Anyone have as much trouble installing spherical bearings as I did?

89MustangGX · Mar 16, 2004

Wow -- what a royal pain those were! I'm talking about installing the spherical bearings on the rear axle itself.

I ended up using an old railroad spike and pounding away on the rubber bushings for what seemed like forever in order to get them out. Then when I went to install the new ones -- they bound up on the edge (not sure if I caused burrs banging on the rear or they were just a tight fit?) -- so I ended up using my dremel and easing the edges of the bearings and one side of the opening of the rear so they would start -- then I still had to put a bolt through and tighten to pull it all the way in.

Now that they're in -- I'm glad I won't be changign them again! This was a pointless rant, but just wanted to see if others had similar experiences or if I did this all wrong.

EMW150 · Mar 17, 2004

You're not alone, they are a real pain to get out. A torch would make it easy, then you could just burn them out. The rubber absorbs the impact from the hammer and doesn't transfer the force to the bushing part.

Rick 91GT · Mar 17, 2004

I use a drill and drill a series of holes all the way around the bushing, then it comes out easier. You did take the thin metal sleeve out correct? If not that is one reason they were so tight, I also suggest putting antiseize on the outside of them before they get tapped into the housing.

PURESTREET5006 · Mar 17, 2004

I had no problem with mine getting them in but i had a whale of a time getting the rubber ones out of the housing!! That took me about 1 hrs to get the bushings out.But the sperical ones went in with hardly and problem after i drowned them in lethium grease.

K.C.90gt · Mar 17, 2004

What control arms did you put in? I used Pro3i Spherical lowers and It was a little PITA. It was a pretty tight fit but with some antiseize and a rubber hammer I got it someone into place then pounded a bolt through it finish it up. The hardest part was trying to line up the holes to get the bolt started.

Edward K · Mar 17, 2004

Rick 91GT said:
I use a drill and drill a series of holes all the way around the bushing, then it comes out easier. You did take the thin metal sleeve out correct? If not that is one reason they were so tight, I also suggest putting antiseize on the outside of them before they get tapped into the housing.

This way does seem to work best - if you're careful you can walk the bit around the outside and speed up the process a bit.

TT91 · Mar 17, 2004

how do they feel on the street, iv got the UPR rear susension kit waiting at home, ADj uppers and lowers, roll bar. i was thinking of selling and going with the MM rear kit, lowers, TQ arm and PH bar

347stroker · Mar 17, 2004

Just use an air chisel and crush the thin metal sleeve on one side and they'll pop right out.LOL Takes about 5 min for the whole job

89MustangGX · Mar 17, 2004

Rick 91GT said:
You did take the thin metal sleeve out correct? If not that is one reason they were so tight, I also suggest putting antiseize on the outside of them before they get tapped into the housing.

I hope you're referring to the piece that surrounds the rubber bushing and not something else -- because nothing else came out! I only eased the corners with a quick hit from a stone on the Dremel, no real grinding or anything. I did use some spray lube on the outside of the bushing -- that seemed to help them go in -- but no anti-seize. (Am I ok or should I redo it before I put everything back together?)

K.C.90gt said:
What control arms did you put in? I used Pro3i Spherical lowers and It was a little PITA. It was a pretty tight fit but with some antiseize and a rubber hammer I got it someone into place then pounded a bolt through it finish it up. The hardest part was trying to line up the holes to get the bolt started.

I'm putting in UPR arms ... the radius rod uppers are the ones I'm using, not the more traditional box style ones. I did have to pound the bushings in a little and then put a bolt through and tighten them to pull it the rest of the way in. I did nick/ding the outside of the bushing up right on the spot where the boltgoes through where I whacked it with the hammer...but everything still fits tight. I hope that's not going to be a problem, is it?

-----------------

Any more tips before I button everything back up?

Thanks!

K.C.90gt · Mar 17, 2004

I hope that's not going to be a problem, is it?

i dont think it should be that big of deal... but If I remember correctly it said in the instructions to use antiseize or some type of grease on the end of the bushings so you might want to do that but If you don't it probably wouldn't matter too much, might just get stuck in there over time easier.

89MustangGX · Mar 17, 2004

K.C.90gt said:
i dont think it should be that big of deal... but If I remember correctly it said in the instructions to use antiseize or some type of grease on the end of the bushings so you might want to do that but If you don't it probably wouldn't matter too much, might just get stuck in there over time easier.

Mine didn't come with instructions -- Doh! Anyway, I used some spray lube on the flanges of the bushing that go inside the rear end -- is that where I am supposed to, or do you mean inside the bolthole for the control arm? And does it say it needs to be something heavy like anti-seize or grease or just lubricant (what I already used!).

Thanks!

K.C.90gt · Mar 17, 2004

89MustangGX said:
Mine didn't come with instructions -- Doh! Anyway, I used some spray lube on the flanges of the bushing that go inside the rear end -- is that where I am supposed to, or do you mean inside the bolthole for the control arm? And does it say it needs to be something heavy like anti-seize or grease or just lubricant (what I already used!).

Thanks!

It said to use antiseize on the ends of the bushings, the part that contacts the axle's metal control arm housing, not inside the boltholes. It helps to slide them in easier when installing and also prevents them from wearing faster and getting stuck in there over time.

89MustangGX · Mar 17, 2004

Then the question becomes...is it worth taking back apart to add more antiseize (if I'm not worried about removing them). As I mentioned -- I did spray some lube in there, but it is light, not heavy like an anti-seize or grease. I wonder how much wear would really be affected since they don't spin at all on the outside -- is it just for installation and removal???

K.C.90gt · Mar 17, 2004

89MustangGX said:
Then the question becomes...is it worth taking back apart to add more antiseize (if I'm not worried about removing them). As I mentioned -- I did spray some lube in there, but it is light, not heavy like an anti-seize or grease. I wonder how much wear would really be affected since they don't spin at all on the outside -- is it just for installation and removal???

these are on uppers? I wouldn't go through the trouble personally just to put some antiseize on them, They should be just fine.

89MustangGX · Mar 17, 2004

K.C.90gt said:
these are on uppers? I wouldn't go through the trouble personally just to put some antiseize on them, They should be just fine.

Thanks!

Yes, uppers. All the other spherical bearings install perfect and work nice and smooth. I'm still not real sure about the stuff -- I want to do it right, but I'm not sure why you'd really need it. With nothing rotating - it seems that it would only be for installation (already covered) and removal (still doesn't seem that it would be that hard since they split).

Any more thoughts??

K.C.90gt · Mar 17, 2004

89MustangGX said:
Thanks!

Yes, uppers. All the other spherical bearings install perfect and work nice and smooth. I'm still not real sure about the stuff -- I want to do it right, but I'm not sure why you'd really need it. With nothing rotating - it seems that it would only be for installation (already covered) and removal (still doesn't seem that it would be that hard since they split).

Any more thoughts??

well.. im not sure on how your control arms are setup but the ones I got were only spherical on the axle side of them. They had a sphere in the center of it that had two metal hallow cylinders on each side of the sphere that you could slide right out. I put the antiseize on both ends of these cylinders and slide them back in then installed it. On the other side of the control arm where it connects to the torque boxes they were just like every other lower control arm and I used antiseize on the bushing ends because of the reasons I stated earlier. If you have spherical bushings on both ends of the uppers then I wouldn't worry about it.

89MustangGX · Mar 17, 2004

Yes, I have all metal on both ends of the uppers and the lowers have one side poly, one side metal. I'll post the company pics so you see what I have. I'll just leave everything as is then...unless you or anyone else thinks differently.

Thanks for your help!

89MustangGX · Mar 18, 2004

Well, I finished installing everything...it all went together pretty well, though when I got down to the last bolt it was tricky to line up -- I suppose since there's no more give anyplace. It all looks good -- I guess I'll see how it loosk when I get it back on the ground!

Anyone have as much trouble installing spherical bearings as I did?

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