Changing e46 wishbone rear bushes in situ

Hi all. This was almost covered in a previous post but can a resurrect
as it was never gotten to the bottom of.
Is it realistically possible to change the wishbone rear bushes in-
situ? Can I:
-jack and support
-undo the bush housing bolts
-drop down the arm - and support so as not to damage the ball joint
-pull off the old one by hand (or is this going to need a few
technical taps)
-push on the new one by hand (can I lube it? or do I need get the
whole arm off)
-do it all back up again (depending on how far I push it on I guess..)

Thanks in advance for help, advice, ridicule and off the wall
comments.
Cheers
R

Hi Roy, you'll definitely need a puller (or drill) to do the job. They
can't be pulled off by bare hands.

You can lube the bush with soap water when you put them back (as suggested
in TIS/Bentley's), but I serious doubt if you can do so by brute force, it
may be possible if you tap it with a rubber mallet. And make sure it sits at
the right distance ~290mm? (forgot) from the centre of the wishbone.

B

On 5/16/07 9:49 AM, in article
, "roy"
> wrote:

> Hi all. This was almost covered in a previous post but can a resurrect
> as it was never gotten to the bottom of.
> Is it realistically possible to change the wishbone rear bushes in-
> situ? Can I:
> -jack and support
> -undo the bush housing bolts
> -drop down the arm - and support so as not to damage the ball joint
> -pull off the old one by hand (or is this going to need a few
> technical taps)
> -push on the new one by hand (can I lube it? or do I need get the
> whole arm off)
> -do it all back up again (depending on how far I push it on I guess..)
>
> Thanks in advance for help, advice, ridicule and off the wall
> comments.
> Cheers
> R
>

On May 16, 11:10 am, Brian Lam > wrote:
> Hi Roy, you'll definitely need a puller (or drill) to do the job. They
> can't be pulled off by bare hands.
>
> You can lube the bush with soap water when you put them back (as suggested
> in TIS/Bentley's), but I serious doubt if you can do so by brute force, it
> may be possible if you tap it with a rubber mallet. And make sure it sits at
> the right distance ~290mm? (forgot) from the centre of the wishbone.
>
> B
>
> On 5/16/07 9:49 AM, in article
> om, "roy"
>
>
>
> > wrote:
> > Hi all. This was almost covered in a previous post but can a resurrect
> > as it was never gotten to the bottom of.
> > Is it realistically possible to change the wishbone rear bushes in-
> > situ? Can I:
> > -jack and support
> > -undo the bush housing bolts
> > -drop down the arm - and support so as not to damage the ball joint
> > -pull off the old one by hand (or is this going to need a few
> > technical taps)
> > -push on the new one by hand (can I lube it? or do I need get the
> > whole arm off)
> > -do it all back up again (depending on how far I push it on I guess..)
>
> > Thanks in advance for help, advice, ridicule and off the wall
> > comments.
> > Cheers
> > R- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks B.

On May 17, 9:38 am, roy > wrote:
> On May 16, 11:10 am, Brian Lam > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi Roy, you'll definitely need a puller (or drill) to do the job. They
> > can't be pulled off by bare hands.
>
> > You can lube the bush with soap water when you put them back (as suggested
> > in TIS/Bentley's), but I serious doubt if you can do so by brute force, it
> > may be possible if you tap it with a rubber mallet. And make sure it sits at
> > the right distance ~290mm? (forgot) from the centre of the wishbone.
>
> > B
>
> > On 5/16/07 9:49 AM, in article
> > om, "roy"
>
> > > wrote:
> > > Hi all. This was almost covered in a previous post but can a resurrect
> > > as it was never gotten to the bottom of.
> > > Is it realistically possible to change the wishbone rear bushes in-
> > > situ? Can I:
> > > -jack and support
> > > -undo the bush housing bolts
> > > -drop down the arm - and support so as not to damage the ball joint
> > > -pull off the old one by hand (or is this going to need a few
> > > technical taps)
> > > -push on the new one by hand (can I lube it? or do I need get the
> > > whole arm off)
> > > -do it all back up again (depending on how far I push it on I guess..)
>
> > > Thanks in advance for help, advice, ridicule and off the wall
> > > comments.
> > > Cheers
> > > R- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Thanks B.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I had a go at changing them in situ, but failed. Obvioulsy it is
possible, from reading the posts, but I couldnt get the old bush off,
no room to pull it when I jacked it up.

In the end, I took it to the garage.

Good luck and let us know if you managed it.

Nick

id say you need the proper tools-i.e. the proper bushing driver set
maybe a c -clamp with a large enough socket or something on the bolt
side of the clamp to aid in reinstallation