time and difficulty of re-bushing whole suspension?

[wibble_puppy]

errr.... have I bitten off too much?

I'd like to re-bush the whole of the van's suspension, and have bought a set of Superflex polybushes.

I've never fiddled with anything's suspension before.

The van is up on stands as the resto is still under way. The rear wheels are off and the brake pipes haven't been connected up yet.

I also need to clean the rear springs.

Should I do the whole re-bushing now? or could I feasibly leave some of it till after the National?

There's an awful lot more work to do to get the van back on the road (finish brakes, install new loom, reinstall engine, gearbox, prop shaft, interior and whole contents of engine bay) so I'm looking for things I can sensibly leave till after the National, in the hopes of getting it there!

errr.... gently expressed advice very welcome!

wibble (weak, unfit and inexperienced but very determined)

[bigginger]

Won't you need to do it to get an MOT to get to the national? If the existing bushes are OK, then you won't, but that's so unlikely it's statistically impossible. Reasonably simple job to do, but involves an awful lot of dismantling (torsion bars off, eg) - very doable, however

[aupickup]

hi wibble if its any help i can give you a hand sometime next wekend for a day, or poss next fri ( bank holiday wkend )

it is really not a difficult job, and is easier as you have everything off presumably

[wibble_puppy]

thanks very much guys, both for the encouraging words and, aupickup, for the very kind offer! taken! let me know what day you can make, I'll be here, sweating and taking a million photos of very slow progress lol

Everything is off except the suspension, basically. I just don't know how doable this job is for a complete novice without dedicated workshop facilities or specialist tools

bg one of the bushes is just a squidge of red jelly oh dear

hey at least cam has softened up the torsion bars for me

[aupickup]

hi do you have all the necessary spanners etc

also all the parts to do the job

[bigginger]

dedicated workshop facilities or specialist tools

Don't need'em, just a selection of wrenches

[wibble_puppy]

hi do you have all the necessary spanners etc

also all the parts to do the job

I dunno, on either count.

I have a whole bunch of spanners and sockets, hammers and a torque wrench

and all the polybushes

what other parts might I need?

(good to know, about the wrenches, bg )

[ASL642]

A bigger hammer in most cases!

[aupickup]

are teh eye bolts ok, and the pins for the eye bolts
cos these also require poly bushes

the front tie rod, i would personally put back rubber ones instead of poly on there

the rear is very easy to do

should have most of it done in a day ( just keep the tea coming) oh will need a trolly jack as well do you have one

[wibble_puppy]

bigger hammer - absolutely - tick (as big as yer like, really, up to sledgehammer ) It's the brute force I'm a bit concerned about, being all out of brute force at the moment

trolley jack - tick

bushes for eye bolts - tick if they are included in the "complete kit" I bought

front tie rod - tick, if Superflex know what they are doing, which I have a feeling they do - not rubber, I don't think, but of appropriate liquorice-like texture

In a day!!!!! Seriously????? Will put on largest kettle I think I was assuming I would attempt to disassemble things until I found something which needed replacing that I didn't have, whereupon I would jump in the car and cruise on over to ESM and spend my retirement money

[aupickup]

you need to check the eye bolts to make sure they are nice and round and not flat inside due to worn out rubber bushes before
the eye bolt bushes are the same size as the rear shackle bushes so i will assume you have 12 of these
4 bushes for the top trunnions
and 4 bushes for the rear springs

also make sure the holes in the tie bars are round and not oval also check that the bolt for these is a nice snug fit

i can do a complete side front suspension in a couple of hours if all goes well and no hick ups, so say 5 hours for the front and a couple of hours forthe rear if all goes well

[Packedup]

When I looked at the Superflex site I'm sure they list two different bushes for the eye bolts and back end - Although they also list the original part number, which is the same. So maybe they use a different grade of poly for one end?

As the van won't have the annoying taper fit pin in a plate to hold the front ends of the rear springs it should be possible to do the whole lot in a day - Though I recall swearing at the pickup rear spring front eye bushes but that was probably me making a hash of it.

You'll need a couple of WW sockets for the various fasteners, 15mm fits some of them but it's not ideal!

[Kevin]

Juliet don't forget to spray every nut thats needs to come of with some penetrating oil a couple of times and hopefully this will help things along.

[wibble_puppy]

thank you very much for the reminder, Kevin - will do

packedup - long time no speak, my friend! I am sure many swearings will be committed during the day Tell me, what is a WW socket? is that a Whitworth socket? All this stuff is so useful to know - thank you

au - presumably the wear on the eye bolts can only be assessed once they are disassembled - likewise the holes in the tie bars?

[Kevin]

presumably the wear on the eye bolts can only be assessed once they are disassembled - likewise the holes in the tie bars

Im afriad so, but if the eyebolts are only worn slightly on one side they can be turned 180 degrees to the unworn section its not ideal but can get you out of a jam till a later date.

[aupickup]

ah ok so at the mo its all asembled on the van ok

can only tell eyebolts once dissasembled

yes i know superflex list the same number for the eye bolt bush and rear shackle bush, they are the same

also the front bush on the front spring hanger can be a swine to get out, but if so then they come out with the blow torch

also get plenty of oil on the rear part of the torsion bar ( front suspension ) as this has to be hit back a tad to get the front eye bolt out easier

note NOT WD40 but penetrating oil

[bigginger]

Tell me, what is a WW socket? is that a Whitworth socket?

Yup. From memory, 1/4 and 5/16w, but don't quote me

[wibble_puppy]

thanks again everyone

Have all different sizes of imperial sockets and spanners

and a blow torch (and a heat gun)

and plenty of penetrating oil (ooh matron)

The difficulty for me, besides the strength needed to heave all the bits apart, will be telling what constitutes "wear" on the various parts - given that I have zero idea of what a worn and unworn part looks like.

However I am sure all will be well

Thanks for the tip, Kevin

Onwards and upwards, if only this dry weather would continue!

wibble xx

[aupickup]

just a thought are the trunnions and kingpins ( front legs ) ok

and are you going to paint the legs, and front wishbone

all these things must be thought of, no point rebuilding the suspension with polys and finding the trunnions are worn

au

[wibble_puppy]

hi au and thanks again for all your help

are the trunnions and kingpins ( front legs ) ok

I don't know. Just gone back through my records and no one knowledgeable seems to have spotted a problem. Reading the accounts of how to jack up a wheel to check for play in the trunnions I can't make head nor tail of it - I expect it's the sort of thing which is incredibly straightforward when you have a bit of experience, but is tricky to explain.

But I was assuming that during the re-bushing process I would need to take the trunnions apart anyway? and was going to examine them for wear then (the photos in the Lindsay Porter book are, for once, nice and clear, so I am reasonably confident of being able to assess them).

I so agree, it makes no sense at all to re-bush and re-assemble a worn trunnion!

I very much hope that the kingpins don't need replacing as ESM seem to be sold out

I do know that I should replace the dampers - they were leaking.

and are you going to paint the legs, and front wishbone

Should I?

wibble xx