right i thought this would be a good idea as i did mine yesterday and although it was very easy, some people may struggle...

jack up the car and support it on axel stands, remove whichever wheel on the side your doing first, this guide is on the passeneger side but the same applies to both sides

so you start with these:

and a TCA that looks like this: (notice the standard rubber bushes)

start by undoing the pinch bolt that holds the ball joint to the bottom of the suspension strut

then tap the bolt through gently and put it to one side for later

then use a long bar to lever the anti-roll bar down so you can pull the strut free (up against the gearbox works well)

next unscrew the nut and bolt on the inner of the TCA that holds it to the car and again tap it out gently

this next step is made alot easier if you put a jack underneath the ARB so you have something to push against, then undo the nut that holds it onto the ARB:

and then using the long bar once again to push the ARB down you should be able to pull the TCA off fairly easily, if not, tap it with a mallet

so now you should have something that looks like this:

i was lucky with the next step and my bushes came out very easily, but the TCA over an open vice and a few well aimed blows on the centre of the metal sleeves should have them out in no time:

now you have a TCA that looks like this:

clean the holes and smear with copper slip

the powerflex bushes should just push in by hand, but if not then a vice will push them in fine

and you should now have a TCA that looks like this :)

in true haynes style, refitting is a reversal of removal, just copper slip all the bolts etc

the finished product:

lower the car to the floor and double check everything is still tight and double check everything has settled in fine after a few days

i think this should be in the FAQ

Edited 4 February, 201115 yr by dubownerbilco

howd you rate em after a drive? much differance

howd you rate em after a drive? much differance

first thing i noticed is how it doesnt follow the road so much under braking, i have yet to give them a good beasting :)

far wiser to undo all bolts slightly, especially the ARB one, rather than take out the pinch bolt and inner bolt, so they are all no longer under tension.

in the past I've just drilled the rubbers out which i found easier than smacking the TCA as the last thing you want to do is bend it, and if you miss the centre bush, the rubber absorbs all the impact.

also get that inner mount cleaned up and a lick of paint on it, to help prolong the cars life.

good job on the mini guide tho :)

nice guide mate, Don't suppose you have a spare set you could measure up for me?

M

far wiser to undo all bolts slightly, especially the ARB one, rather than take out the pinch bolt and inner bolt, so they are all no longer under tension.

good job on the mini guide tho :)

well i followed haynes and thats how they explained removing it (apart from beating it with a hammer, the inner came out with 4 hits anyway) and it worked for me no problem :) cheers for the advice anyway

Striking rubber with a hammer can result in a serious head injury - far better to use the vice as a press,suitably sized sockets can make good drift tooling for this.

this will come in handy later on today!

thanks

Edited 10 February, 201115 yr by d.watson08

this will come in handy later on today!

thanks

It really is as easy as it looks! The only problem you may come up agaist is seized bolts as they are all constantly getting battered with salt etc due to being so low to the floor

Ye got a seized bolt where the ARB goes through the TCA. Used wd40 but just won't budge. Not really got anything to heat it up either?

The only other thing I found difficult is squeezing the new TCA setup into the mount on the car. Had to use a car jack to get the pressure upwards. Because the sleeve of the TCA is angled (your's don't look at steep as mine) the bushes naturally push outwards.

My bushes wouldn't sit in like this photo without holding them.

Fitted these a while ago to my mk2 made quite a difference to mine, but now both my balljoints a rhubarb'd on my wishbones so I'm gonna buy some new wishbones soon.

Bit of a stupid question though, but would I get away with taking my powerflex bushes out of my old wishbones and puttin them in some new wishbones??

yeh should be fine, just inspect them for cracks and tears

Nice guide.

I would agree with Mikey on the drifting advice when getting the old ones out. Bashing with a hammer causes a lot more stress on everything.

I just made a sandwich so it went Vice - 13mm Socket (pushing the bush) - TCA - Massive socket (for the bush to push into) - other side of the vice.

In terms of whether its worth doing... i would definately reccomend it. If you get that polo knock that seems impossible to find it might be this. I replaced CVs, topmounts etc trying to find it but after fitting this the whole front end seems so much more solid but actually more comfortable and potholes and bumps seem less "crashy".

Made a lot of difference on mine. I went around the inside of the TCA bores with a die grinder to remove the casting marks, probably overkill but I guess in the long term it'll increase the longevity of the bushes.

I personally wouldnt lever on an ally gearbox casing

I personally wouldnt lever on an ally gearbox casing

its not exactly alot of force, just enough to push the arb down to release the tca