gmoran1469

I am awaiting my new Steed Urethane upper rear housing bushing I ordered and I wanted to go ahead and get some opinions on how I should go about replacing the stock weak *** rubber one.

I have seen some people chip it out, others beat it out, even some burned it out.

What do you guys think is the best way? I'd love to hear from some people who have replaced theirs already.

This is the only thing on the rear end I have yet to replace with something made of urethane and it's giving me one hell of a headache since most of the weight transfered to that tiny little bushing makes it crumple and I can feel the looseness in my throttle when the rear end rotates and catches.

Also, have any of you guys upgraded to a spherical bearing upper 3rd link bushing. And if so, how bad was the increase in NVH and did you do it with an adjustable UCA or a non-adjustable? I have an adjustable and was considering going with a spherical bearing instead of the urethane one to allow the UCA some room to rotate without worrying about loosening the jam nuts but I am worried it will be too much NVH for my liking. If it's not too bad I can deal though.

I am running:
UMI 1055 panhard w/ roto joints on either end (more noise)
UCA/LCA steeda billet w/ Urethane on chassis ends w/ spherical bearings on the axle end for the LCA's (more noise)
Steeda HD upper front strut mounts (more noise)

Noise isn't a HUGE issue for me but I have read some horror stories about the spherical bearing 3rd link bushing so I am lookin for more opinions.


EDIT: Speak of the devil, right after I post this FedEx shows up with the bushing! Instructions have a diagram of a tool you can use, looks easy enough to make, threaded rod, nuts, washers, cut a piece of metal big enough to use as a backing to push the bushing out (waterjet will make that easy). Seems easy enough w/ a rack lift, heat, and a few tools, this may not be as hard as I thought it would be.

JimC

Good luck with the install, I've been thinking I should upgrade as well. After 193,000 miles and lots of 1/4 mile passes I can tell it is now the weak link in my rear suspension set up.

I was going to say that I know someone else who used a hole saw, smaller than the housing, to cut through the bushing and then just had to pull the small piece out afterwards.

gmoran1469

The instructions say to try and remove it before applying heat and apply heat if ya can't get it out. They provide a diagram with a small tool you can build to get it out. I went to my shop and built it right quick, was simple enough to do with some basic pieces of hardware. Now just waiting on a chance to put it on the rack.

gmoran1469

Got the old bushing out, it was pretty easy. You just make the jig they tell ya and with a small amount of heat to the rear end it pops out. I took a torch to it after that and the glue melted and the OE rubber bushing came right out, was a bit messy though so remember some nitrile gloves or something to keep your hand from getting full of black glue. Brake cleaner takes the **** right off from the inside of the metal sleeve.

I pressed the new urethane bushing into the sleeve and then went to insert the sleeve (heated up the rear end first). I guess I didn't heat it enough or maybe it was that I didnt freeze the sleeve+bushing before I tried to put it in but I managed to split one of the pieces to the 4-piece bushing, I think it's still usable and I am gonna work some on it tomorrow, build something a bit better to press it in and freeze it + heat the rear more.

EDIT: The more I think about it the more I realize how easy this really is, and I know where I failed.

Instead of pushing on the sleeve to push the whole assembly in, I pushing on the urethane part, I am going to make a jig that will slip around the urethane and only push on the sleeve to insert it next time.

gmoran1469

Well, all-in-all it was easier than I expected.

Key things to note: Do not assemble the entire thing (sleeve and all) and then try to insert the sleeve, insert the sleeve first, then the bushing pieces.

When you buy the bushing it comes with instructions on what to build to remove the old bushing.

It's just some threaded rod, a piece of 2.25" ID tubing (I used some thick wall stuff), a few nuts, and a few washers. You use the tubing as a backing with a washer on that end then on the other you have a washer the exact size of the sleeve (I think I used a 5/8 washer) and you tighten it, voila, the sleeve pops out with the OE bushing inside it.

Heat the sleeve up until the glue starts to bubble out, press the old OE bushing out of the sleeve. Let the sleeve cool, then hit it with some brake cleaner (it will take all that old glue out). I took a bench sander to mine and smoothed out all the scratches I put in it by pressing it out, then sandblasted it and smoothed it out again with some scotch-brite. I put it in the freezer for 2 hours, then put it in a container covered in ice and took it out to the shop, put a oxy/acet torch to the rear end and got it nice and hot, then reversed the jig I built and pressed it back in. The last 3-4mm were tough and I had to re-heat the housing but I got it back to 12.05mm gap when it's supposed to be 12mm, good enough for me.

After then I just took some threaded rod, washers, and the jig and pressed in the two middle pieces of the bushing, then the two outer pieces, then I pressed the metal insert in, jacked the rear up to change the pinion angle to reset the UCA and bolted it all back together.


The good news (more like great):

ALL of that looseness/slop I was feeling is gone. COMPLETELY.

I ordered a new bushing to replace the two pieces I managed to split by trying to re-install it assembled rather then piece by piece.

The hard part is getting the sleeve back in. Getting it out is easy. If you can get it out, then back in and set the 12mm gap right, you are home free.

Kobie

Why did you choose the urethane bushing over the Teflon spherical version?
http://www.steeda.com/store/steeda-s...d-mustang.html

gmoran1469

I was thinking about it but the disclaimer of "Hardcore product will generate more NVH" kinda put me off.

I don't think I really need the spherical one anywho.

Argonaut

Good on you for getting the rubber bushing out. I tried it once, even had a "tool" supposedly designed to pull it out. I ended up stripping the threaded rod of the tool and gave up. Never tried the heat though, sounds like that really helped.

Regarding the spherical for the upper control arm. I have an adjustable Spoon (is that the right name?) upper control arm with a spherical bearing where it mounts to the car. I've had it on for something around 25-30K miles and it rattles pretty bad. These are mostly road miles with a season of autoX and about 15 track days thrown in. I have plans to put the stock UCA back in just to get rid of the rattle. So the bottom line is - the spherical was great for the first year or two, then began to rattle and just gets worse. But, with your new poly bushing on the bottom, you may want to go with a spherical in spite of the potential for rattles - the OE rubber has a lot of give, your poly wont. The UCA needs to articulate.

157dB

http://iihs.net/fsm/?dir=65&viewfile=Upper Arm Bushing.pdf

Make to tool and keep your hair.
Grease on the threads will keep them from galling.
A fine thread will get you there faster than a
course threaded rod. Believe it or not.
Properly designed, the tool works like a charm.

gmoran1469

Yup, it did, I didn't see that manual, all steeda sent was part of that manual so I didn't figure out to cut the notch till the thing started to kick sideways. The notch on the bottom is key to getting the OE metal sleeve out. I didn't need much heat to get the sleeve out, in fact I remember it only being warm to the touch. Impact works well if you are confident enough.

I thought the Steeda Adj. UCA had a pivot point where it connected to the rear housing?