fitted the polyeurathane 2 piece ones no probs with a vice, they need a lot less pressing than the BMW ones. First you insert the black ring, then the purple insert slips into that. For my new car I might fit the rubber ones (as it'll have lower profile tyres) for which I have a 6 tonne press now.

You could try lubricating them in with hairspray or a tiny drip of fairy liquid.

Didn;t I hear of a bmw lube/compound that allows you to fit the rubber interface bushes and that vulcanises the rubber and glues them into position??

Good luck, bummer about the bushes dude.

Jai

[stuartgallafant]

i think someone owes you a set of bushes mate!!!

[handpaper]

File a chamfer onto the outside of the bush and it can be tapped into the lollipop with a lump hammer. Place the bush on a flat, strong surface, like the back plate of a vice, and knock the lollipop over it. It can be a PITA to line up right, but if you don't have access to a press it does work.

[Lordschleife]

I pressed the m3 poly ones in using a trolly jack, couple of bits of wood, and the underneath of the car
Seemed to do the trick, dunno if you'd be able to do the rubber ones like that though

[Demlotcrew]

[jaistanley]

I pressed my rubber bushes OUT using a bottle jack and a student accomodation door way.

Dislodged a few bricks but what did they expect? I was a scummy petrol head student.... (with an S50 in the outside toilet!)

Jai