Re: your mail

[Orin Eman <orin@wolfenet.com>]

>    2) I saw some very heavy handed techniques mentioned for removing and
> installing control arm bushings.  About $10 spent at home depot will get you
> the hardware necessary to make a puller and do the job with a lot less risk to
> your body and your precious car.  Bring your replacement bushing with you when
> you go shopping.  Get a 3 foot piece of threaded rod (max size that will fit
> thru centre hole in bushing); Half a dozen flat washers and nuts to fit on
> rod; a few pipe nipples to act as cups to fit over bushing and allow bushing
> to be pulled out; 20 or so large flat washers that will allow you to select
> and get a good fit with metal OD of bushing and not interfere with control arm
> when pulling bushing out.

>       Putting new bushings in with this hardware is very easy. Coat OD of
> busings with antiseize compound, use flat washers to protect the bushing
> surface you are pulling against, and a pipe nipple and flat washers on the
> inside side surface of the control arm.  Insert threaded rod thru center of
> your hardware and tighten down on nuts on each side to pull bushing into
> position.  Use anti seize on the threaded rod since it isn't really made for
> this kind of use.  Removing bushings the same way requires a little more brute
> force and a very select fit at OD of bushing with flat washers, but I've
> replaced 8 of them this way and its economical and effective.  NO cutting,
> pounding, torches or freezing of hardware is required.


>         I have also scaled up the size of this puller and removed wheel
> bearings on a 4000 quattro with it.

Yes, what you describe is very similar to the Schley Wheel Bearing
tool.  We were going to adapt the Schley tool to 5k subframe bushing
use, adding a threaded rod and some washers (7/16 rod for
5k subframe bushings for anyone that is interested), but the
Schley 'cups' were too big.  That blew any chance of doing
the job in place, so we dropped the subframe and used the
hydraulic press (you can get a 12 ton press for around $100
from Harbor Freight Tools, _well_ worth it for occasional use).
We did use your technique to draw two of the bushings in...
incredibly easy!

Rather than a nut at each end of the rod, I used two nuts
at one end, tightened against each other and a 'rod coupling'
at the other end.  The rod coupling distributes the force
over more than an inch of the rod and gives a long surface
for the wrench... a lot easier than a single nut!

(Thanks to Pat Martin for helping on this job and to
Pete Kunzler for the use of his garage!)

Orin.