odonnell

I have my eye on some Elephant racing monoballs for the rear trailing arms (where they mount to the torsion carrier) but don't want to go through the hassle of pulling the arms off the car until I'm reading to do a full refresh. Anyone have a good method for driving out the steel races for those bushings? I have all sorts of tools, but not a welding setup.

My main concern is dropping the forward half of each arm low enough to clear the mounting brackets, since the arms will still be bolted up to the spring plates. I can do the whole cutting/pounding thing if there's proper clearance but I don't see much in the way of first-hand experience. The last thing I want to do is **** up the old bushings and then not be able to complete the job without pulling the arms - if this is simply a bad idea I'll just wait until a complete refresh is in the cards.

V2Rocket

With the arm still attached to the spring plate you won't be able to get the trailing arms off the torsion carrier.
Not enough "twist" allowed.

nkgosselin

Unless you were trying to 'fix' one broken part it makes no sense to upgrade this.

it would be devilishly hard with most of the rear intact.

It is VERY easy to damage the aluminum trailing arms during removal.

Save up. Buy all the bushings you want to replace, then drop the torsion carrier and do all at once.

With it out its not that bad.

I did it once in a driveway on jack stands.

And another time in a warm garage.

NCLA951

I just did this, and would suggest pulling the arms, it's not so bad. I can't imagine burning the old bushings out right next to the gas tank...

divil

All I can tell you is that the Elephant Racing "Split Bushing Removal Tool" will *not* work. I emailed them about it and they said it's not the right size for the rear bushings

odonnell

Ok, I'll just be waiting until I have a reason to drop the whole assembly. I have rear wheel bearings to do as well, but I'm really trying to avoid big projects on this car until I make more headway on the 951. Thanks for the input, everyone.



If the bushings are original 1983 rubber, you're implying that there's no improvement to be had? This is just a street car, but maintaining good alignment during cornering is always a plus. The NVH would be a non-issue due to the mounts between the torsion bar assembly and the chassis.

I saw that tool on their site the other day....figured that, since they specifically stated which bushings it was applicable to. I wonder if anyone makes a more universal/less expensive version of this tool. It looks like it costs $3 to make.

V2Rocket

split bushing removal tool?

you mean the BFH?

mikehayes

I didn't catch if this was an early or late model, but rear wheel bearings in steel trailing arms are not a bad job at all. Just make sure you have some big a** sockets and a cheater bar to match.

odonnell

Funny you mention that, I actually just got the last of the parts I need for this job 20 minutes ago in the mail. Steel arms. I got this tool, which from what I read on VW boards, makes removing the axle nuts really easy:

http://www.bughaus.com/axle_nut_remover_-_7023.htm

VW part sources were great, even the bearings and hardware are the same. I ended up getting a ton of stuff for refreshing the rear end from them, for really cheap.

mikehayes

That's cool; old railroad locomotives used to have 6 or 8 inch wide hex nuts on them. I asked the guy at the museum how they would take them on and off, same idea. Big box end thing with some paddles on it and a couple of big guys with sledge hammers. I went the harbor frieght 3/4" breaker bar method. That way I could do some rough torque calculations when it came time to put it back on. Make sure it's nice and tight or you'll be doing it all over again.

Otto Mechanic

I can also verify the tool doesn't work on the split front bushings either, at least it didn't for me. Even after I took it to a shop and we tried using it in a press, it didn't work and we eventually tore the "teeth" or whatever you call them, off the tool.

I was also told the tool is only meant to be used with the arms "on the car" for 911s.

tempest411

This is an older thread, but I though I'd update to report that Elephant Racing *may* have updated this tool, as I bought one and just successfully pulled out the trailing arm bushings out of my 924S with it. I don't know if the failed attempts mentioned used heat with it or not. I did use heat, and although it still took some decent whacks, the sleeves came out MUCH more easily than the last time I did this, which was by cutting them with a hack saw and caving them in. I do have the arms-and the rest of the rear suspension- off the car for a full refit.

Otto Mechanic

I hope, if Elephant has updated the tool to make it work better, they're offering a discount to previous buyers? I'm certain this won't have been the last time I need to pull those bearings...

Regards,