This gap here - surely that can't be right?
Rear beam bushes. Is this how it's supposed to look?
- Thread starter Duncodin
- Start date
Nope, the center has debonded I’m afraid. That needs replaced.
Is that difficult to see/check from under the car? Just wondering why I've never notice it till I had the inner plastic splash thing off.
I saw a thread on here a while ago about a way to change those beam bushes without dropping the whole beam. Just loosening one end at a time and using the weight of the car to push the bushes out. Anyone done that?
I'm in two minds whether to drop the whole thing. The trailing arm bushes look and feel good - I think.
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One of mine looked exactly like that, the center practically fell out when I removed the beam. I also have a couple of beams off the car, one looked like that and I pushed the metal center out by hand.
If the condition of the trailing arms themselves are good, not heavily rusty, I’d just replace the beam bushes.
But do I still need to drop the whole thing to get the beam bushes out? If did drop the whole thing then I'd change all the bushes even if they didn't need it.
Or is that drop one side at a time method actually doable?
Or loosen the exhaust etc and lower the whole things just enough to get at the bushes?
The car is in the air so I'm not working on my back on axle stands
I’ve been told by 2 people they managed to follow the instructions on here to replace the beam bushes one at a time. Neither had any huge difficulty as far as I know.
This thread I think
zroadster.org
How To Guide - Beam Bush Replacement ( In Situ )
I’ve been searching for sometime to find a way to change the rear beam bushes on my Z3 without having to do a full strip down, exhaust, driveshaft etc, etc and came across a Youtube video by an Australian guy called Samuel Vella which caught my interest. His video shows how to remove the old...
zroadster.org
From doing mine on axel stands and in my own opinion is it’s only a few more bolts to drop the whole thing. You will then have greater access to get the beam bushes out using a press or burning them out if they are firmly in there as mine was. Another plus is greater access for any refurbing of any of the component parts and addressing any rust or lifted undercoating, but if your underside and components are in mint condition it is doable but I think more difficult.
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2023
- Points
- 66
I'd agree with that, but it's a question of how necessary the car is and how long the owner can do without! I'll do this over the Winter so am reading all the relevant threads with great interest; but I'll remove the components completely, blast and repaint then rebush, deal with anything else that arises, and assess the bits that are usually hidden in behind. I only want to do it once, so will do as much as I can while it's all apart.
I've done a few of these with the proper tool.
The way I do them is to unbolt the lower18 mm damper bolt, remove the coil spring and then have the trailing arm fully upwards using a jack or axle stand. That then allows the subframe on each side to come right down without stretching the brake hose, making it easy to unscrew the long through bolt.
On an E36 Compact once, I replaced the standard through bolts with E30 ones that don't have the bit washer built in. I screwed them straight in with a big washer each side, job done.
The way I do them is to unbolt the lower18 mm damper bolt, remove the coil spring and then have the trailing arm fully upwards using a jack or axle stand. That then allows the subframe on each side to come right down without stretching the brake hose, making it easy to unscrew the long through bolt.
On an E36 Compact once, I replaced the standard through bolts with E30 ones that don't have the bit washer built in. I screwed them straight in with a big washer each side, job done.