Well, after looking over what others have documented on replacing the bearings, I think I'll leave them alone, at least for now. 30T press, yikes...

I received my Powerflex order today. It all looks straightforward to install, except the crossbeam bushings. The geometry is distinctly different from the stock bushings, and it's not clear to me how you go about about pressing these into their seats and have them end up in the right place. I've sent a question to Powerflex if they can provide an installation procedure, hopefully I'll hear back soon.

 

Update:
I removed the subframe bushings using the drill and hacksaw method described by others. Not a fun job, took me hours.
Powerflex replied with installation instructions for the new subframe bushings and it was a breeze with the 12T press. I wanted a good backstop to press against so made a sleeve out of PVC pipe, which worked quite well. I was a bit concerned that the press head was too small, meaning that the head edges could potentially cut into the bushing as it flexes (you press it in at an angle), so I made an adapter out of PVC components that gave it a much larger surface area. Clearly not something I'd use to press in a regular bushing, but fine for poly.

Except for the lower shock bushings, everything on the rear subframe assembly looks to be in acceptable working order, including the upper shock mounts. A few of the donuts had started to fray a little bit at the edges, but they were all plenty supple. For reference, this is at just under 60,000 miles on a car that has never run on salted roads. Nonetheless, I'm replacing all bushings and mounts since this is probably the last time everything is accessible, at least under my ownership.

A friend talked me into removing the differential cover to clean up real good inside and I'm finding that the two large studs that hold the cover at the bottom are a pain to remove. The machined 30mm hex width is too narrow to get a good grip with a wrench and the stud is too long for a regular deep socket. I have a 30mm 8inch long impact socket on order to deal with it.

Some pictures for the interested:


Totally shot lower shock bushing



Original upper shock mounts vs Baxtor's replacements

Powerflex bushings installed in wishbone

Removing old subframe mount

PVC sleeve for press backstop. Made from 4in pipe. Note the notch to accommodate bump on the subframe.


Press head adapter from PVC components


New subframe mount installed



Diff cover studs. Very hard to remove

 

Way to go, glad you gave us some great pictures, thank you for sharing.

 

Well done....

 

After some overseas shipping delay, I received the new bushings from SNG Barratt for the pendulum and the wishbone tie bracket. Let me tell you, removing the four small bushings is no picnic. The jack on my cheap 12t-rated press from Amazon can perhaps handle the full 12t, but the cross beams do not, see picture proof below. The geometry of the castings make it a bit difficult to line up the press tool, and my backstop sleeve just barely fit to receive the tie bracket bushings. In fact, the sleeve partially overlapped the bushing on my first attempt, which I did not realize, and that's when the cross beams gave up. Had to resort to the hacksaw method, and once the inner sleeve was cut through, pressing the remainder out was a breeze. I have now replaced the busted C3 cross beams with C4-7.25 and will press the new bushings in this weekend and hopefully start to re-assemble finally!

 

Every time I'm under the car, I get the urge to do this job (I don't see it as necessary right now, but I'd like to). For now, I changed the differential oil (Castrol), and that's enough for me. I'll think about it for the next oil change. But I only have a 6-ton press. Thank you so much for these posts. Excellent work.

 

You're welcome!
From what I can tell from older posts on this forum and others, people have typically gotten away with a 6t press for this job, so it's really a bit puzzling that it was a struggle with my 12t.

 

Just my experience…but the mandrel, pipes, sockets, etc., that you choose to push the bushings out must be sized correctly and pretty much exactly match the diameter of the piece your trying to move. Also the bottom of the piece that gets pushed ( outer sleeve of the bushing) must be free to exit while at the same time the surrounding area of the part must be solidly supported…or else you risk damage to the part(s) you DON’T want to damage. As in most mechanical work-the “set-up” is very important to success! And it usually takes more time than the actual operation.

Brian W.

 

most people drop the struts with the frame because it's way safer for the cats wiring and prevents the studs from snapping or bending under the weight of the assembly as it tilts keep that pinion seal alone if it isn't leaking since the new ones often fail sooner than the factory originals if not seated perfectly you should definitely spray your brake line fittings with penetrant now so they don't round off when you go to drop the whole unit later this winter

 

You are absolutely right, and this is particularly important for the smaller bushing, part #CAC4713, which has a very thin outer shell and can buckle unless the press tool seats against it perfectly flat.
Ask me how I know...

 

Well, all the bushings are in, the diff oil is replaced, all fasteners are torqued, and the subframe is lifted into position and ready to be bolted in place...EXCEPT...
I cannot for the life of me get the spring nuts to fully line up with the hole through the bushings in the differential strut.


I've been trying for hours to move the nuts around (yes, BOTH sides are killing me here) and am frequently peeking through the bushing holes with a borescope to try to figure which direction to move them in. They are pinched real good against the bushings so moving them can't be done by hand. Not-so-gentle tapping with a deadblow hammer beating on a socket extension is required. I also went out and bought a 100mm M12x1.75 bolt and ground a taper on the tip, hoping I would be able to use it to position the nuts, but no luck there either.

I'm really at a loss here, anybody have any suggestions?

 

Agreed. Something doesn’t look right, but sorry, don’t know what it is! Did you get pictures at or before disassembly?
or maybe a forum member has some they will share? You really shouldn’t have to force anything into place if everything’s in-order.

Perhaps there are some factory drawings of these parts? Something looks out-of-order to me though.

Good luck, and please keep us posted what works

Brian W.

 

Thanks for looking at this!
After sleeping on it, I thought of one thing that could be different: the flanges on the new poly bushings may be just a tad too thick, causing the spring nuts to basically lock in place by the slightly compressed bushing when the strut bar is raised into place. If this is the case, I suppose I can scrap the poly and replace with stock bushings. Not an appealing scenario though, so I'll need to completely convince myself that's the only solution.
Hoping others that have replaced stock bushings with Powerflex can weigh in!

EDIT: The more I think of it, the more I believe this is the problem. It also took quite a bit of force to get the two lower poly bushings into the seats on the wishbone tie bracket, and the stock bushings do not have flanges. I'll send a question to Powerflex.

 

It looks to me like the spring nuts are on a different plane than the bushing sleeves. Have you tried tapping on the bolt with a hammer while turning it with a wrench? Doing so should force the spring nut back a little & help it line up. An alternative would be to remove the spring nut & use a nut & lock washer, but it does look like a tight spot to get to in order to do that...

 

That assembled Powerflex just looks simply too wide to fit where it's supposed to

I bought a full set of OEM bushings for when I eventually get around to this job. I'm not sure if it will help much, although I've taken some measurements off the Jaguar OE part MJA3715AB2:


The perspective is a bit off, so the measurements are:

Width of the bush outer shell is 34mm / 1.34"
Width of the inner distance piece is 41.25mm / 1.625"

...meaning there's only a gap of around 3.5 mm on either side (I'm assuming the width of the bush outer is the same as that of the differential strut hole), so if the flanges on the poly are wider than that, it's not going to fit well. What is the length of the poly inner spacer tube?

Powerflex appears to be a common choice, and I guess others must have gone this route? I'd expect better for $40 a pop.

 

Thanks Michael!
If, as seems likely at this point, the frame has to come again, I'll measure the length of the inner tube. I do recall it being ever so slightly recessed from the flange faces on both sides when centered, which I now realize is further evidence of why I'm having a problem. I fired off the question to Powerflex this morning, and it'll be very interesting to hear what their response is. Not ready to order new OEM bushings just yet, but it seems to be heading that way.

BTW, careful examination of the removed OEM bushings shows that the inner tubes are not quite centered, so although they look fine on first glance, it was the right call to replace them while the frame was down.

 

Yeah, I tried tapping it while wrenching, but there is so little maneuvering room that it was a futile attempt.
Looking at the shape of the nut, there seems to be a retainer clip inside the hole on the bushing side, which looks rather flimsy. I think it's only there to hold the nut in place when it's not bolted. If so, the nut can slide around in the bracket slot quite a bit. Maybe if I break of the retainer I'll be able to move it a little easier to line up with the bolt?

EDIT: The photo I first posted is not the correct spring nut, it looks like this:


There are two tabs (hard to see) on the left and right of the hole that keep it in place.

 

That's possible, But the trouble is that the wider bushing has spread out the flange, causing the mis-alignment. At this point I would just remove the spring nut & go to a nut & lock washer (or a nylock nut).

 

Not crazy about that idea since I have now dropped the frame a bit and removed the spring nut to inspect. The slot in the mounting bracket is quite a bit wider than I expected. The tabs in the spring nut (see edited post above) keeps it close to centered, and I'd worry that with just a lock washer or a nylock, the strut bar could move a bit side to side under load. I think I need to make it work with the spring nut for my piece of mind.

Powerflex is checking with the design engineers at HQ and will get back to me, but I'm running out of time since the driving season is rapidly approaching, so I have ordered two new OEM bushings in case that's where it ends up. Very irritating...

 

I can't imagine the hole in the bracket is too big for the center sleeve of the bushing. If you're worried that a nut will pull through, just add a flat washer. It should clamp down tight on the center bushing & hold everything in place.