Front diff bushing replacement? (3 Viewers)

[Somebodyelse5]

It's great to have an Air Chisel (that is how I did mine) BUT you'll want to attack the bushing from the bottom. And BEFORE you do that, remove as much of the core of the bushing as possible.

An 1-5/8" hole saw in a 1/2" drill makes short work of it. Then you can take a SINGLE bevel chisel bit and hammer straight in to deform the metal shell. It will peel right out once that is done. I know this doesn't help you at this point, but for the benefit of others in the future, I offer this method.

View attachment 2539476

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Install new Bushing:

View attachment 2539480

I did this^, core out, bent flanges in, still would come so I kept bushing the walls in.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Ouch. You should’ve worked it from the bottom, not the top. It still sucks and I’m so sorry nightmare material right there.

I did, that failure was from impacting the bottom face of the bushing bore.

 

[l3n0x]

I did, that failure was from impacting the bottom face of the bushing bore.

I mean work it from the bottom like the face that’s closer to the road, not to the hood.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

I mean work it from the bottom like the face that’s closer to the road, not to the hood.

Yup, I was working from the bottom. look at the angle of the fracture surface.... that was from the air chisel hitting the inside, bottom (from the road side) of the bushing bore, right at the edge of the smaller diameter hole.

 

[l3n0x]

Yup, I was working from the bottom. look at the angle of the fracture surface.... that was from the air chisel hitting the inside, bottom (from the road side) of the bushing bore, right at the edge of the smaller diameter hole.

Oohh. You went too deep! (That’s what she said)

 

[giacomo]

" That is great news. I'm over hear thinking I need to pull the axles.....

I assume the drive shaft comes off or is there enough space in the slip yoke? "

obviously drive shaft comes off...

Giacomo

 

[suprarx7nut]

That is great news. I'm over hear thinking I need to pull the axles.....

I assume the drive shaft comes off or is there enough space in the slip yoke?



Don't give me an air chisel.... I was working the outer diameter in and had just enough of a slip. Here's a picture of the main "liberated" portion of the fracture. You can see (if you look closely) where the chisel impacted, that may not be the blow that cause it, but it shows that I did in fact hit the cast aluminum with an air chisel. My theme song should be "If you wanna be dumb, you gotta be tough" and also.. I hate cast aluminum.

This is the "lower" surface of the bore, the face that the bushing bottoms out on. (So, orientation relative to the vehicle, this is upside down)
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Ah. Yeah, you want the air chisel to stay out of the cavity. Like @flintknapper shows, you go sideways, then point down.

Thanks for sharing! This will be a cautionary tale for others.

 

[HundoRookie]

Ah. Yeah, you want the air chisel to stay out of the cavity. Like @flintknapper shows, you go sideways, then point down.

Thanks for sharing! This will be a cautionary tale for others.

Good day all! Just worked through this entire thread, such good info thanks! Quick question I'm trying to determine the "mark number" on the front washer plates for my '99 LC. The part number is 41311B. Anybody out there know what this is? Allegedly there are 61 different options so I need to know the correct one. Thanks in advance.

 

[Gohmanopolis]

Hi all. Sorry to reopen thread but after reading through all of this great info, I’m starting to wish I found it before I installed my bushings.
I recently replaced my front diff bushing, cv axles and hub axle flanges. I’m worried I’m still getting too much play in the front bushing. Is it possible I installed it incorrectly? I’ve attached a video to show the play it has. Play in bushing
Thank you for the help everyone

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Hi all. Sorry to reopen thread but after reading through all of this great info, I’m starting to wish I found it before I installed my bushings.
I recently replaced my front diff bushing, cv axles and hub axle flanges. I’m worried I’m still getting too much play in the front bushing. Is it possible I installed it incorrectly? I’ve attached a video to show the play it has. Play in bushing
Thank you for the help everyone

Excellent video to demonstrate the issue. I couldn't see the top of the mount very well, but is it possible you might be missing the top spacer?

I am talking about this one:

 

[Gohmanopolis]

Excellent video to demonstrate the issue. I couldn't see the top of the mount very well, but is it possible you might be missing the top spacer?

I am talking about this one:
View attachment 3250835

That was another question I had. Which size pick/upper bushing goes up there?
There is a bushing up there but the kit I bought came with two different thicknesses and none are labeled. So I compared the old bushing to both new ones. From what I saw, it looked like the thinner of the two uppers went on the front.

 

[Gohmanopolis]

Excellent video to demonstrate the issue. I couldn't see the top of the mount very well, but is it possible you might be missing the top spacer?

I am talking about this one:
View attachment 3250835

When you say it’s demonstrating the issue, are you agreeing this is too much play? I’m not as worried about a clunk as I am about damaging the diff that’s why I ask

 

[ClassyJalopy]

Looks like the thicker one goes on the rear mount: