Rear suspension bush

[raystevenson]

Hi guys I’ve just put my S3 through a MOT and had an advisory on the rear suspension bush. I’ve got new bushes but haven’t got a clue how to access them!

Please see the photos.

where are my finger is pointing is roughly where the bolt I need to get at is located.

The other bolt in the picture is where the MOT I said I would need to undo to drop down the rear and access it, however that appears to just be a bush and just turns.

 

any assistance would be gratefully appreciated

[IanS]

Whilst this is an advisory it is not going away.

As I see it you have 2 choices either drop the subframe or cut a hole in the side.

I would drop the subframe. It has 3 mechanical mounts as a sierra and possible extra mounts. The back of the diff and the 2 donuts. You probably need to remove the seats to undo these.

The prop shaft can be easily unbolted with 4 bolts (these are rare metric fine so dont loose them) and left in place.

The hand brake can be disconnected at the swivel and left conected to the brakes and the hydraulic brake disconnected and tempory covers fitted to the open ends.

Support the diff on a jack as you undo the mounts and slide out.

[Sparepart]

I agree, you don't want to be hacking away bits of bodywork. When you remove the seats, on each side you should find a large roughly rectangular thick steel plate It is bolted to the SS floor. The large bolt in your picture comes up through the middle of the plate so you can undo it. The outside edge of the plate is bent up at right angles and a bolt goes through it and the bush that you want to replace. In your photo of the "bad" bush you can see the edge of this plate to the left of the bush. The big round bush with the big bolt is set in all that rubber so no matter how tight that big bolt is, it still can move about. Whereas the right angled flange connects more firmly to the subframe. So the big bolt and the bolt through the flange will hve to be removed along with all the other stuff the IanS mentions in order to drop the subframe enough to replace the bushes. In the case of an Exmo, the SVA inspector insisted that a second vertical bolt be placed, not set in rubber, to fix the subframe firmly to the plate in the floor. So you might find another vertical bolt when you remove the seat. The head will not be visible in your picture because its up inside that hole just to the left of the big rubber mounting.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Sparepart
fix typos

[raystevenson]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the advice. I’m thinking this will have to be a winter project for me!

[2bTom]

Make sure you change all the bushes that you can whilst you can get at them. You don’t want to be doing this again next year.