changing diff bushes
Discussion
Hi Dylan,
What you are suggesting isn't possible.
You need to take the half-shafts out and the tailshaft off, then unbolt and lower the "pumpkin" in its housing/frame.
Once out you will then (with a suitable sized lump of steel/ alloy) be able to press the old bushes out. When fitting the new bushes, one manual mentions aligning the split in the bush "north - south" (imagine the diff back in the car).
A handy hint to start the new bushes into the housing is to use a large hose clamp to close up the split - stops it all getting sideways and awkward as you install.
I fitted the FM "motorsport" bushes to my 2.5, hoping it would improve axle tramp etc., however realy noticed no improvement. This car has done over 210,000 klms here in Sydney, so unless you are sure they are stuffed, I wouldn't bother doing them. I took a couple of phone photos as these were being pressed in... I will see if I can find them.
Best regards,
Dave
What you are suggesting isn't possible.
You need to take the half-shafts out and the tailshaft off, then unbolt and lower the "pumpkin" in its housing/frame.
Once out you will then (with a suitable sized lump of steel/ alloy) be able to press the old bushes out. When fitting the new bushes, one manual mentions aligning the split in the bush "north - south" (imagine the diff back in the car).
A handy hint to start the new bushes into the housing is to use a large hose clamp to close up the split - stops it all getting sideways and awkward as you install.
I fitted the FM "motorsport" bushes to my 2.5, hoping it would improve axle tramp etc., however realy noticed no improvement. This car has done over 210,000 klms here in Sydney, so unless you are sure they are stuffed, I wouldn't bother doing them. I took a couple of phone photos as these were being pressed in... I will see if I can find them.
Best regards,
Dave
DaveOZ said:
Hi Dylan,
What you are suggesting isn't possible.
You need to take the half-shafts out and the tailshaft off, then unbolt and lower the "pumpkin" in its housing/frame.
Once out you will then (with a suitable sized lump of steel/ alloy) be able to press the old bushes out. When fitting the new bushes, one manual mentions aligning the split in the bush "north - south" (imagine the diff back in the car).
A handy hint to start the new bushes into the housing is to use a large hose clamp to close up the split - stops it all getting sideways and awkward as you install.
I fitted the FM "motorsport" bushes to my 2.5, hoping it would improve axle tramp etc., however realy noticed no improvement. This car has done over 210,000 klms here in Sydney, so unless you are sure they are stuffed, I wouldn't bother doing them. I took a couple of phone photos as these were being pressed in... I will see if I can find them.
Best regards,
Dave
Welcome Dave What you are suggesting isn't possible.
You need to take the half-shafts out and the tailshaft off, then unbolt and lower the "pumpkin" in its housing/frame.
Once out you will then (with a suitable sized lump of steel/ alloy) be able to press the old bushes out. When fitting the new bushes, one manual mentions aligning the split in the bush "north - south" (imagine the diff back in the car).
A handy hint to start the new bushes into the housing is to use a large hose clamp to close up the split - stops it all getting sideways and awkward as you install.
I fitted the FM "motorsport" bushes to my 2.5, hoping it would improve axle tramp etc., however realy noticed no improvement. This car has done over 210,000 klms here in Sydney, so unless you are sure they are stuffed, I wouldn't bother doing them. I took a couple of phone photos as these were being pressed in... I will see if I can find them.
Best regards,
Dave

Hi Dave, and welcome!
cheers for the advice there, i've already bought the bushes so will just have to see how the job goes!
i assume you bought these from FM
the ones i have from an english company are simple formed objects these ones which are incidentally australian
looks as though i might have a fight on my hands getting them in then!
i think i'll drop the diff mounts first, then pop one driveshaft if needs be (i still have flange type shafts) then undo the other side diff flange and hopefully pull the diff laterally enough to be able to disengage the shaft and lower the diff/prop/ppf as one unit, pivoting on the engine mounts
thats the plan anyway, i'll probably end up with the diff completely off but cheers for the info - feel free to post up the pics if you find them!
cheers for the advice there, i've already bought the bushes so will just have to see how the job goes!
i assume you bought these from FM
the ones i have from an english company are simple formed objects these ones which are incidentally australian

looks as though i might have a fight on my hands getting them in then!
i think i'll drop the diff mounts first, then pop one driveshaft if needs be (i still have flange type shafts) then undo the other side diff flange and hopefully pull the diff laterally enough to be able to disengage the shaft and lower the diff/prop/ppf as one unit, pivoting on the engine mountsthats the plan anyway, i'll probably end up with the diff completely off but cheers for the info - feel free to post up the pics if you find them!
Thanks for the welcome folks... :-)
FWIW, the images I referred to are here:
Bush about to be pushed out

New bush going in...

Close up of hose clamp... makes it heaps easier to start the bush into the housing if you are using the factory style bush. Note that the "split" isn't aligned North/ South in the housing in this photo. Not sure how critical it is, 'twas a comment in one manual I found on-line.

dylan0451 said:
Hi Dave, and welcome!
cheers for the advice there, i've already bought the bushes so will just have to see how the job goes!
i assume you bought these from FM
the ones i have from an english company are simple formed objects these ones which are incidentally australian
Correct on the FM bushes Dylan. I guess the fitting advice goes out the window with the poly bushes! I steered away from these after hearing reports that they increased the NVH considerably... I will be interested to see how you find them. The funny thing is, I have just bolted up a Beatrush PPF brace to try and reduce the tramp, and that is exactly what it does! (And funny to note, I commented to a friend that it made the MX5 sound like an older British sports car with a noisy diff! lol)cheers for the advice there, i've already bought the bushes so will just have to see how the job goes!
i assume you bought these from FM
the ones i have from an english company are simple formed objects these ones which are incidentally australian

dylan0451 said:
looks as though i might have a fight on my hands getting them in then!
i think i'll drop the diff mounts first, then pop one driveshaft if needs be (i still have flange type shafts) then undo the other side diff flange and hopefully pull the diff laterally enough to be able to disengage the shaft and lower the diff/prop/ppf as one unit, pivoting on the engine mounts
thats the plan anyway, i'll probably end up with the diff completely off but cheers for the info - feel free to post up the pics if you find them!
Wow... innovative technique! Good luck - if you can get the old bushes out under the car, it should be a lot easier getting the poly bushes installed than the FM ones!
i think i'll drop the diff mounts first, then pop one driveshaft if needs be (i still have flange type shafts) then undo the other side diff flange and hopefully pull the diff laterally enough to be able to disengage the shaft and lower the diff/prop/ppf as one unit, pivoting on the engine mountsthats the plan anyway, i'll probably end up with the diff completely off but cheers for the info - feel free to post up the pics if you find them!
FWIW, the images I referred to are here:
Bush about to be pushed out

New bush going in...

Close up of hose clamp... makes it heaps easier to start the bush into the housing if you are using the factory style bush. Note that the "split" isn't aligned North/ South in the housing in this photo. Not sure how critical it is, 'twas a comment in one manual I found on-line.

Edited by DaveOZ on Saturday 1st May 00:53
Edited by DaveOZ on Saturday 1st May 00:58
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