Suspension bushing replacement (sort of)

[Bill usn-1]

Well I have to work backwards here since I started the replacement during my SOA build up.
Here is the bushings I used.

They are avail everywhere and from most vendors.
The urethane bushings hold up very well but will give a little stiffer ride since there is less give to them then rubber. But that's better for cornering...right?
You need a jack, or 2. I used a highlift and a small bottle jack.
A pry bar. The bigger the better.
Air impact gun makes it nice.

So what else do you need...well if you don't have a ball joint tool you better get one. They are avail at Harborfreight, northerntool, Homier tools, EBay, and lots of other places. Just get one the next time you see them on sale.

Here's why.

You need to remove the old bushing which is rubber, but it has a metal sleeve around it.
You can cut, burn, air chisel, Drill and anything else and they will win!!!

This is what the bad bushings look like.


You can see straight thru!!!
Like I said there is a metal sleeve that has surely rusted to the spring eye by now.
Once you jack up your scout from the frame, to take the pressure off the spring, (did you block the tires and set the e-brake) remove the bolt. Sometimes easier said then done.
I don't jack it up all the way. Just till the tire looks like it is ready to come off the ground. Then while I am pulling the bolt out I check to see which way I need to go to free up the bolt from binding.
Once the bolt is out you can jack it up some more to clear the spring if needed.
Take a look at the ends of the bushing. sometimes the metal is sticking out further on one side.
If it is then I try to drive it out that direction.

On my first one I pulled out my ball joint tool and started to set it up.
It always takes me more time to figure out what i need to drive the bushing out then to actually do the job.
So anyway this is the first one where i used a 3/8" drive 7/8" socket backwards to drive and the small cup to receive. it took 2 hands and a knee to hold it all in place.

once it moved and was half way out i just tapped it the rest of the way with the socket and hammer.

And the first one out.


Well I used a little wire brush and cleand everything up then I lightly greased the new bushing and slid them in.

Well while I was at it, I decide to change to greasable bolts.
I had already replaced most of the bushing and within 3 months they were already squeaking.
So I went to southwest4x4(he's on EBay) and ordered 3 sets of bolts to do all of them. 3 X SWGRB-SW4716 = $71.85
They are 4" long X 7/16" Grade 8 so they are harder than stock grade 5.


Well when I looked at my bushings, the center sleeve is not slit or drilled so I thought : bonk : what good are the bolts if no grease can get to the bushings?
So I drilled a small hole in each sleeve!



Now they can get grease!!!
Well i got the first back together and I figure there has to be a better way to get these out. So I took the first bushing that I removed and checked it's size on the end of the C. It slid right thru!!
So for the second one this is what i did.


15 seconds later and ...

It's out!!!
Too easy!!!

So clean and install new.

A couple of hints. Doing the fixed mounts is harder than the shackles. The shackles will work against you when you try to line up the bolt hole!!!
So I get it started in the bracket then I try to get the height just right. Then use that big pry bar in the shackle to force the spring into position.
Hitting with a hammer will not work!!! They are springs!!
Put it in the space between the spring and the fixed mount.

The longer the bar the better.
You can, as an alternative, put the whole scout on stands and let the axle hang. Then just use the floor or bottle jack to lift the springs back into position.

So from there it is just repeat each one.
The right tools turns a 2 weekend job into 1 day!!

HTH

Other build ups.
Rear Disc Jeep D300 OBA OBW Interior PS pump reseal Hydro boost Mirrors Headliner
SOA Bushing replacement Roll cage And of course..FI

[madmonkmort]

nice step by step. I'm doing mine this weekend with Energy Suspension bushings. The ball joint tool is a good idea, I've been bashing my fixed bushings with a sledge mallet and a long drift, and just taking my springs off and down to the local machine shop and had them pressed out. : bonk :

[Eagle-Mark]

Another way is to drill out the rubber as many times as you can, then beat out the center bushing with rubber, it will come out fairly easy after being drilled, then a air chisel takes out the sleeve.

This may be the first technical article ever written for an IH from Europe!
Thanks Bill.

[Bill usn-1]

For the next installment I'll try to show how to do a basic alignment in your driveway!

[budget76]

Originally Posted by Eagle-Mark

Another way is to drill out the rubber as many times as you can, then beat out the center bushing with rubber, it will come out fairly easy after being drilled, then a air chisel takes out the sleeve.

This may be the first technical article ever written for an IH from Europe!
Thanks Bill.

i did the same things with the drilling, but i used the sawzall to cut a slit in the metal sleeve and knocked it out with the BFH and a metal bar : thumbsup

in total took about 10 minutes

also, i make my own greasable bolts. i drill about 1/4 of the way down the head, then into the shaft till i get to the other hole. then on the head i drill a hole large enough to put in a zerk fitting then tack weld it in. works like a charm : kewl :

[Bill usn-1]

You need to remove the old bushing which is rubber, but it has a metal sleeve around it. You can cut, burn, air chisel and anything else and they will win!!!

Those ways have all been discused and cussed!!
This was to show an easier method!!
Working smarter not harder!
I don't even have a compressor over here!
I have to hook my drill to a 220v transformer to run it!
But I have a ball joint tool.
And most others can borrow 1 from autozone if they don't have one already.
But for the cost...you should already have one.

[Bill usn-1]

To finish this thread up, I wanted to update on the greaseable bolts.
I finished installing the ones I got from southwest4X4 on EBay.
They list them as Grade 8 and 4 X 7/16"
The stock scout bolt is grade 5 and 3 3/4 X 7/16"

For some reason my bolts measured out at 4 1/4"
Now since I had replaced the rear shackles with some stronger/thicker ones it didn't really concern me until I replaced the rear spring front mount bolt.
What I found is the bolt was too long and would hit the frame without tightening. So I cut the bolt down and stuck it in.
Only this time the nut ran out of threads before getting tight.
So I ended up adding a washer on those 2 bolts.
If you are reusing the stock shackles in the back than you may run out of thread there also.

Here are some pics to show what I'm talking about.
You can see that the bolt is about 7 threads too long, since they are 14 pitch, that's 1/2 inch too long.