poly bushings vs oem

[VedRover]

I drill multiple holes through the bushing then use an air hammer to cut out the outer shell. That's  the easiest way I've found if I don't have a big press handy. If you use just the air hammer sometimes the rubber bushing absorbs much of the impact, reducing its effectiveness.

Of course the real best way is drop off a two four of beer and the items you need pressed out at your friendly local machine shop. Job done.

The trick is to hit the very edge of the outer sleeve (aiming from the outside towards the center of the bushing), not the rubber. The edge sometimes protrudes a bit over the radius arm metal, making it easy. If not there's still about .5mils "gap" between the arm and the sleeve. Find the best spot for the chisel to grab the sleeve and hit it there to make the initial bend, and then just go on from there. See the picture in my rebuild post, as the way I'm describing it may not be very clear.

As I said, it took me about an hour to remove 4 bushings from my radius arms. I doubt any method other than a 20ton press with the proper size punch (or a LR $200 bushing removal tool) will be as fast. I was also concerned with possible damage to the surface of the radius arm where it contacts the bushing, which is why I didn't even try the "press out the middle and then hacksaw the outer sleeve" method.

[VedRover]

I drill multiple holes through the bushing then use an air hammer to cut out the outer shell. That's  the easiest way I've found if I don't have a big press handy. If you use just the air hammer sometimes the rubber bushing absorbs much of the impact, reducing its effectiveness.

Of course the real best way is drop off a two four of beer and the items you need pressed out at your friendly local machine shop. Job done.

The trick is to hit the very edge of the outer sleeve (aiming from the outside towards the center of the bushing), not the rubber. The edge sometimes protrudes a bit over the radius arm metal, making it easy. If not there's still about .5mils "gap" between the arm and the sleeve. Find the best spot for the chisel to grab the sleeve and hit it there to make the initial bend, and then just go on from there. See the picture in my rebuild post, as the way I'm describing it may not be very clear.

As I said, it took me about an hour to remove 4 bushings from my radius arms. I doubt any method other than a 60ton (according to Bearmach, a 60-100 ton press) press with the proper size punch (or a LR $200 bushing removal tool) will be as fast. I was also concerned with possible damage to the surface of the radius arm where it contacts the bushing, which is why I didn't even try the "press out the middle and then hacksaw the outer sleeve" method.
Regarding Red90s note on 30 minutes for a set - you must be really good with a hacksaw, as to do it in 30 minutes you need to press it out (say 2 minutes per bushing), cut it (say, 4 minutes per bushing) and punch it out (another 2 minutes per bushing). You will then want to polish the surface to get rid of the hacksaw marks which will take you to the same hour or more.
Hell, I now have an idea for a club gathering: we should run a competition on who takes out the radius arms bushings the fastest  ;D

[Red90]

You don't hacksaw all the way through. It is very quick. I've changed a lot of bushings.

[Matt H]

Some come out easy. Some are a real som-bitch and hang on just out of spite. It's difficult to allocate set times to them.
I've used the drill and hacksaw method in the field, laying in the mud.  Works well if you have limited tools available and really, it takes about the same amount of time and effort as the other methods once you get the hang of it.


Except the beer and machine shop method obviously!

[headdamage]

Can't be as bad as the series II front frame bushings.