Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 20:20:40 -0800 (PST) From: Alexander George Cooper <agcooper_at_leland.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Removing factory suspension bushings without a press

While installing Polybushes last weekend I worked out a way to extract the pressed in factory bushings without using a big hydraulic press.

The first step is to remove as much of the bushing as possible in order to get better access to the outer shell of the bushing. I have heard people suggest burning the rubber using a torch but I think that it is easier to just cut through the rubber using a jigsaw. This is made easier if you first drill a lot of holes through the rubber so that you only have to join up the holes with the saw. Once the outer rubber ring has been cut through push out the remains of the center of the bushing.

To remove the outer shell I made two parallel cuts about 1/4" apart, that went most of the way through the shell. Don't cut all the way through the shell or you will damage the radius arm. The radius arm is chamfered so look carefully to see how far the bushing shell goes. I made the cuts by hand using a hacksaw by passing the blade through the inside of the shell. Once the cuts are made peel up the strip of the shell between the cuts. I did this using a screwdriver and hammer. Get it started by hitting at 45 degrees towards the axis of the bushing (or parallel to the chamfer on the radius arm). Once it starts to peel you can hit more in line with the axis of the bushing and keep curling up the strip as it peels forward. Once you get 3/4 to 4/5 of the way through the shell will loosen and be easily pushed through.

If anyone is interested I can scan a picture of one of the removed shells if that would help clarify the explanation.

Using this method I was able to fit Polybushes to the front radius arms in a few hours. The trickiest part is making the two parallel cuts since if the are not deep enough it can be hard to peel up the metal. Of course you can always cut more slots if the first try does not work.

Alexander Cooper
89 RR, Palo Alto, CA, USA