lr3 poly a arm bushings how to
 

I am not doing a step by step, this is a guide with some pics and tips

I am not supplying all torque specs, all suspension Bolts need to be tight, if you do not know what tight is look up the specs
Here are some specs for the front
Upper ball joint 52 ft lbs
Lower ball joint 52 ft lbs ?
Tie rod end 52 ft lbs
Lower strut bolt 221 ft lbs
Sway bar link 85 ft lbs
Cv axle 228 ft lbs and stake nut
now the ball joints you need to be careful they will snap off, this is where a torque spec would have been nice
but it gave me an excuse to replace the ball joints

Here is the proper tool to remove and instal stock bushings, I do not have this tool lol

Here is Atlantic British , they drill out the old bushing and cut the shell then knock it out, they also say cut the front lower a arm bolts and buy new ones,

unless they are seized into the old bushings which I doubt since they are eccentric bolts for the alignment, you do need to remove the nuts first then pry off the eccentric plate and the bolts pop right out, if you do not pry off that plate the bolts will not come out or you will mess up the threads

Here are our friends at lucky 8 explaining their take on how durable these are, iirc he says their lr3 has sported poly for 5 years at time of video and still no problems
This is where I got my kit

here is the diagram from poly bush that shows correct orientation of the bushings
http://www.polybush.co.uk/images/Dia...%20and%204.jpg

This seems to show the full kit, the kit I purchased was all a arm bushings top bottom front and rear suspension

There is another more expensive kit that I assume includes the sway bars and bottom of the air struts like in the diagram

now when installing you must lube the bushings I have done several brands of poly over the years and they usually come with a clear goo grease, these come with none they also come with no directions


energy suspension sells that goo grease, I used some marine grease I had


POLY BUSH ON THIER SITE SAYS CLEAN ALL GREASE FROM PARTS FOR ASSEMBLY ONLY LUBE WITH SOAPY WATER OR TIRE ASSEMBLY SOAP SO IT WILL DRY, USE OF UBRICANTS WILL REDUCE PERFORMANCE AND LIFE OF THE BUSHING


this makes no sense to me cause no lube will lead to friction, leading to wear I have removed poly type bushings from vehicles that were beat cause they were installed dry


in the end it is up to you to decide whats best for your vehicle

ok so remember the tool I don't have , well I do not like drilling bushings I find it time consuming and you can hurt your wrist imo, always wear proper safety gear , glasses, gloves, respirator lol


here is how I found to be the fastest way to remove bushings , heat the outside with a oxy acetylene torch and let the insides burn ( do this outside) after a few minutes they will push out easy ( have a bucket of water to put them in) danger hot flaming rubber
this is a 2 person job, someone needs to hold the a arm while you drive out bushings


Attachment 34772

once the flaming rubber guts are removed, reheat the outside and drive out the metal shell, I used an air hammer with a 3 way muffler cutting chisel with the outer metal hot they drive out easy trick is to catch just the lip of that shell and drive it in a few places , again into the bucket of water use real gloves not mechanics gloves they melt

Attachment 34770
if you use this method the front upper will give you some issue only because they are close together and it is hard to get the tool in there but not impossible esp if you practiced on the other a arms first ;)
Here is what you end up with, iirc this is the rear upper, one of the original bushings on each rear upper has a 2 piece aluminum design, you can see how the tool caves in the metal shell as you drive it out, if they don't move you need more heat

Attachment 34771

Afterwords let the a arm cool naturally DO NOT QUENCH IT you will change the strength of the metal, there are plenty of things to do while it cools and it only takes a few minutes

Also wipe it clean and use some good spray paint to protect the now bare steel

if you scored it some no big deal just clean the burrs with a rat tail or half round file


others suggest using a sawzall to cut the shell and then knock it out again you do it the way you feel works best for you


we initialy tried using a 20 ton shop press with some success but it was a little iffy to me safety wise and we had no real way to jig it up

Now I found the front uppers to be the worst to remove and reinstall,
After the fact I saw the manual shows removing the belly pan and some shields to access this bolt so refer to the manual to do it that way , link is in the tech section it is tagged in the index for the manual as upper arm under the front suspension section
Below is how I did this
you need to undo the upper ball joint, unclip the abs wire, use a 10mm with a long extension and unbolt the brake hose from the arm, unhook height sensor, unbolt the sway bar link

Next remove the loose bolt pictured so you can have some movement on the heat shield to remove the front bolt

Attachment 34768

Next remove the rear bolt then the front, the front is a nite mare on both sides, not accessible from top you need to use a wrench and a little rachet on the same end to undo the nut, then you need to pop the bolt out best you can and pull back the plastic wheel well in front of the strut, squeeze your arm in there and pull out the bolt

If you have Popeye arms you are screwed and probly have to pull the engine to do this lol , I have skinney arms and both are tore up from doing these upper front bolts

Now you have to finegle the upper a arm out it is a lift front then pull deal with some twist and pry bar action

The reinstall is same , seems to go in easier if you try to drop in the front first from top like it was removed, i recommend a dead blow hammer or lead or brass to help the a arms in and also lube the mounts in the frame

Now once the upper is in install the rear bolt loose( btw I cleaned any rust from my bolts and coated them with never sieze) now the nite mare front bolt

Trick here is go back in behind the strut tower blind and get the bolt close, feel the bolt into the bracket hole then pull the a arm out toward you and shove the bolt in, now the reason you must pull hard on the a arm is because there is a lip on the bushing and you must make the lip form around the strut tower

Attachment 34769

Front lower, these are eccentric bolts and you need mark them then need to undo the nuts first then remove the washers then the eccentric, then the bolts will /should come out.
The drivers lower rear bolt/nut is a little hard to get to with the cat in the way but doable

You also need to remove the cv axle from the hub and undo the lower ball joint and lower strut bolt it is pretty straight forward

Rear lower
I found the rear way easier then front, no messing with cv axles, no ball joints
Let's talk drivers side or left rear as it has a issue now I did the lower first
Undo rear muffler hanger
Remove the lower knuckle bolt, remove the stabilizer bolt, remove the lower strut bolt, remove the 2 main bushing bolts, unbolt sway bar link, no big deal here is is all nice

Attachment 34764

Now the upper on this side, while that paints drying take and unhook the abs line and hard brake line, take a cutoff wheel and cut a narrow slot in the brake line brackets so you can slide the line out instead of opening the brake system

Attachment 34765

Reinstall the lower a arm now, then you can remove the upper

Remove upper knuckle bolt after marking the eccentric and the 2 main a arm bolts, notice the rear one has a slot in the bracket, remember this for reinstal, remove the height sensor from a arm

Now the front bolt sucks the air compressor is in the way, I was able to use a pry bar and crush down the air box lid to pull the bolt and install the bolt and it caused no damage

Here is the area

Attachment 34766

Now the pass rear is straight forward other then cutting the brake line brackets

Here it is all together

Attachment 34767