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I was checking the front suspension on mt TR3 Sunday afternoon because I had noticed some strange vibration and the steering seemed to have a lot of play in it. I thought maybe some of the hub retaining nuts might have worked loose as has happened before or the steering box adjusting screw come loose. That was not the problem though. The left side silentbloc bushing had most of the rubber insert missing and allowed quite a bit of movement between the drop arm from the steering box and center tie rod. Earlier this year I had purchased a Delrin Center Tie Ron Bush & Pin Kit when they were on sale.
Breaking the tie rods loose from the center tie went smoothly with a pickle fork. The right side silentbloc bushing came loose with the pickle fork, but the left side stripped the remain rubber free leaving the pin firmly in the drop arm. The silentbloc bushings wouldn't budge when I tried to hammer them out. I drove the pin out and removed any rubber revealing the outer steel bushing of the silentbloc in the center tie rod. I used a hack saw to cut three notches along the axis of bushing about 120 degrees apart. This loosen them enough for me hammer them out. Be careful not to cut to deep and damage the bore in the center tie. I used a file to smooth any sharp or rough edges in the bore.
PB Blaster had done nothing to loosen the stuck pin while I was working on the center tie. Rapping on it with a hammer and clamping on with a vice grip and trying to twist it still would not come free. I next tried heating the drop arm with a propane torch. Success, I didn't set the car on fire and the pin virtually popped out.
The kit came with instructions and installation went quickly. A few sprays of silicone lube, block of wood and a few raps of a hammer Delrin bushing were installed. The pins slid in easily and every thing bolted back together. I was done in about two hours start to finish with clean up. A test drive revealed steering play gone along with the vibration.
A few years ago my son replaced the silentbloc bushings on his TR3 with the original type bushings. The technique used was heat the center tie with a torch to expand the bore and a cooler of dry ice to shrink the silentbloc bushings. Then work quickly with a hammer to drive them home. Also make sure you get them in going the right way because removing them with out damage is unlikely.
Although the Delrin kit cost about twice the silentbloc bushings I think the ease of installation make them well worth the additional cost.
I was checking the front suspension on mt TR3 Sunday afternoon because I had noticed some strange vibration and the steering seemed to have a lot of play in it. I thought maybe some of the hub retaining nuts might have worked loose as has happened before or the steering box adjusting screw come loose. That was not the problem though. The left side silentbloc bushing had most of the rubber insert missing and allowed quite a bit of movement between the drop arm from the steering box and center tie rod. Earlier this year I had purchased a Delrin Center Tie Ron Bush & Pin Kit when they were on sale.
Breaking the tie rods loose from the center tie went smoothly with a pickle fork. The right side silentbloc bushing came loose with the pickle fork, but the left side stripped the remain rubber free leaving the pin firmly in the drop arm. The silentbloc bushings wouldn't budge when I tried to hammer them out. I drove the pin out and removed any rubber revealing the outer steel bushing of the silentbloc in the center tie rod. I used a hack saw to cut three notches along the axis of bushing about 120 degrees apart. This loosen them enough for me hammer them out. Be careful not to cut to deep and damage the bore in the center tie. I used a file to smooth any sharp or rough edges in the bore.
PB Blaster had done nothing to loosen the stuck pin while I was working on the center tie. Rapping on it with a hammer and clamping on with a vice grip and trying to twist it still would not come free. I next tried heating the drop arm with a propane torch. Success, I didn't set the car on fire and the pin virtually popped out.
The kit came with instructions and installation went quickly. A few sprays of silicone lube, block of wood and a few raps of a hammer Delrin bushing were installed. The pins slid in easily and every thing bolted back together. I was done in about two hours start to finish with clean up. A test drive revealed steering play gone along with the vibration.
A few years ago my son replaced the silentbloc bushings on his TR3 with the original type bushings. The technique used was heat the center tie with a torch to expand the bore and a cooler of dry ice to shrink the silentbloc bushings. Then work quickly with a hammer to drive them home. Also make sure you get them in going the right way because removing them with out damage is unlikely.
Although the Delrin kit cost about twice the silentbloc bushings I think the ease of installation make them well worth the additional cost.
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