Best bushings?

[Mercedesrover]

Don't you have one of those ball joint removers? I used one of them and a 3/4" impact with a pretty good degree of success.

You can use a press for driving the old center out if you don't feel like contracting cancer whiltst burning them with a torch. Be careful driving them in with one.

Freeze the bushing, warm the frame and drive them in with a 3lb. hammer.

This ol' hammer killed John Henry, Can't kill me. Can't kill me.

[Paul Rossmann]

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like its just a matter of if you want to "maintain" the poly bushings and/or if you need the articulation. Most of my driving is on the roads and through fields and woods, so I dont need a great deal of travel. You have to look for hills and boulders in coastal South Carolina.

The last set I replaced, however wasnt as difficult as discussed on this forum. I got a short length of iron pipe the same diameter as the bushing and capped one end (the end I hit with a hammer). I heated the general area with a propane torch and sprayed it with WD40 while hot, so that as it cooled it would pull the WD into and around the bushing. I might have been lucky, but they drove right out. By "right out," I mean 15-20 minutes each.

[luckyjoe]

Ike,

Those are interesting comments.

WRT the standard metalastik bushing being under 'tension', are the poly bushes essentially 'free'? And articulation aside, how does this affect the overall ride?

Regards,

[leafsprung]

Dont think there is a vast difference in ride quality. Polys might have a slight edge . . .

[jp-]

I dont think the quality of the replacement rubber bushings is as good as the originals Ive had several fail within a short period of time (2-3 months) . And had a set of RM rubber spring bushings fail in a matter of hours in moab. Since then Ive jumped onto the poly-bushing bandwagon. Mostly due to ease of replacement. I can replace a poly bushing in 20 minutes without firing up a torch or sawsall. I could even do it on the trail if need be. If you get quality poly bushings, they last a good while. I dont mind replacing them, but I hate replacing the rubber ones.

+1

Count me in on those comments. The rubber quality of many aftermarket Rover parts has gone straight in the toilet. Motor and trans mounts are terrible! I think my 30 year old ones were in better shape than my new ones after 1 year.

I have also tried a puller on my old metal bushings only to have them wedge tighter. Never again. I'll change the polys every two years over the Rover's every 10 (even less with the newer rubber).

[luckyjoe]

Poly's

Do these greaseable poly's replace the frame bushings only, or the spring (eye) bushings too?

Regards,

[TeriAnn]

Do these greaseable poly's replace the frame bushings only, or the spring (eye) bushings too?

Both frame and spring bushings are available through Great Basin Rovers.

[Alaska Mike]

I just got a set of greaseable polys for my Series III from Great Basin Rovers. I saved a little money (like $50) by buying an "irregular set" from them that has coarse threads instead of fine. A little drill bit work and it's done. I can't say how well they ride, since my Rover is far from being mobile. I will say after removing the stock ones, I'd rather replace the poly bushings periodically.