Has anyone tried fitting new bushes on a D8 wishbone ?
Mine are shot and I found someone selling replacements on eBay but was wondering if it was worth the hassle of changeing the bushes or do I just bite the bullet and buy a complete new arm?
I've checked service box and part numbers match but I know it's not going to be a case of simply popping the old ones off and sliding the new ones on
1996 1.9 TD LX (Gone but not forgotten)
2003 2.2 HDI SE
Looks like you'll need a press to change either So you'll have to take it to bits, take the wishbone(s) somewhere to have the old pushes pressed off & the new ones pressed on. Obviously you'll need to take the bus. I'm not sure if the new ones come assembled (were they on ebay too?) and they're loads more expensive than just the bushes. It might be easier to get a wishbone from a breaker, have the bushes on it replaced (if necessary)and swap it for yours in 1 afternoon.
Last summer I had a Vectra estate that failed an mot because of play in a bush on the trailing arm at the back, the guys at the garage rang me to tell me and said that it needed a whole new arm at a cost of £180 So, I had a look on the net for local scrappies and came across a little place that strangely I passed every day without knowing it, and he sold brand new bushes for £10, and with a bit of heat and the correct sized socket I was able to push out the old knackered bush and push in the new one within an hour, back to the garage for a re-test and is all was well.
Ok, I was thinking dealer prices (135 quid a side!) but I've had a squint on ebay and you're right - there's a guy selling the complete wishbones with both bushes for 48 quid a side (with free postage!), bushes are 9.50 for the front and 13 quid for the rear so that's 25 quid-odd for the wishbone, so it's perhaps not worth getting your hands dirty at the breaker's and then having to find someone to press the bushes on and off.
A quick update for you all, I'd already ordered 1 set of bushes from eBay so I thought I'd have a look at the job then decide whether to just buy new wishbones. As it happens the rear bush was completely fubared and basically fell out of the wishbone !!! goes a long way to explain the knocking and loss of handling.
So I turn to my shiney new eBay purchases equipped with an array of squashing and bashing tools to fit the new bushes as I couldn't bring myself to put the old ones back in.
At this point I realised that as a short term, low cost fix, if you buy bushes from eBay pressing the bushes into the wishbone involved putting your finger on the back of the bush and 'Pressing' down as it slides into the hole.
So the moral of the story, if you need to get a car through an MoT cheaply buy your bushes from Ebay, if you want the job to last, save up and buy the proper wishbones.
It has made me wonder what quality the bushes are in the complete wishbones are on eBay?, if they're the same bits just pre-assembled what's the point in blowing the extra cash???
1996 1.9 TD LX (Gone but not forgotten)
2003 2.2 HDI SE
All I know Steve is that it's a hell of a lot quieter due to the fact the rubber on the old bushes had virtually disintergrated, my biggest concern was how light the casting on the replacement felt compared to the old one! Especially as it's connecting the wishbone to the car and I don't fancy it cracking and having it collapse on me.
The bush the other side is basically 2 tubes with rubber in the middle and a bolt holding it all together so it should still work whether it spins or not.
I'll replace both wishbones as soon as cash flow allows as I can now hear the slight knocking from the passenger side which used to be drowned out by the loud knocking from the drivers side
1996 1.9 TD LX (Gone but not forgotten)
2003 2.2 HDI SE
So, I had a look on the net for local scrappies and came across a little place that strangely I passed every day without knowing it, and he sold brand new bushes for £10, and with a bit of heat and the correct sized socket I was able to push out the old knackered bush and push in the new one within an hour, back to the garage for a re-test and is all was well. 
