Spaceship Bushes - fitment questions

[loki_the_glt]

I've looked at the, excellent, post Luke did on polybushing the front end of a 940 and I've got a couple of questions before I tackle the Valdez's spaceship bushes.

Firstly, how little dismantling can I get away with? Can I simply unbolt the spaceship bush end of the arm or does more of the front end have to be amputated?

Secondly, do I need to replace the washer and bolt, or can I simply clean them up and re-use them with threadlocking compound on the bolt?

Thirdly, how much time should I allow for each side - an hour, two hours, a lifetime?

Fourthly, is a trip to A&E on the cards for this job?

And finally, how much money will I need for the swear-box?

[360beast]

You can remove remove the bolt from the strut rod at the chassis end and remove the bolt from the spaceship bush and you should be able to get the rod out, it might be a bit of a fiddle. I've only ever removed the track control arm and strut rod together though so I can't say for certain if that would work.

The trouble comes when they're very corroded and the spaceship bush metal outer, strut rod and track control arm rust in to one big crusty mess and you have to chisel the rot out to free it all off allowing you to pull the strut rod out!

The washers can be cleaned up and reused depending on how bad they are rusted but they're cheap enough so I'd just buy a pair of them. I cleaned them up on mine as the washers only had a bit of surface rust. The bolt can be reused no problem as long as it doesn't round off, just put new threadlock on.

As for time, how long is a piece of string? It all depends on how rusty they are as you need to thoroughly clean the seat area and all the contact surfaces otherwise the bushes won't seat properly.

Yes a trip to A&E is on the cards... if something goes horribly wrong

As for the swear box, I'd say you will only need a couple of quid if it all goes well.

Get polybushes as cheap rubber won't last long and genuine rubber is about twice the price of superior polybushes!

[griston64]

Agree with Luke on all of that. You really need to clean the surfaces that the spaceship bushes go into or they will wear out in no time. I got a spare set of strut rods and control arms and got them shotblasted and powder coated. A bit extreme but a lot easier when it comes to swapping over

[Laird Scooby]

Like Luke suggested, loosen the radius arm to chassis bolt and then loosen the central bolt in the front end of the arm. Fully remove the central bolt and washers, remove the arm to chassis bolt and lever the arm downwards and out from the chassis.

If you buy a kit of bushes, they usually come with new bolts and washers and if they do, it would be rude to refuse to use them!

With mine, i found that tightening the central bolt to the specified torque then waiting a few days before removing it and adding some Threadlock and torquing to the recommended setting (90lbft rings a bell but i might be wrong) worked best. Gave the new bushes a few days to settle in.

A&E? Hopefully not! Use an axle stand in a sensible place while working with the wheel off, do the final tightening/torquing with the weight of the car on the wheels, even if it means doing the job then driving onto ramps although you can do it with the steering turned full lock in the direction of the side you're working on.

As for the swear box, a bit of planning and thought beforehand, copious amounts of penetrating oil applied before you start (like 3 days before, 2 days, 1 day and about 20 minutes before) should avoid your wallet being financially embarrassed.

Thinking about it, i used a 12V impact wrench on most of it, i'd use the same again except it died when i changed the back axle!

I have a replacement that's cordless now so would use that if i need to do the spaceship bushes again. Takes the hard work out of shifting two very tight fasteners each side.

[loki_the_glt]

Thanks gents for the comments. I've got Superflex spaceship polybushes and everything LOOKS straighforward but the Valdez has a habit of biting when I least expect it, hence the A&E question.

I'll probably replace the other bushes next year, since the bank manager and I might be back on civilised terms then, but it was a video showing the potential amount of movement from U/S spaceship bushes that prompted the purchase.

[Pete940]

Be prepared to sit there chiselling rust away for quite some time. Having a wire brush on a drill is handy too. Depends on the life your car has had, of course.
The bushes will be near impossible to fit if you don't remove the rust.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Pete940

Be prepared to sit there chiselling rust away for quite some time. Having a wire brush on a drill is handy too. Depends on the life your car has had, of course.
The bushes will be near impossible to fit if you don't remove the rust.

Strangely mine didn't need that although i've heard many others say they do. That said the bodge that was holding the trailing arms to the control arms instead of the bushes would have cleaned the inside of the control arm anyway.

[P505DEF]

Removal

Wheels still on the car, both sides fully jacked up and on stands, full lock on you can bus the bolt off, undo the rear bolt, drop arm off, remove space ship bushes clean everything up nice and tidy (I usually blast the arms the bushes sit into actually on the car because I have the kit and repaint them. It gets all the crap out of where the buses go)
I always replace rear bush at the same time but thats optional.

Refitting
Using your brand new bolts from Volvo fit the rear of the arm in finger tight and leave loose, put the arm side space ship bush in first, line arm up, then using your brand new bolt and spacer from volvo you can fit the outer bush and gently tighten the arm back up as in dont rag it up right tight with a gun straight away until you know the bushes are perfectly seated. I tend to use the gun on slow mode until it stops then tighten the bolts with my torque wrench to 110NM remember to do your rear bolt up now. Job done.

On one car I had to use a softy round the wheel rim onto a ratchet strap gently tightened to help line it up. Usually takes me 90 mins for both sides including the clean up operation. Just be sure to get all of the old ones out, they wont put up that much of a fight, they usually fall out lol

[TonyS9]

The rust on these cast parts is particularly horrible. You need to chip it out with a hammer and chisel/screwdriver. It will be very layered and needs a good whack, so wear eye protection.
Even if you get them sand blasted its not strong enough to clean them. Electroysis derusting might work well.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TonyS9

The rust on these cast parts is particularly horrible. You need to chip it out with a hammer and chisel/screwdriver. It will be very layered and needs a good whack, so wear eye protection.
Even if you get them sand blasted its not strong enough to clean them. Electroysis derusting might work well.

Good call on the electrolytic derusting Tony but it would need a couple of hours in the oven after to remove the hydrogen and avoid hydrogen embrittlement.