[Chip_iTT]

being one of those sad bastards who hates to pay someone else to do a job I can do myself (my wife says its 'mean bastard') :lol: I was reading the article about Defcons on the APS site http://www.autops.co.uk/AudiDriverMarch2008.pdf and contemplating the pressing in of bushes...

I know others have done this mod (or done normal wishbone bushes) DIY so how did they get these pressed in/out? I read elsewhere about using a big vice but I dont have one, only a small one for the pillar drill..

It occured to me that I have one element of a 4ton hydraulic press.. its called a bottlejack... so now i am thinking on how to construct the other part - I am thinking on the lines of a steel RSJ cut and welded to form a tall narrow C-shape, the jack bolted upside down to the top arm, pressing against a plate welded on the bottom arm...

 

[Wak]

this may give you an idea of what to construct.

 

[Chip_iTT]

thats sort of what I had in mind Wak, on reflection it makes sense to create the full cage as this is stronger and can be lighter than a C section.

i had the idea of moving the bed up and down as shown in the pic... but a fixed bed is easier to make and I was thinking that the screw-adjustable head on the bottlejack would proivide the same function

I think i'd make the sides out of some scaffold pole - its good enough for axle stands so can easily take the pressure.. and 4 pieces of steel U-channel, two at the bottom to provide the lower bed, bolted either side of the uprights and also bolted down to the bench, and 2 at the top bolted either side of the uprights, providing the mounting for the jack (which has 4 convenient holes in the base...)

<edit>Can buy one for £60, but a bit bigger than what I had in mind... but exactly as I envisaged it... even uses a bottle jack of sorts....

 

[MCPaudiTT]

That looks like exactly what I bought to remove and install bushes with. You can also beat, burn, chisel, saw out the OEM bushes - that is the more difficult part of the job. Pressing the DEFCONs back in is easier than pressing out the old, as there is very little room to support the arm as you press out the bush. The reverse is true for installation - the entire bottom of the arm can support/resist the pressing force to get the bush in. Going with DEFCON 1 means you don't need to worry about pressing in the OEM front rubber bush, which is the second most difficult part of the job.

 

[redsi72]

Am I missing something here?
In the past I have pushed out old bushes/pulled in new ones usings studdings as a draw bar,nuts and various sized round spacers of sitable size.

It sounds like you have access to some engineering facilities if you can construct a press frame so maybe you have access to a lathe to turn some siutably sized spacers

Just a thought.

Si

 

[Chip_iTT]

Am I missing something here?
In the past I have pushed out old bushes/pulled in new ones usings studdings as a draw bar,nuts and various sized round spacers of sitable size.

It sounds like you have access to some engineering facilities if you can construct a press frame so maybe you have access to a lathe to turn some siutably sized spacers

Just a thought.

Si

Si, no you're not asI have done the same in the past, using modified 3 leg pullers and the like.

I just thought, having read the article on DEFCON that it would be instructive to look at alternate (and maybe easier/less frustrating/less painful) ways of doing it...

 

[gt russell]

If you have a 4 ton bottle jack that will do it if you construct something to hold ot in .the bottle itself wil be able to apply much morwe than 4 tons used in this way I have the same idea a whil back .
All i did for quicknes was to get a 5 tone vice from B&Q for about £35 and went to an engineering firm who made me some discs with a 27mm hole in the middle, they look like big thick washers ,about 30 mm thick and 3" in diameter .
If you get the old bushes out and stand the wishbone in boiling water to expand it , once its up to about 100 degrees then press in the new bush .. I'v done loads ( last weekend ) lateley

alternatively you could warm it up useing a blow torch