Wits end rear control arm press

[ariff]

I get it.

I'm going to borrow a local set.

On tools, I prefer to own my own rather than borrowing, even on tools that are virtually a once-in-a-lifetime use. Tis way I can do it on my own time instead of having to schedule around someone else.

Hey Mark..
I got a killer deal on a 20 ton shop press the other day on the Lawrence marketplace.. 100 bucks with a new 20 ton jack, old one has some seal issues.. I figure if I have my own I can take a few weeks to do everything and not have to remove all the parts and come over to your place. Anyhow I am gearing up to start working on replacing my bushings.. And I am also hung up on getting the proper punch outs for these bushings.. Let me know if you find a solution ;>)

 

[BILT4ME]

Hey Mark..
I got a killer deal on a 20 ton shop press the other day on the Lawrence marketplace.. 100 bucks with a new 20 ton jack, old one has some seal issues.. I figure if I have my own I can take a few weeks to do everything and not have to remove all the parts and come over to your place. Anyhow I am gearing up to start working on replacing my bushings.. And I am also hung up on getting the proper punch outs for these bushings.. Let me know if you find a solution ;>)

I am borrowing a set from another local. I will probably pick them up tonight. Gonna try to do mine over the weekend of the 4th

 

[ariff]

I am borrowing a set from another local. I will probably pick them up tonight. Gonna try to do mine over the weekend of the 4th

Nice any chance I could maybe get in on the borrow.. I can return them with a 12 pack of their favorite beverage ;>)

 

[Bambusiero]

Here's a suggestion for upgrading your shop press, so that that scary "wind up" will be much reduced, if you're willing to put some welding fab effort into it.

I think the first thing I ever used my press for was to put OME camber offset bushings in the front radius arms.
Wow, yeah, it wound up like a spring, and released like a gunshot. Yikes!
After that experience, I really wanted to fix it.

It's not so much that it's a 20 ton jack, but that it's built smaller and lighter than a bigger press, so it flexes more under pressure.
Those few pumps you give it, but the bushing doesn't move? That's stored energy, waiting to release.
The main problem was the work support cross beam.
It was made from a couple of medium heavy C-channels, positioned on the outside of the verticals.
Under pressure, they bow outward. That's a spring.

My replacement is made from 3/8" plate, all triangulated like a truss, so that press force is transferred directly to the support pins in a straight line. All forces are either pure compression or tension (pretty much).
It made a huge difference. Very stiff now.
It did require some heavy hot welding.

p.s. Another tip for reducing the scary pressure release.
Once you get a modest bit of pressure applied, and no movement yet - smack the outside of the control arm sharply with a ball peen hammer, on the side, at right angle to the direction of force. The acoustic shock wave will make it release.
Still a bang, but a small one - more like a 22 short than a 38 going off. Not so scary.
Repeat a few times. It's out.

 

[DuckLN]

Thanks to all who contributed. Absent the correct tool i’m not sure i’m up to this but I am going to check typical parts stores and see what sizes they have.

 

[DuckLN]

Just to update. I still have not been able to buy or borrow a 49 mm and/or 53 mm press. If anyone has these sizes from wits end i could sure use them sooner than later.

Thanks/clay

 

[NLXTACY]

Just to update. I still have not been able to buy or borrow a 49 mm and/or 53 mm press. If anyone has these sizes from wits end i could sure use them sooner than later.

Thanks/clay

I JUST got in the 53s but 49s are in machining limbo.

 

[BILT4ME]

I JUST got in the 53s but 49s are in machining limbo.

Please work on getting a few sets made.

I may end up buying some anyway.

One BIG advantage of the Wit's End version is the bolt through the center to keep the took and bushings aligned.

The set I used are just pipes/tubes and can lean whatever direction they want while pressing if the cheap ass press you have doesn't travel perfectly straight.

I ruined two bushings because of this.

 

[NLXTACY]

Because these cost so much to make I only make 20 sets at a time. Sometimes that lasts 4 months, sometimes that last 2 weeks. Other issue is instead of only making a kit (which I should), I have them available separately too so the 53mm could sell out in two weekends where the 39mm grows a layer of dust.

 

[TYM4FUN]

Just to update. I still have not been able to buy or borrow a 49 mm and/or 53 mm press. If anyone has these sizes from wits end i could sure use them sooner than later.

Thanks/clay

PM me...I can have them out by tomorrow.

 

[TYM4FUN]

ETA Monday...

 

[MoCoNative]

I did all the bushings on the 80 in the last month. Job went really fast actually, I was expecting a hellish experience and having to fall back on plans B and C, but I was able to press all of them out and back in. Biggest hangup came when I put the front lateral bar bushings on the rear bar, the ID bolt hole is different but the OD is the same, wife even had them neatly laid out from the night before, as she was my assistant, I rummaged thru the box and pulled out the wrong ones. Once I realized my mistake, I went to press them back out and one hung up bad. If they had been the old ones I would have begun the butchering process, but having to save them changes things. Turned out the socket I was using had shifting slightly and rolled the outer shell over just a bit. Finally flipped it and "banged" out of there finally.

I was using a 12 ton Harbor Freight press, same design as the one pictured previously. The stored spring energy in that piece of crap is very real. About half way thru the job we sheared one of the cheap ass bolts on the black top cross strut. I think I had the bushing in a bind against the press plates after accident review. Scared the s*** out of the wife when the thing blew, bolts flying, jack on the floor, all the loose parts everywhere and the front radius arm on the floor. Bruised my hand a bit as I had my hand on the jack handle when it came apart. Later in the job, the spring effect of the bushing letting go a significant distance while pressing, I think let my jack jump a little sideways. I was focused on the sockets and such until I realized the was deforming the pushing the top black piece over. I also only had one grade 8 bolt around that worked, the other grade 5 bolt I had stuck in there after the first failure was beginning to deform. Which coincidentally is the same grade as the cheap metric bolts the press comes with. Off it came and I put some welds across the stacked plate design.

I was putting a lot of force on them, but they all eventually came out. For any real force I've always had to use a long bar on the jack, I don't know if that is good or bad. I did the whole job with various sockets, mostly from a large Craftsman 3/4 drive socket set, but it took several sizes. I had to start many of the bushings with a slightly larger socket to stay on the outside lip of the shell, but then they were too large to pass thru so I went to the next size smaller to send them on out. Rear bars were hard to hold on the press plates and not get the bushing in a bind. When it was all done, I think the press would have still been adequate, but the WitsEnd press kit would have been so much nicer. If I ever do it again, I would get that kit. I would also get a much better press. Wife even gave an enthusiastic approval for a better press after that one blew up.

 

[TYM4FUN]

WitsEnd has them in and out like butter. Oh, Freeze the bushings overnight...

 

[Bambusiero]

Just finished pressing bushings for rear upper control arms and both rear and front Panhard / track bars.

Was just about at my absolute wits end trying to come up with a good 49mm press die for the rear upper control arm.
Everything in my 3/4" sockets was a little too big or too small.
Plenty of 2" things around...but 50.8mm? Nope, just a smidge too big. No lathe in my shop (much to my continual frustration).
With all that pressure going on - really needs to fully engage that bushing shell with a flat surface, and yet slide easily through.
Gotta be Goldie Locks - just right.

Over the years I've saved up a shoe box full of round thingies for press dies and bottom supports for various jobs.
Sometimes had to fab something up from layers of medium heavy wall tubing because I couldn't scrounge up the right thing.
So - already had a good strong 53mm press support piece.

Took a trip over to my favorite friendly neighborhood pawn shop, caliper in hand, hoping to get lucky.
Turned out, after browsing the entire place, they had a secret stash of 3/4" sockets behind the counter.
Pay dirt! A 49mm diameter socket - cost me $7.

Spent some time grinding the edge flat - round and round, until a bur could be felt at the edge.
A few licks with the 12" mill bastard file, and I've got a nice rear control arm press die.

The edge of the press die MUST BE FLAT AND SQUARE !!!
Those of you who have used regular sockets without squaring them up - well, that's why it buggered things up.

Also - your whole press setup MUST BE SQUARE - or pretty close to it.
Take time to shim things up if need be.
Sideways force components can cause things to "squirt" out sideways - that's an injury.

@MoCoNative - I think you've just proven that a 12 Ton press just isn't enough for this job?
Mine is a 20 Ton, and sometimes I wonder if its big enough, but it has handled every bushing I've fed it - front radius arms included.
BUT - early on, I did go ahead and replace all the critical loaded fasteners with Grade 8 & torqued 'em down real good.
AND - the support bridge upgrade made a huge improvement in rigidity.
Strongly suggest welding in some heavy plate there.

@Rollinns - I'm stumped about the notch to hold position?
I position all the pieces by looking and feeling before pressing on.
Fiddle around as needed until it's all looking good.
Nothing should shift around as you apply pressure - if it does? Retreat! Regroup! Back off and start over!
No hands on the work piece under pressure. Just daring it to hurt you there.
I don't see the slightest sideways movement when smacking it sideways with the hammer.

Also - I lubed the ID and OD with gear oil before pressing in the new bushing.
@Rifleman said it's fine to do that, as long as it's a liquid lube (no moly grease or other particles).
He's a machinist and knows these things.
I assume it helped some - but it certainly didn't just slide right in.
Easy at the top, and took more and more pressure as it got deeper - makes sense.
No drama or trouble though.

Test fit all the pieces - fit's just right:

Smack it while under pressure - to get it to release with less pressure (and less trauma!) than no smack.
BUT - would NOT smack it towards an onlooker - just to be safe.

Don't ask why the rear upper control arms are cut into pieces - it's a project.

 

[Bambusiero]

Pressed about half way out here - after half a dozen 22 shots going off - 1/8"-1/4" at a time.

Cuts in (old) bushing shells was done with the grinder cut-off wheel.
I'm salvaging the cores for a project.

Still has original factory paint on the ID.
I just left it there, but you could gain a mil or 2 for easier press fit by cleaning it out?

 

[NLXTACY]

For all those still playing along at home, I have plenty of the tool kits ready to go:

Bushing Press Tool- KIT

Bushing Press Tool- KIT (BPT-1

absolute-wits-end.com

 

[Rifleman]

Also - I lubed the ID and OD with gear oil before pressing in the new bushing.
@Rifleman said it's fine to do that, as long as it's a liquid lube (no moly grease or other particles).
He's a machinist and knows these things.
I assume it helped some - but it certainly didn't just slide right in.
Easy at the top, and took more and more pressure as it got deeper - makes sense.
No drama or trouble though.

I'm so sorry, but i guess the fault may be mine if i wasn't explicit enough when i said to use lube. The lube i use when I'm doing press work is a product made by CMD, and it's made to work with extreme pressures. You'll find a link to CMD's web site below.

Extreme Pressure Lubricant – CMD Lube & Oil

 

[Bambusiero]

No, no, @Rifleman , you were quite clear about recommending the CMD lube for this purpose.
And thank you for that.
I just don't have any, so did the best I could, maybe a little better than nothin'.
Just the fact that it's OK to lubricate a pressed in bushing, at all, is what must of us would not know.

 

[Rifleman]

so did the best I could, maybe a little better than nothin'.

Well you know what they say, a wet hole is always better than a dry one no matter what lube you use.

 

[NLXTACY]

Well you know what they say, a wet hole is always better them a dry one no matter what lube you use.

I'll try spit next time