Hi. Hoping for some advice. I have taken rear suspension arm off and removed the old bushes and wondering about refitting the new bushes. With the other arm i gave it to my local garage who were doing my van mot and they popped old bushes out and fitted new for beer tokens. With the current lock down this is not going to happen so I'm doing it myself. Easy enough to get old bushes out but struggling to get new ones in. Quite difficult to keep arm steady and get the new bush in! Can i use any lubricant at this stage, wd 40,silicon spray,oil?can i chamfer the end of the bush a little to get it started then use my bolt/socket to wind it in?I'm asking becase i know this needs to be a snug fit and using a lubricant may not be a smart idea.any thoughts? Thanks

Hi Pete.

I had a similar issue and ended up putting a very slight champer on the bush to help it align correctly, and a thin film of vaseline.

I then used a socket / bolt assembly and sometimes my bench vice to seat it home. Most or all of the vaseline was wiped off it as it was drawn in.

Take your time is my best advice with these jobs. Probably got plenty of that if youvare under house arrest as we are in NZ currently????

Did you make a note of how (a) the old bushes sat in the suspension arm and, (b) how the shims were distributed either side of the bushes? Both these factors will affect the rear suspension angles. The rear wheel 'toe-in' for the 500 is (according to the factory w/shop manual)--- 0 deg 10' -10'+15' as long as the measurement is the same each side. The best thing to go for is 'straight ahead'. The swinging arm pins are tightened to 6,000kgmm.

Thanks chris,i will try that today and yes you are right we are on lock down so time is on my side. Its taken 5 years to get this far on my rebuild and am now looking at various bits wondering what went where as i took it apart so long ago !

Thanks tom. I have kept the shims as they came out and will put them back that way. Suspension set up is way above my pay grade as a spanner monkey so my first trip out if i ever get this thing finished will be to get suspension/steering geometry checked by a man that can. Thanks for torque setting,just need to find my torque wrench now. Not used that much in the last decade.