Rear Trailing arm bushings

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ZUBAJA
Scoobytruck Master
Posts: 276
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:38 pm

Rear Trailing arm bushings

Post by ZUBAJA »

So I discovered that my left rear trailing arm bushing had separated. After reading up on the job, I decided to go with Whiteline urethane bushings as a replacement. There didn't seem to be a write up on here, so I found something under Outbacks. I figured I'd put something on here for future information.
The problem areas of the job seem to be:
The main bushing bolt gets seized in the center bushing.
The 3 (on each side) bracket bolts can have the welded nuts inside the body break loose so that the bolt just spins
(for me) the strut brace bolt on the bottom of the bracket gets rusty threads and doesn't want to come out or breaks off.
I started with the bracket. Because I had previously had all these bolts out AND USED NEVER SEIZE when I put them back, these weren't a problem.
The strut brace did stick, so I unbolted the other end where it bolts to the subframe bolt (I had also previously had this bolt out)
I was able to apply a little heat to the bushing nut and get it off w/o problem, but the bolt was still frozen in the bushing.
Because of this, I unbolted the shock, the and upper and lower arms, the sway bar link, and the axle nut and ended up pulling the whole arm off bracket and all.
Once off, I was able to place the bushing bolt over a socket and drove the bolt out of the bushing. I placed a nut over the end so as to not damage the threads, tapped it (hard) a few times until I got some movement, oiled it, and tapped the other direction. After a few repetitions of this, I could turn the bolt and get it out of the bushing.
Now I had to deal with the frozen bolt in the bracket. First I cleaned up the rusty threads on the top of the bolt and oiled them up good. I got a few turns on it, but I could feel the threads starting to strip. At this point, I took a reciprocating saw and cut the head off the bolt. I placed a nut on the other end and welded it to the threads and then turned that half of the bolt out the top, saving the threads and the bracket (as I understand it, the brackets are available.
With the arm off, I also discovered that the left rear wheel (axle) bearing was rough, so it got replaced too.
Because the bushing was separated, the center pushed out easily. Some cut through the rubber, some burn the rubber out with a torch. Once the rubber is out, the reciprocating saw was used to cut grooves through the steel shell of the bushing, then I tapped the shell halves out.
After cleaning and painting, I did reassembly. The Whiteline bushing halves easily push into the arm, and the new steel center pushes through the bushing halves. The new bushings pivot on the center bushing, so once installed, the bolt / nut can be tightened. All other bushing bolts (or OEM bushings if used) have to be tightened with the weight of the car placed on the suspension.
separated bushing - slipped to one side
separated bushing - slipped to one side
DSCN1718.JPG (2.65 MiB) Viewed 2307 times
nut that had to be heated for removal (right next to gas tank!
nut that had to be heated for removal (right next to gas tank!
DSCN1719.JPG (2.71 MiB) Viewed 2307 times
forgot.  Brake caliper, bracket, rotor, and all parking brake parts had to come out
forgot. Brake caliper, bracket, rotor, and all parking brake parts had to come out
DSCN1720.JPG (2.68 MiB) Viewed 2307 times
See part two for more pictures
ZUBAJA
Scoobytruck Master
Posts: 276
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:38 pm

Re: Rear Trailing arm bushings

Post by ZUBAJA »

Part two:
Note in the brake picture, the screwdriver is pointing to a small "horse shoe" clip. This holds the parking brake cable in the backing plate.
Note: If you are going to do this, have a set of GOOD jack stands. You are going to be under the car and you will probably be pulling on a breaker bar. Because you will have the back wheels off the ground, chock the front wheels on both front and rear of the tires.
with everything removed
with everything removed
DSCN1721.JPG (2.53 MiB) Viewed 2306 times
ready to start assembly
ready to start assembly
DSCN1722.JPG (2.44 MiB) Viewed 2306 times
Dennis
bajabeliever
Scoobytruck Lurker
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2022 10:06 am

Re: Rear Trailing arm bushings

Post by bajabeliever »

I did this too with whiteline replacements as I thought it would cure squeaking i was getting. It didnt🤕. I must say that the stock bushings look worst off than they really are most the time. You may see some cracks and stuff but if you look how they look new, they kinda look like jumbled marshmallows to begin with. anyhow, Its easy to remove them if you use a hole saw and then a sawzall to get through the outer metal ring. be careful not to mark the swing arm. i dropped the mounting braket to get the clearance i needed. The hardest part is to get the bracket to realign while tied to the swing arm. be patient with this as those bolts go into the body. good luck all.
Bobsagator
Scoobytruck Contributer
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:12 pm
Location: Near Knoxville, TN

Re: Rear Trailing arm bushings

Post by Bobsagator »

I chuckled at how the op conveniently left out the parking brake just like the service manual. I felt victorious when the arm was fully detached from the Baja, to be totally shattered when it was still tethered to the Baja by the parking brake.

It appears I am going backwards to the op since I started with a bad wheel bearing. Once I realized the bearing is stuck on the arm I decided to pull the arm off and go ahead and install all of the rear Whiteline bushings I bought sometime this past year.

Building up the courage this week to attack the parking brakes and hopefully will get the bearings off to get everything put back together and back on the road.
~Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way!~
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