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Hi Guys

When the weather warms up I need to do the upper wishbone bushes. (last year's MOT advisory). I wanted to buy the compressor from the guy in Germany but he has run out/stopped making them. I do not want to cough up £165 for the item from Moss, so is there a kind fellow in the London/SE who will lend me theirs? If so, I will come and pick up (and drop it back) and bring a nice bottle of wine from my cellar.

Also advise please. Had mixed reports as to whether put the old rubber bushes in or Poly. Apparently, the poly bushes make the ride hard and noisy????

 

Cheers

 

Simon

 

 

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Hi Simon,

I don;t have the ST compressor but I have a very adequate home made tool 12mm studding etc. It has done many spring squishings.

 

Fit the blue Superpro bushes or equivalent - the increase in hardness in ride is not measurable but the feel or going in the right direction is very reassuring.

 

I'm near Heathrow

 

Roger

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I did mine with a 14 mm hardened steel threaded rod, 6 nuts, 4 wide washers plus 2 pairs of growing size washers and a thick aluminum plate that I drilled to fit on the spring pan. If you go this route, make sure the whole in the plate through which the rod goes is quite larger than the diameter of the rod, so as to be able to swing the spring pan to align the bolt holes with the suspension arm, which is a bit tricky. It worked like a wonder. To be fair, I manufactured the tool more for the fun and pride of it, as, while the material costs were minimal (20 EUR), the time I devoted was probably worth much more than the cost of having bought it from Moss. Unfortunately, I am not in London... Regarding rubber vs poly, I think the key driver is precision and durability (rubber gives a less precise swing movement but, above all, is less durable, at least the modern bushings they now sell), as the ride... well, I wish that the only factor making our TR4s ride harsh were the bushings... These cars tend to be harsh

post-15324-0-79287400-1517845228_thumb.jpeg

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I have just seen the picture I posted. Two comments: (i) the rest of the washers (6 in pairs of 2, growing sizes) are hidden under the aluminum plate, and (ii) before anyone jumps in, the gray area in the lower part of the thread is not the threads being worn, it is just an optical effect, threads are perfect, as the rod is hardened high carbon steel

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Hi Simon.

 

I made a spring compressor out of some threaded bar and an old gate hinge:-)

 

You can see it in action here:

 

 

Best

 

Paul.

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I bought the Rimmer one already noted above last week and used over the weekend and it worked well to remove springs, and it arrived pretty quickly after I ordered. I do have the body off at the moment which maybe made it a little simpler, but tool was good. If you don't want to buy one I'm in Tunbridge Wells so not far. I'll be putting the springs back in a few weeks but it will be available after that.

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Thank you all for your help and advise. For some reason I thought the tool to be more complicated than it is. With so much information I will make my own and I will be using the blue super pro bushes.

 

Cheers

 

Simon

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Made this for about a tenner - just had to cut the12mm threaded bar to length. 12mm did bend a little so when I do it next time will probably go for 15mm. The ball is from local agricultural supplies, about £4.

It is the ball joint from the lifting links on the rear of a tractor, available in different diameters and sits perfectly in the hole of the spring plate.

Don't think that it will bend or break!

Tim

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post-14286-0-77993400-1518029327_thumb.jpg

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