TR2/3/3A Poly Bushing installation

Hello All,
I’m having a heck of a time getting the upper control arm bushings installed in my TR3A. For some reason, they just don’t seat all the way and there’s a 1/16” gap between the control arm and the bushing flange.




Is there a trick to getting these installed or is this normal and I should just snug them up and go?

Ron

Something is not correct. Could the bushings be bottoming out and hitting each other? The arms can be assembled wrong with how they overlap. The parts are inferior, maybe, can you check them with the old ones

The bushings fit up fine to the arms. No gaps. When I push them onto the spindles, they squeeze out as shown. I sent a note to Rimmer where I purchased them from and will see what their guidance is.

Ron

Hello Ron

Stupid question.
I presume the washer fits over the spindle?

David

David,
The washer never bottoms out on the spindle. As I tighten the nut, the exposed bushing mushrooms out.

Ron

Hello Ron

So the bushes fit flush if you have the arm off the spindle but stick out like the photo only when you fit the arm on the spindle?

How tight is the spindle in the bush?

I do not know if lubrication is recommended on assembly of poly bushes.

David

David,
Yup, the bushes fit flush and only stick out when mounted on the arm. The spindle is very tight in the bushing so I suspect that it's a 10lb of poo in a 5lb bag and it needs to squeeze out somewhere. I'm going to take some measurements tomorrow to figure out how much it expands by and will use that as a gauge to determine how much to trim off the bushing. A little compression is probably OK but it seems to be excessive.

Poly bushes are not supposed to be lubricated with any petroleum based lubes, however, silicone-based lubes are acceptable so I put a light coat of Sil-Glyde on the spindles to help insertion. I also slightly beveled the lead-in on the outboard bushing so it doesn't catch on the sharp corner of the spindle.

Ron