MOT Failure - front wishbone bushes

Post by **Snag20** » 21 Aug 2008, 19:46

The van failed its MOT this afternoon, its first MOT in my ownership

Failed on excessive play in front wishbone upper bush/pin.
Having looked/checked these the failure was very justified.
Also failed on parking brake inbalance >

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u222 ... 211342.jpg

http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u222 ... 211343.jpg

Tonite I have removed the front wishbone, Will attempt to purchase new bushes tomorrow.
I am aware that these have to be pushed out after grinding off the welding. Not sure whuch bit/bits will be pushed out. Can someone explain, describe what bits are left attached to the wishbone ?

cheers

Post by **dugcati** » 21 Aug 2008, 20:24

As far as I am aware there are 1-2 blobs of weld holding each bush on - the bushes themselves look like this:-
[img:400:300]http://i4.ebayimg.com/04/i/001/05/5e/6493_1.JPG[/img]

This is a pic of one on ebay but it should give you a visual reference of what you need to remove/replace....

Post by **maxstu** » 22 Aug 2008, 01:51

Hi snag,
All you need is in Wiki......
https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/St ... one_bushes

The difficult bit is finding someone to reset camber!

In the end I did mine with a piece of wood cut to the same diameter as the wheel rim. Then cable tied it to a spirit level and set camber just off vertical by about +5 degrees.

And after 1500 miles no noticeable uneven wear whatsoever.

Post by **ghost123uk** » 22 Aug 2008, 08:37

Mine didn't fail an MOT on them but they squeak like mad ( always have since I got it )

I have been waiting for enough spare cash to get it done, but on reading the wiki entry I reckon I might well do it myself

( esp as the retaining weld is apparently not necessary - I do not have a welder )

Just need to find a grinder to borrow

Post by **maxstu** » 22 Aug 2008, 13:34

Hi Ghost,
Long time no hear.

The cheapest angle grinder will remove the spot weld. Even a keen bit of filing will do the trick.

More importantly is to clean up the old bush with a wire brush before whacking it out.

Ever more important is to make certain the concentric (sp?) washers are correctly postioned before pushing the rod back through.

Good luck

Post by **Simon Baxter** » 22 Aug 2008, 19:14

ghost123uk wrote:Mine didn't fail an MOT on them but they squeak like mad ( always have since I got it )

I have been waiting for enough spare cash to get it done, but on reading the wiki entry I reckon I might well do it myself ( esp as the retaining weld is apparently not necessary - I do not have a welder )

Just need to find a grinder to borrow

The weld is deffo needed, the bushes are not tight at all.
Whoever said it wasn't needed was probably a desk jockey who has no idea about how things actually work.

They do, 100% need a blob on them, if you don't then you are truly stupid!

Post by **ghost123uk** » 26 Aug 2008, 08:15

Thanks for that Simon.

I got the duff info re not needing to weld them from the wiki on here !! = "Now, if you've got access to a welder you can tag-weld the bush, but to be honest...... it's not essential." Perhaps someone should E D I T it ?

Post by **Snag20** » 26 Aug 2008, 10:30

Re- booked MOT for tomorrow

bushes not as bad a job as I expected--- yes they were re-welded in

cheers