Wishbone Bushings

normally i would change wishbone as there only about £30 ,if its std type bush metal inner/outer ,burn or cut rubber out split outer with hack saw .peel out

This might help i aint read it but had it saved for a rainy day!
http://www.polybush.co.uk/assets/mailshots/admin/Freelander_Fitting_instructions.pdf

its in this thread http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/fookin-bollox-76112.html .As far as I can remember I tried to explain what I did to mine.

lazydog said:

This might help i aint read it but had it saved for a rainy day!
http://www.polybush.co.uk/assets/mailshots/admin/Freelander_Fitting_instructions.pdf

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That's scary, it's all about using hydraulic presses just like the ones we all have laid about!

Seriously though, I've done them before on other cars I've ruined, sorry, owned, you just need to butcher the rubber out (don't burn it off it stinks ) with sharp metal things (get an adult to do this) then hacksaw a slot in the bush outer unless fitting polybushes which are machined to fit the old liner (some are, some aren't) and you should be able to knock it out. This should take you a few hours. Divide the time by the amount your boss pays you an hour, then look on ebay for a whole lower arm, they all come with lower ball joint and front bush fitted for less than the cost of the 3 parts in the assembly plus your hourly rate/free time.

I'm doing my ball joints this weekend, have a pair of lower arms to go on, does the steering knuckle have to come off the strut to gain access to the ball joint nut or can it be undone with the upper steering and suspension attached?

oddbob said:

That's scary, it's all about using hydraulic presses just like the ones we all have laid about!

Seriously though, I've done them before on other cars I've ruined, sorry, owned, you just need to butcher the rubber out (don't burn it off it stinks ) with sharp metal things (get an adult to do this) then hacksaw a slot in the bush outer unless fitting polybushes which are machined to fit the old liner (some are, some aren't) and you should be able to knock it out. This should take you a few hours. Divide the time by the amount your boss pays you an hour, then look on ebay for a whole lower arm, they all come with lower ball joint and front bush fitted for less than the cost of the 3 parts in the assembly plus your hourly rate/free time.

I'm doing my ball joints this weekend, have a pair of lower arms to go on, does the steering knuckle have to come off the strut to gain access to the ball joint nut or can it be undone with the upper steering and suspension attached?

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I left my suspension & steering attached when doing mine. You can loosen ALL your bolts/nuts with the car still on the ground though you do need to remove that crappy undertray. Also you need to use a large wedge fork type balljoint splitter as the clamp type ones won't fit because of the limited space between the joint & the hub/driveshaft. This means you'll destry the rubber boot on the balljoint but it's not a problem if you're fitting new arms. Sometimes the rear wishbone bushes (the ones in the alloy housings) can seize on to the wishbone. The way to free them is to gently drive a wood chisel with the flat edge against the end flange of the wishbone & the sharp blade of the chisel will work its way between that flange & the bushes metal centre tube enough to break any corrosion without damaging your end bush.
By the way, don't even think of fitting new end bushes into the alloy housings without the right presses (unless you're polybushing) as you can't get a vice to clamp it up squarely & you will damage your new bush & or housing - I know, I spent ages & messed mine up. Either reuse your existing ones if in good nick, buy good secondhanders from your scrappy like I did or buy new ones already in their housing. Be aware that there are earlier & later end bushes/housings but I found out that although the bushes & housings have different part numbers between earlier & later ones they are physically identical with the exception that the earlier housings have a small locating dowel which can be easily drifted out to fit the later cars. My car is now running earlier spec bushes with no detriment to ride or handling.
Don't forget to lower the car down on to it's weight before tightening up the large long centre bolt on the forward bush & the large nut on the rear bush so that your bush is in the right position & doesn't suffer premature wear before nipping them up (just like you would any other car).
You also might find that you need to have a couple of goes nipping up the balljoint once on the ground as it's easy to underestimate how tight it is. Get out your large spanners/sockets for the job but assuming no seized nuts/bolts it is fairly straightforward.

when removing ball joints there are 2 way like lower front ball joint on freelander with clamp bolt insert chisel/wedge into slot of socket ,spread open lever joint out ,ball joints like on track rod hit with hammer socket around ball joint it will pop out without hurting ball joint there are no joints were a ball joint splitter is needed on lrs

chromiumuk said:

I left my suspension & steering attached ..........

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Cheers for the info chromiumuk, that's the bit I was worried about doing, but you've given me another couple of pointers, didn't realise the rear bushings were going to be such a pain, I'd bought a pair even though one looks like it may be ok, would lashings and lashings of red grease (the proper stuff to use on rubber parts) help? Bushings in the freezer over night, mounting on gas mark 4 for 20 minutes and all that? I have the fork type tool for the bottom ball joint, rubber's split anyway so a bit more destruction won't hurt it.

The problem is that if you check your bushes they are plastic outer bonded to the rubber so are less likely to contract. Also the metal centre "tube" is longer than the outer plastic section that needs to be pressed into the housing which makes it very difficult to press in with a vice. Next the housing is an awkward shape & I couldn't find any way to get even pressure on the bush to get it fully home. I got it in with about 5mm to go & spent a further hour trying but eventually the plastic sleeve of the bush cracked. Because the centre is longer I couldn't even use the long nut/bolt with washers technique to draw it in.

chromiumuk said:

The problem is that if you check your bushes they are plastic outer bonded to the rubber so are less likely to contract. Also the metal centre "tube" is longer than the outer plastic section that needs to be pressed into the housing which makes it very difficult to press in with a vice. Next the housing is an awkward shape & I couldn't find any way to get even pressure on the bush to get it fully home. I got it in with about 5mm to go & spent a further hour trying but eventually the plastic sleeve of the bush cracked. Because the centre is longer I couldn't even use the long nut/bolt with washers technique to draw it in.

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Mmm, sounds like a challenge. Now I'm not looking forward to it.

jamesmartin said:

when removing ball joints there are 2 way like lower front ball joint on freelander with clamp bolt insert chisel/wedge into slot of socket ,spread open lever joint out ,ball joints like on track rod hit with hammer socket around ball joint it will pop out without hurting ball joint there are no joints were a ball joint splitter is needed on lrs

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It's the lower ones Im doing, one has already split needs replacing, don't know about the track rod end ball joints yet, was tempted to just replace them while I was under the wheelarch, get it all done in one go....should rename my car Steve Austin - 'Gentleman, we can rebuild him'....

what age of vehicle ,

jamesmartin said:

what age of vehicle ,

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2001

as said earlier may of no help now but whole whishbone including bush and ball joint are only £30

jamesmartin said:

as said earlier may of no help now but whole whishbone including bush and ball joint are only £30

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That's what I did, I bought a pair of lower ball joints, then realised how much of a job it would be to fit them so bought the lower arms new. Will keep the old arms and overhaul them, they can either be sold as reconditioned or kept as spares....

The rear bushes, the big nasty buggers, can be bought fairly reasonably for around £26 each. That includes the housing ready fitted. It makes a pig of a job much easier by not having to fight a new bush into the old housing, and for a few quid more keeps the stress monkey off your shoulder. A few places stock these, just need to do a bit of Internet browsing. Hope this was good advice.