How real men remove subframe bushings

[vectorsc]

This...uh...wasn't your car was it?

[dkmr]

real men make their own tools


takes about 1 minute per side. :p

This is for the win!

[iamsam]

neat tool, nando! But atm, I have no access to a welder (or someone who can weld) and we did have access to a blowtorch. So there ya have it.

EDIT: That is a super cool tool. If I had one I would have definitely used it. Have you sold any?

[iamsam]

its actually not that bad. Everyone says its a pain in the ass, but really, just slow and steady, steady and slow. So far I have spent half a Saturday, and a Monday evening on it, and it has gotten this far.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Jack up rear of car
2. Remove rear wheels, brakes, discs, etc
3. Remove brake shoes and e-brake lines from hub.
4. unbolt driveshaft
5. undo all connections, such as ABS sensors, pad wear sensors, speed sensor, etc
6. remove rear springs and shocks
7. Unbolt subframe in the three locations
8. Make sure everything is disconnected
9. bash the subframe bolts up through the body (must remove rear seat)
10. force-thread 5/8" lag bolts into inner aluminum subframe bushing sleeves
11. bash the tar out of them from the top (in the car) using some 3/8" socket extensions and a hefty sledge.
12. drop subframe
13. burn the crap out of the bushings.

And that is as far as I have gotten so far.

EDIT: I may have missed something, if i did, feel free to flame away.

[Fast Frankie]

wouldn't the high temperatures weaken the surrounding steel?

Using a press like the picture above would be the ideal way to do it IMO, unless you just wanted an excuse to bring out the blowtorch

[nando]

real men make their own tools


takes about 1 minute per side. :p

[Atreus]

Good god, i'm going to have to do the same thing, soon... not looking forward to it, gotta pull the subframe for the first time ever, not excited. gotta get the e34 running though, before i tackle this job, don't wanna be without a car.... lol.

where'd you get your bushings from? care to share your process step by step? i have the bentley at home, (Working atm...) but your perspective might help as well...


and i need to get a torch as well it seems. that looks like fun hahahahhaa

[iamsam]

Hint: It wasn't with a sawzall.





We killed the bushings with fire.















We also did this to the rear trailing arm bushings. This method has got to be much easier than pressing them out cold. The bushings oozed out like marshmallows, leaving no residue behind at all, leaving nothing but fresh machined steel.