changing bushes at rear of tvan trailing arms

[Ray]

Hello brains trust,

Could someone who has done it advise the best (safest) method of lowering the trailing arm to replace the top hat style rubber bushes?

EG, should the wheel be on the ground or trailer jacked up and wheel off.

Should the shock stay on to stop the spring popping out or be removed, can the spring then be removed??

Is a spring compressor required or desirable?


thanks for any tips,
Ray

[Ray]

Not much advice forthcoming so I will answer myself

Bought a spring compressor from the big green shed which gave me some peace of mind in releasing the spring.

Original bushes were just blue crumbles, mostly gone. New rubber bushes fitted easily enough, bolts looked good as new after 100,000km's and 10 years.

Now to tackle the other side.

Ray

[peter_mcc]

I changed the arms in the field a number of years ago (I hire Tvans, it was abuse from the hirer not Track's fault).

I'd recommend:
- jacking up & putting the chassis on stands to hold the weight
- put a jack under the axle (at the back) and removing the wheel
- remove the shock absorber
- slowly lower the jack and the spring will come out
- change bushes

From memory no one part was super heavy but it's kinda awkward getting it all back together.

You'll need to do a wheel alignment afterwards as well.

[Ray]

Thanks Pete,

I'll tackle the other side without the spring compressors. So far seems fiddly but do-able.

Swapping the shock rubbers at the same time just to be sure.

Ray