changing front bushes

[stephenw]

Hi, my front circular control arm bushes are cracking and i,d like to tackle the job myself. According to the haynes manual they need to be pressed into both the control arm and also the holder that bolts to the body. Has any one fitted these without an engineering press, and without taking the control arm off of the car. I could cut the old ones off with a junior hachsaw if their stiff but it's the refitting I,m not sure about.

thank you stephen

[Jhonno]

new arms...

[E30Mark]

I think stephenw is talking about the bushes that fit on the ends of the arms, the ones that bolt up onto the chassis leg.

I have cut out and knocked in my new bushes at home. I placed the new bush on a hard flat surface, placed the metal carrier on top and knocked the carrier down onto the bush, don't hit the metal outer case of the bush, it will splay out and look awful.

Then you will need LOADS of washing up liquid to lube up the end of the control arm, then with all your might push and twist like hell and hopefully you will get the bush & carrier back on the control arm... try heating the rubber in boiling water for a while to soften it before trying to push it on the arm if you need to.

Enjoy

P.s no need to remove the road wheels, just jack up the car slightly so you can squeeze in underneath to undo the bush carrier, and use a axle stand of course...

[Brianmoooore]

Did these on my M50 two weeks ago.
Jack the car up and undo the bolts holding the carrier to the chassis leg.
Carefully note the angle at which the carrier bolt flange lies relative to the control arm.
Twist the carrier back over itself as hard as you can to stretch the rubber of the bush, and cut the rubber with a stanley knife, untill the bulk of the bush breaks off with the carrier.
The control arm will now have the centre part of the bush still in place, surrounded by a metal tube. Use a small angle grinder to carefully cut through this tube and pull the last bits of the bush off the control arm.
Clean up the end of the control arm.
Support the carrier over the jaws of a decent size vice, and drive out the remains of the bush with a suitable drift. ( A short piece of an old propshaft of the right diameter, in my case.)
Fit the new bush into the carrier, by squeezing it in with the vice, and finally centering it with the drift. Make sure the arrow on the bush lines up with the mark on the carrier.
Lubricate the centre of the bush and the end of the control arm with washing up liquid, and twist and push the bush onto the control arm by hand. Takes a bir of effort, but it will go. Twist the bush on the arm to the same relative anglt to the control arm you noted earlier.
Wash the soap off with hot water.
Bolt the carriers back up to the chassis legs, drop the car to the ground, and leave for a couple of hours.

Whole job takes a couple of hours.

[Jesus325iTouring]

That was an interesting read,I fear mine are going to be picked up on MOT,they look none to healthy!

[charlE30]

I'm fitting new control arm bushes along with new ARB links, discs, springs etc and have hit a problem. Drivers side all removed no problems but on the passenger side the outer ball joint threads have been squashed by the ball joint seperator, does this mean I'm going to have to replace the control arms or can I get the balljoint replaced?

Sorry for jumping in on your thread stephen

[stephenw]

Thanks a lot for the advice E30mark and Brian Moore. I,m sure other owners will also use your advice as this must be an extremely common renewal job. Stephen W

[Simon13]

it is and i need to do mine! going for solid M3 ones, non eccentric maybe too

[Brianmoooore]

charlE30 - balljoints can be changed, but you will need a hydraulic press to fit the new ones in.
When using a ball joint splitter you should leave an old nut partly on the threads to protect them, and shocking the taper free with a hammer when the splitter is under tension helps as well.