Spring Perch Bushing Removal

RockHillWill

Well-known member
I am getting ready to restore some front spring perches and would like some feedback regarding some tried and true methods of removing the worn bushings.
 
If they can't be pressed out, I run a hacksaw blade to cut a slot on the inside in two spots. The will allow the bush to collapse away from the perch and then be removed easily.
 
Take an old clutch release shaft or pedal shaft and have a friend with a lathe turn it down for you so that it becomes a pusher outer\pusher inner tool. Then just drive them out with a hefty hammer.

If you find that the shackles wore through the bushing and into the perch. They can be repaired by a good welder. They insert a bronze rod the size of the bushing into the perch, then weld up the void. The weld does not stick to the bronze.

Tom Endy
 
Similar to what Dave does, using a jig saw, stick the blade through the bushing hole and cut through on one side. Then rotate the blade 180° and cut through on the opposite side and the pushing can be pushed out. If you get a tad careless and "nick" the perch making the cut, just TIG up the gouge and metalfinish smooth.


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Thanks guys, I was hoping to find a general method for removing bushings in a variety of differently worn bushings. What I have is a pile of pretty poor condition perches and want to try to rebuild 8-10 of them good enough to use. I made a press tool like Tom suggested and that works if I have some bushing material around the entire sleeve area, but most of the perches I have are worn thru almost smooth and the 'pusher' tool does'nt work consistantly. I also made a fixture to mill out the old bushing and to insert and drill the new bushing while still in one place on the mill, but for a reason I am not understanding, I am burning the end mills up. Maybe I'm cutting at an incorrect speed, but the end mills get 'cooked' quickly. I am noit an accomplished machinist, but have done my share of mill work.

Thanks again for the input. The ideas will help me figure out a method, that makes it easier.
 
I use one of those old air powered hacksaw the tool trucks were peddling back in the 70's and 80's.It is the ONLY use I have found for it,unless you want to count bending up new hacksaw blades.I've used it on dozens of truck kingpin bushings,and probably on hundreds of brake pin bushings on trucks and trailers.I have some pretty nice bushing drivers,but like you say,if the bushing does not have a good amount of meat on it the driver just wedges right in there.Besides that I can cut out two bushings in the time it takes to mount the mandrel on the driver.
 
Thanks guys, I was hoping to find a general method for removing bushings in a variety of differently worn bushings. What I have is a pile of pretty poor condition perches and want to try to rebuild 8-10 of them good enough to use. I made a press tool like Tom suggested and that works if I have some bushing material around the entire sleeve area, but most of the perches I have are worn thru almost smooth and the 'pusher' tool does'nt work consistantly. I also made a fixture to mill out the old bushing and to insert and drill the new bushing while still in one place on the mill, but for a reason I am not understanding, I am burning the end mills up. Maybe I'm cutting at an incorrect speed, but the end mills get 'cooked' quickly. I am noit an accomplished machinist, but have done my share of mill work.

Thanks again for the input. The ideas will help me figure out a method, that makes it easier.
I believe you're burning your end mills because they are not for boring, they are for facing edges etc by being run along the edges. If you build up the inside of the perch with weld, I would use a slot drill. The slot drill is designed to plunge directly into material and the traverse if required. I would also be looking at the speed as well, and use a high quality water soluble oil coolant on a constant feed.
 
I have one of the major parts suppliers removal and installation drifts and it works fantastically. When I do other bushings I use a small, thin chisel sharpened to a point and cut one side. It takes 1/4" out of the diameter and allows the bushing to fall right out.
 
Maybe I'm over thinking this issue, thanks.

Maybe this will help: The 28-31 Model A ford is really a very simple machine. I have found, in all the years I have worked on them, that if I am standing there scratching my head trying to figure something out on them, I am always trying to over-think the situation. Henry Ford wanted the Model A to be able to be fixed on site by an uneducated farmer in the middle of a field with minimal tools. And, he got it.

Good luck and keep posting!
 
28A, maybe I better get a farmer to help! Ya reckon' an Onion farmer could help, LOL.

BTW, In the '80's, I built an oval track car for a gentleman in San Diego named Borneman, and he flew me out there and we raced 7 races in 12 days up the west coast from San Diego north to the 'grapevine' and on into Portland, Seattle and ended up in Yakima. When on that tour I got an order to build a car for a pair of law enforcement brothers in Olympia named Hume, and another order for a Winston Cup car from a large motor home dealer named Marvin Welty and a daughter named Chrystal that were some where south of Seattle. Ever cross pathes with any of those folks? By now they are probably old and decrepid like me, but we tore up and closed down a few bars in the day, and I wore out a bench chatting with a pair of cops for 9 hours one morning in Tacoma and it wasn't in Duncan Donuts either.

Just wonderin'
 
28A, maybe I better get a farmer to help! Ya reckon' an Onion farmer could help, LOL.

BTW, In the '80's, I built an oval track car for a gentleman in San Diego named Borneman, and he flew me out there and we raced 7 races in 12 daysof c up the west coast from San Diego north to the 'grapevine' and on into Portland, S

Borneman was a great guy. He died of a heart attack a few years ago.
 
28A, maybe I better get a farmer to help! Ya reckon' an Onion farmer could help, LOL.

BTW, In the '80's, I built an oval track car for a gentleman in San Diego named Borneman, and he flew me out there and we raced 7 races in 12 days up the west coast from San Diego north to the 'grapevine' and on into Portland, Seattle and ended up in Yakima. When on that tour I got an order to build a car for a pair of law enforcement brothers in Olympia named Hume, and another order for a Winston Cup car from a large motor home dealer named Marvin Welty and a daughter named Chrystal that were some where south of Seattle. Ever cross pathes with any of those folks? By now they are probably old and decrepid like me, but we tore up and closed down a few bars in the day, and I wore out a bench chatting with a pair of cops for 9 hours one morning in Tacoma and it wasn't in Duncan Donuts either.

Just wonderin'

I got a lot of miles on Yakima speedway, Had the track record back in the sixtys. That was a long time ago!

Bill
 
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