front shackle bush replacement on MK patrol

[CAMOMQ]

hi,
my front shackle bushes are stuffed i just pulled my shackle off and it has a hard bush in the chassis and a yellow bronze lookin bush in the spring eye...
whats the easiest way to get both of these out and can i buy replacement rubber/nolethane type bushes off the shelf to go straight in ?

thanks daniel

[InSanE]

I had a shit fight with these years ago mate on my old MK what i did was get a drill bit and drill them out then fitted the new ones and problem sold

[Sterlo]

Daniel

The replacements will be steel, are a pain to get out, if you have access to oxy heat up area and knock out will dolly the right size. Or the drill idea sound a good one it have limited tools,

[Chook350]

i used a die grinder bit in the 240v drill and heat from a propane torch and got em out, took a few hours but did the job

[CAMOMQ]

ok thanks guys looks like ill have to buy some poly and machine my own replacements, damn MK nissan engineers...

cheers daniels

[David_S]

ok thanks guys looks like ill have to buy some poly and machine my own replacements, damn MK nissan engineers...

cheers daniels

The steel bushes are fine in the top if you lubricate them properly. The problem with the grease point is that when injecting grease it takes the easy route out and so only greases half the bush. When you get them out - heat and belting with a 5lb hammer and suitable drift worked for me - you will probably find that the steel pin needs replacing too as it will probably be worn. I doubt that there is enough room to fit poly bushes. If you fit new pins and steel (or phosphor bronze) bushes, every so often jack up the chassis to take the load off the springs, partially knock out the pins and relubricate before driving them back. If you do this regularly, every 6 months say you will have no problems and the pins/bushes will last indefinitely.

The lower pins/bushes tend to wear more because of the twisting action of the spring eyes. I use 5/8" phosphor bronze bushes here reamed out to 16mm to fit the pin. They wear out faster than the steel ones but are a lot cheaper than the Nissan steel ones. The steel pins last indefinitely with the PB bushes as the PB is softer than the steel.

Two other tips. Make sure that the spring hangers are parallel. i.e. same distance apart at the top and bottom. May need packing with washers. Also I have found that fitting a length of motor-cycle tube over the whole front shackle assembly and first few inches of the leaf springs keeps dirt and water out of the assembly and I don't have to grease so frequently and the pins/bushes last longer.

David