Anyone have suggestions on removing and installing the bushings mounted on the rearend with it still in the car ?

well if you have the upper control arm off i got mine out with a torch (b-tank) a big hammer and a whole lot of courage i think having it still inside the car will just make it a little more interesting to get at with the hammer but thats how you go at it heat it up and try to smash it out graemlins/thumbsup.gif good luck

A lot of guys claim success with select lengths of steel pipe and long bolts or allthread. Basically forming your own bushing press/puller.

Cam

I would drill as many holes as I could through the rubber all around the center bushing. Then, hammer out the inner bushing, and use a drift punch to collapse the outer bushing sleeve and continue to hammer the bushing out. Then, freeze your new bushings, lightly sand the rear-end ears and apply a little wd-40 and then use a 2" NPT pipe cap and a hammer to drive in the new bushings. Good luck!

2" NPT pipe cap and a hammerI used this method, but I also used a 6-8" piece of pipe with the cap, so I had somewhere to grab to hold it against the bushing...

I would loosen the lower arm bolts too, so you can drop the rearend some more...

yea, I did the hole drilling and punch method on the lowers, worked well, was just wondering about them ears. I'm sure it'll be like everything else. You start off wondering what kind of a mess your going to get into, then find out it was not bad at all. Thanks!

I went to the local Autozone and "bought" a bushing removal tool that also installs the new bushings. Then I took it back and got my money back, that is the way they rent tools.

i just replaced the bushing on my 71. i cut a piece of conduit sized to fit in the open part of the control arm to keep it from twisting or bending in then I used a vise to pop the old bushings out and put the new bushings in

the only bushings that i am speaking of are the ones on the rearend ears. i will be doing this in the car, so i know it won't be as easy as the others. i will find out soon though and will post my method of getting the rearend ear bushings out.

I was using an old 4" long 5/16 bit to drill the old rubber bushings on mine. I found that if you drilled next to the centre sleeve the bit grabbed and walked itself around the sleeve, separating it from the rubber. I then was able to just pull out the sleeve. I then drilled right next to the ear on the housing, once again the bit walked around and separated the rubber from the housing. I found this out by accident of course but worked great for all my bushings.I then just lubed the new poly bushing , pushed it in then used a long bolt and pipe sleeve to pull in the centre sleeve. I did this with everything out of the car.