Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 13:49:54 -0800
Reply-To: T3 Technique <christopher@T3TECHNIQUE.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: T3 Technique <christopher@T3TECHNIQUE.COM>
Subject: Re: Lower control arm bushing r&r on 89 westy
In-Reply-To: <CAAtTkO-GRHsuTWgm_+B-PqpWah80a2yt12_6-ui04aRs7Tm-3w@mail.gmail.com>
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As Rick explained, it is definitely possible to change out those bushings without having to remove the arms from the van.
Three tricks that help:
Use a spring compressor to remove as much spring tension off of the arm as possible.
When you go to reinstall the lower control arm bolt, place a jack under the arm near the ball joint so that you can lift the arm upward as much as possible. This helps align the bolt holes with the inner sleeve of the bushing by reducing the angle that the radius rod puts on the lower control arm. It helps position the inner sleeve more parallel, or in line, with the bolt holes in the chassis.
Use a ratchet strap to pull the arm toward center while you are installing the bolt. When you jack up the arm, it will want to walk out away from the van. The ratchet strap will pull the arm back inward so the bolt holes align with inner sleeve.
Thanks,
Christopher
www.t3technique.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Richard Koller
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2016 1:32 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Lower control arm bushing r&r on 89 westy
Hi Patrick,
I recently replaced all the front end bushings on my '90 syncro westy. It is a difficult task to say the least IMO. I had to do it in the driveway, not easy and I made several mistakes in learning how to do it. If you can afford a shop to do it then I strongly recommend you take that route. There are write ups in the archives from different folks which helped me but I still learned several things the hard way. I did this without taking the arm off but had to remove or loosen several of the other suspension parts to be able to manipulate the arm. Anyway, I was able to push out the old lower arm bushings with a ball joint removal tool I borrowed from a local FLAPS ( an Advance Auto in my case ). I adapted the function of this tool so that it pushed out the old bushing fairly easily and I installed T3 urethanes . The tricky part with installing the new bushing is getting the new bolt to come out of the through subframe on a syncro. If the arm is still attached to the steering knuckle and therefore the lower ball joint there is still a good bit of tension from the suspension to deal with and I had to pry and push and struggle to get that bolt through. Have a shop check it out, take a look at your Bentley to see what you're faced with.
Maybe its easier on a 2WD vanagon. Other Listees can advise on that issue.
Good luck if you tackle this yourself, it was epic for me.
Rick Koller
On Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 3:50 PM, Patrick Spragge <spraggepat@gmail.com>
wrote:
> I replaced my 14" rims and 185r tires with 16" and 215s and doing that
> revealed that I need new lower control arm bushings. I'm not sure I'm
> up for doing this myself because of the springs. Does anyone have any
> experience changing these out? Can they be done without removing the
> arm from the vehicle? How would a shop do this? I will probably
> replace them with the poly bushings from T3 since they would go in
> much easier than the
> 1 piece rubber ones.
>
> Patrick Spragge
>
> > On Feb 2, 2016, at 12:31 PM, BenT <syncro@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> > Let's not forget the value of labor.
> > Bostig, DIY. SC in question, turnkey.
> >
> > BenT
> > sent from my electronic leash
> >
> >> On Feb 2, 2016, at 10:58 AM, Mike Saint-Amour <
> mikesaintamour@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >>
> >> For that kind of money you could do two bostig conversions, or one
> >> new
> zetec motor with the turbo, know everything about your rig and have money
> to go travel. That's some serious cash.
>
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