TR4/4A TR4 Lower Control Arm Bushings

[Tabcon]

What is the best way to replace these brass (bronze?) bushings?
These little suckers are really in there and I'm thinking they need to be removed with a drill, but before I do that, I have come to draw on the collective wisdom of the Triumph TR4 guru's.

 

[TR4nut]

Tab-

I used a set of washers that were very close to the same outer diameter as the bushings, then drew the bushings out with the washers, a long bolt, and a receiving socket. Ugly but it worked. New ones can be pressed in pretty easily with a bench vice, then you'll need to ream for final fit.

Randy

 

[TR3driver]

I made up a mandrel out of some hardware store unthreaded rod. Found some that would fit through the arm, then turned down perhaps 3/4" on the end to fit inside the bushing. Used a socket to receive the bushing as it came out, and the bench vise as a press. The mandrel also makes inserting the new bushings much easier, as they are a very tight fit. And if memory serves, the same mandrel is handy for R&R the clutch shaft bushings.

Since I didn't have a lathe at the time, I threaded and tapped the rod for a headless bolt, and used the drill press to turn it while I cut it down with the sharpened end of a file. Came out ugly as sin, but it still works well after all these years.

Using a fixed reamer will give you a better finish in less time, IMO. Those cheap adjustable things are junk.

 

[Tabcon]

Thanks!

If I used a bit with the same outside diameter as the bushing, do you think that using a drill would be alright?

 

[3798j]

Tab, I did the long bolt/washers/socket method for both the removal and the install. It really wasn't difficult. Drilling seems like it might be more work than it's worth.

 

[bgbassplyr]

Tab,
You can cut a slot or two in the bush with a hack saw blade. This will give room to bend the bush (make it a smaller diameter) and pull or push it out.

Others have a better wasy IMO.

 

[Tabcon]

I tried using the bolt-washer trick with no success. These things are almost one with the arm. What I ended up doing was using my Dremel on steroids, which is a Roto-Zip drywall cutter with Dremel bits in it. I attached a round grinding stone that was slightly larger than the inside diameter of the bearing, but not as big as the arm opening. It burned through it like butter and the bushing popped out with just a tap.

The Roto-Zip is a great tool to have. I found the Dremel's to delicate for restoration work.