Suspension: Delta link bush replacement - new bolts

[rudi dudi]

@ Martin
You should be able to get some 8.8’s or 10.9’s quite easily.
They really aren’t anything special.
They are quite meaty an m12/M14 or possibly 16 with a flange head.If you cant get flange headed a washer would do.

There are no doubt countless ones out there with reused bolts.Some driving around blissfully unaware.

Anyway a blowlamp is your friend in getting the old ones out.Heat them enough and they practically walk themselves out of the axle,45 mins to an hour a side.

Don’t believe the usual forum/internet hype about being a pig of a job.It’s really a piece of cake.

Try Westfield fastners Aylesbury for replacement.
Obviously your going to have to remove them for sizing and possibly reuse your original’s till you source replacements,unless you intend to leave the car off the road.
If Westfield cant help your in trouble.

[Luxobarge]

Originally Posted by rudi dudi

Anyway a blowlamp is your friend in getting the old ones out.Heat them enough and they practically walk themselves out of the axle,45 mins to an hour a side.

Don’t believe the usual forum/internet hype about being a pig of a job.It’s really a piece of cake.

Got to agree with that. I cut out the old rubber bush, threaded a heavy chain through the hole and shackled it into a loop, then used the shaft of a sledgehammer as a kind of "sliding hammer" against the loop of the chain and after having administered a decent dose of heat as suggested above they came out no problem. There may be an easier way of getting some "pulling" purchase on the old bush, but that's the way I did it, and as above, an hour a side, tops.

[rudi dudi]

And be mindful how the new ones are fitted..Although they look the same on face value..There is a difference!!!

There is an up and down side which is quite subtle… I found this out the hard way on the very first ones I did

The offset with the spacer is different.

Pay very careful attention when you remove the old ones which way was up(facing the underside of the car) and which was down(facing the road) and you’ll be good .

[Martin Cox]

This is all useful stuff chaps, thanks very much.

I had spotted that the bushes have an up and a down side. A photo or two before taking it all to bits would seem sensible.

I do have access to the puller tool so I may as well give it a try but keep the more persuasive methods in reserve if necessary.

As regards the bolts, given the size of the hex head, I can't see them being any bigger than M12 so I've taken a punt on these

https://www.spaldingfasteners.co.uk/...-flange-bolts/

10 of the 35mm ones came in around £15 including postage.

If you see them reappear in the 'For Sale ' section, you'll know I was wrong!

It's going to be a few weeks before I get around to tackling them but I'll let you know how it turns out.

Martin.

[Bob Meadows]

Good reliable company Spalding Fasteners:~

Forgot about it - I've used them for many cars to include stainless items.
Bob.

[Martin Cox]

Had a decent day weatherwise so I decided to tackle the delta link bush replacement.

The offside one was no big problem. A reasonable amount of heat and careful use of the puller tool and the old bush came out without any great drama. A good clean-up of the socket then followed removing some melted bits of plastic and other sundry detritus.

A little silicone grease and the new one went in without any great difficulty. The new bolts I'd ordered were perfect. I took the opportunity to clean up the mounting plate and gave it a good dose of Bilt-Hamber Dynax S50 in the hope it will give it some additional protection. The worst part of the job was removing the splined bolt that holds the bush in the arm.

Thus emboldened, I decided to tackle the nearside one. "Tap out the splined bolt with a soft-faced hammer" said one set of instructions.

The offside one took about 10 minutes of determined hammering with a 2 lb hammer before it eventually came free. After the best part of an hour of similar treatment, the nearside one hadn't budged at all. By this time I was running out of daylight and profanities.

I'll have another go tomorrow. Any bright ideas on how to shift the b****r ?

[Baffler]

Good to hear you're pleased with the new bolts. That was a great find!

If you let the bush soak in penetrant overnight you may get it to shift easier this morning. A 50/50 mix of ATF and acetone makes for a great penetrant.

I'm not a fan of using heat unless really necessary but I do like Luxo's sliding hammer and chain method mentioned above which should give you the extra purchase you need.

And, as a last resort, I've seen images/threads somewhere, I can't remember off hand, where owners drilled into and across the plastic sleeve to reduce the force/friction acting on it.

[SteveSarre]

Hi Martin,

Yes I have had trouble with at least one splined bolt.
I think in the end it went to Braydon and I think they mentioned a using hydraulic porta press thing.
Other than penetrating oil, I can only suggest a bigger hammer.

To remove the main bushing, I found it works well to heat the aluminium arm until melted bushing plastic starts to ooze out, then use the special tool to extract. That seems to avoid overstressing the tool (which some people have had trouble with). Then clean up as you say. I also slightly chamfer the leading edge of the new link to make it easier to get started.

HTH
Steve

[Clogs]

Forget about expensive penetrating oils... this mixture works far better, and those rusted bolts with the slightly oval nuts can be undone. Why does Volvo not use lock nuts or nuts with a tab? Is it just because labour to undo and do up (5 minutes to undo a split pin or hammer down a tab... and vice versa) is too expensive?

[Baffler]

Originally Posted by SteveSarre

That seems to avoid overstressing the tool (which some people have had trouble with).

Skandix list a reinforcement for the Volvo tool which could be made up simple enough I would think https://www.skandix.de/en/spare-part...-axle/1061471/

And some technical tips https://www.skandix.de/en/documents/...-tool/3000341/