Hi All,

Some time in the very near future I am going to be replacing all the bushes on my 90 with a set of deflex.

I looked on the web and the extraction tools are extortionate a tad on the dear side.

Luckily the 90 is completely stripped so I will be able to pretty much put everything into the vice.

Anyone out there made some tools already for pressing/extracting the bushes?

I really don't want to go down the route of applying heat........the Mrs will go mental when I get rust on the gas hob..

Grant

I'd be inclined to find someone local with a press. I've tried a couple of extraction tools and found them a waste of money! Eventually bit the bullet & bought a fly press - which makes it very easy. I have a feelig the Mrs would probably not appreciate a fly press in the kitchen either.

There will be someone local to you with a press who will accept a small bribe to do it for you - and probably save you a bundle in the process!

Si

I got a set of press tools made with appropriate OD and a step on the driving face so it presses on the outside only. Also a small spigot that engages in the inner bore to keep everything tight and aligned. Then when it came to rebushing I didn't have time to take it all to a press so I put the suspension link on a solid piece of steel, inserted the press tool and gave it a good smack with a sledgehammer - surprisingly it worked really well. worked equally well for refitting.
Gus

You could alway treat yourself to a blow torch

4lb club hammer and a pointing chisel
never failed to remove old bushes to date
even ones that had been in place for 14years or more.

I have drifts made up for radius arm bushes and panhard rod. just drift'em out and drift'em in no press no heat! simple and cheap. radius arms take about 1 min each to knock the old bushes out and back in.

i always use a fly press, that way the new bushes are always pushed in squarely

i have used Tonys method without fail in the past (except A frame one!) although the E reg 90 i had a go at removing the bushes from last week ended up going to the press (and even then were still bu**ers to get out) only 10T press though.

Well I've used the hammer, drill, chissel and vice route doing radius arm bushes and it was darn hard work. Much easier to find a friend with a fly press,

But what about Jez's little toy using a hydraulic jack? I'd be quite up for trying to make one of those if it would let me press the occational bush out/in.

tell me more, I have a spare jack that could be butchered

Cheers Grant

I use a jig-saw to remove old bushes. Insert it the hole and saw till the buses outer sleeve is cut through - or almost through and then a chisel if you are worried about damage to the component. Once there is a slot right through the bush will knock out easily. I replaced my hockey stick-axle bushes with Polybushes about 6 months ago. I seem to have destroyed them already so some alternative will be needed.

Chris

with the bush pressing dies does the job nicely, but really really scabby arms have been known to need a leaning on from "daddy press"

Before I had a fly press, I made a tool for hockey stick bushes which was a lump of steel with a mushroom shaped head, slightly less than 2" in diameter body then step down to 16mm. You stick the 16mm bit down the middle of the bush then belt the living daylights out of the top with a sledge hammer.

The 16mm core keeps the whole thing central.

Hanging the bush to be removed over the edge of a Kerb while hitting with hammer and standing on other end of hockey stick worked pretty well.



When the old bush has moved 1/4" or so, use it to drive new bush in behind old one. Old bush, via 16mm core ensures new bush goes in square.

It wouldn't be hard to make a set of these for all LR bushes.

Si

Although I have a press now a 24mm socket and vice usually do the trick, or has been said use a hack saw.

They do stink a bit if you blow them with the gas axe

All nicely colour coded and in an injection moulded case? Reckon you could have em ready for christmas Si? For £25.99 + P&P

Took me hours today to remove a rear link bush.....grrrrrrr.
A press would have been VERY handy....but ended up using a blowtorch/vice,big hammer,chisel,hacksaw etc......

Eventually got it out....but I'm struggling to fit the Deflex bushes flush?
ie with new bushes the trailing arm wont fit in the U bracket on the axel

Do you need to trim them?
Is it just me?

From my experience with deflex bushes I wouldn't bother - less than 2k miles and mine were toast.

Oh Bu663r!

They could actually last less time than it has taken to fit them!

The fit is VERY pooor compared to the Superflex bushes that I put in my Stage rally car 14 odd years ago.

I have them now...so I may as well finish fitting them...it will make replacement easier in future if nothing else!

What type of stuff were you using the Landy for? Did you revert to OEM kit?

Mostly challenge events, so a fair bit of flex involved. However, I wouldn't expect a bush to deteriorate so rapidly on my stock suspension set up.
I have moved on to Britpart blues which I fitted this weekend - partly on recommendation and partly on price!. On the face of it they look better - tighter fit and thicker walled sleeve tube. We'll see how they go....

My favourite 'wield' is either a heavy lumphammer or a 16lb sledge. Most important thing is not how you hit it or what you hit it with but that you have a decent fitting 'press tool' and a very solid base to support the radius arm or whatever.
An old heavy anvil I aquired (a bit under 1 hernia-weight in old money) works well, haven't had a Range Rover bush - or A-Frame joint - defeat me yet!

AndyG

pmsl. Any ideas where I would get one of those??

That is an absolutely brilliant idea - simple and cheap. I think that one of those will be the first thing I make on my new lathe. Why not an X-drift? All annodised, with a nice case - definately a £60 tool, methinks.

Anvils are from any good engineers, hernia-weights are available everywhere

AndyG

Considering the "X-bludgeoner" above, isn't the centre tube of a bush slightly longer than the outer tube, so that all the force of battering the bush out is being passed through the rubber part of the bush? It seems more elegant to me to add a groove into the tool so the outer edge bears directly on the larger tube of the bush. If that makes sense.

In fact, on re-reading, it doesn't. I'd draw a picture if I had the time.

Its OK John I get what you mean and I am sure Simon would ensure that this was incorporated in any production model.

All this looks very good. However, in my experirence, my Mk1 press tool used the principle above to align the centre whole with the outer edge and then PUSH. In reality nearly every time i changed bushes the old ones the centre core was no longer in the centre. (i guess that we we change them, as they become na****d)

Therefore tool Mk2 was designed to locate on the inside of the outer steel tube. Machined in different sizes to match standard bush types. (no middle hole locator). This i have found a much more reliable method of extraction.

The difficulty i have is aligning the pressing tool, the hockey stick (or whatever) and the tube your pushing the bush into. all in a line, and not fire across the workshop floor.

Can't do uploading drawings and stuff otherwise i'd do drawing.

Ozyboy