Diff Bushes

[quattrophenia]

Hi fellow Chimmers.

I have been putting off the dreaded rear diff bush. The rear one has split and developed a bit of play.
I know a few have replaced them themselves and wondered it I could ask for an idiots guide to their replacement. The parts are only £40 but labour by a garage is almost £200. Is it a real P.I.T.A. to do or am I better letting X-works do them when in for the next service?

[Alun450]

Had all my dif bushes replaced last year, I'd have a Tvr man do it unless you have access to ramps, should be a job you ain't gonna do again for a long time unless you like drifting that is! Goodluck either way!

[BillC99]

Replaced mine last year while I had the diff being rebuilt.Once the diff is out it was a case of drilling out the rubber and removing the centre bush. once that was out I made 2 saw cuts through the outer bush about 1/8 inch apart and drove the outer bush out using a chisel.It took about 2 hours of grunting and cursing. The good news is the nylon bush goes in really easily!!

Good Luck!

[quattrophenia]

I did the suspension arm bushes last year and got in to the routine of cutting out the old bushes and replacing with poly's. The problem I am envisaging is accessing the bushes with the diff in place and using axle stands.
I take it you have to drop the diff to access the chassis mounts, in which case, how do you access the 4 bolts supporting the diff on the top?

[TJC46]

quattrophenia said:

I did the suspension arm bushes last year and got in to the routine of cutting out the old bushes and replacing with poly's. The problem I am envisaging is accessing the bushes with the diff in place and using axle stands.
I take it you have to drop the diff to access the chassis mounts, in which case, how do you access the 4 bolts supporting the diff on the top?

Hi Steve happy new year.

I obviously changed everything when i did the bodylift, but last winter i had to drop the diff. One of the 4 bolts you mention had stripped its thread in the backplate, so i needed to remove the diff to change it.[The backplate that is]

The diff removal wasnt too bad of a job.

Obviously you have to remove the exhaust, propshaft, and the drivshafts where they attach to the diff.

The next job is to loosen and free off everything else.

1st.
The front diff supports, that is the 2 main bolts thru each bush, and the 4 bolts fastening the supports to the diff.
Do not remove any off the bolts yet!

2nd.
Undo the rear diff bolt.

Now use a trolley jack to take the weight of the diff and remove all the loosened bolts.
If i remember correct, i had to turn the diff slightly to lower it thru the chassis, hence the reason to totally remove the front diff supports.

The front 2 diff support bushes can be drilled out etc on the bench, but the rear will have to be done in situ.
It may seem a lot of work, but by removing the diff, you can change all 3 bushes for poly ones.

Edited by TJC46 on Tuesday 8th January 16:12

[Graham]

quattrophenia said:

Hi fellow Chimmers.

I have been putting off the dreaded rear diff bush. The rear one has split and developed a bit of play.
I know a few have replaced them themselves and wondered it I could ask for an idiots guide to their replacement. The parts are only £40 but labour by a garage is almost £200. Is it a real P.I.T.A. to do or am I better letting X-works do them when in for the next service?

£200 quid would be money well spent. I changed the top bush on mine last year and replaced with a poly.

bearing in mind I had the body off and already had the diff out it was still a see you next tuesday...

it is a perfectly diy able job but not a fun one !!