I got new upper and lower wishbone bushings for christmas. Do i have to remove the entire suspension to replace them? thanks

 

well it looks like nobody on jag lovers does heir own work on their cars.

 

Well, yes they do, but there aren't many E-type owners out there, and looking at the date of your post, I would think they had other things on their mind on Christmas Day !

Anyway, if you are talking about the inner wishbone bushes, then to do top and bottom will involve dismantling the suspension on each side. The bottom wishbone takes the torsion bar, so you may need a special tool to ease the tension on it.

I assume you got this "Christmas present" because they are all worn out.

 

You will have to unload the the torsion bars to remove the control arms to replace the bushings. Yes, the front end needs to be significantly disassembled. I would suggest you obtain a service manual for your car and read it carefully, you could seriously injure yourself, or, possibly worse, damage your car! Or at the very least, figure out exactly how you will control the torsion bar before starting. Good luck!

 

Thank you Doug. That is really what I needed to know. Back in 1979 I took this basket case jag apart and over the next 4 years put back together again. The only thing I didn't do was the front suspension. Now that I know that I have to unload the torsion bars I will wait till it needs a clutch and do the bushings then. Unloading the torsion bars is not a fun task. My car is #877288 on XKEdata.com.

 

i recently did the bushings pm my 71 while redoing entire engine bay- it is the least bit gnarly given the power in the torsion bar-actually did the job twice- first time i used pipe clamps to bring the lower arms up sufficiently to remove the shocks and then lowered to point where there was no more pressure from torsion bar-

once your bushes are in, getting the lower arm in position to reinstall shock is not too bad- i used a 2x4 stiff leg between frame and ceiling and then used the chain hoist on the garage ceiling running down to lower wishbone to raise it sufficiently

hope that helps- btw, as long as you are taking apart the suspension, would be great time for ball joints and the other bushes- mine were pretty well shot- in for a pint.....

 

I am in the process of doing the same. I have the drivers side completely stripped with the exception of the torsion bar bushing. I have the complete manual and it "cautions against doing both side at once" as sever damage and happen to rack & pinion assembly. Just a note to pass on.

 

if the driver's side is stripped, i would assume that tie rod and stabilizer bar have been removed/disconnected- if that is the case, damage to rack is hard to imagine- harm to you is not hard to imagine if you are not extremely careful during process of raising lower wishbone to allow removal of shock and then lowering to de-power the torsion bar- take your time and be careful

 

I used a bottle jack to do the procedure and went very slowly. The vehicle is resting on HD jack stands. I'll still do one side at a time. I'm sand blasting and repainting all appropriate suspension parts. Thanks for your input.