Very clean! Mine was a daily commute into East London for many years so a little more crusty!

I bought what I believe was the genuine tool from TMS Volvo. it certainly came in what looked like genuine packaging and was a hefty piece of metalwork. I didn't bother with buying the reinforcing kit as advertised by Scandix since I reckoned, if necessary, I could knock something up that would do the job from stuff I had lying around.

Two things surprised me about the tool. Firstly the bearing had a grease nippe and secondly how fine the pitch of the thread on the screw was. Both suggested that the tool was intended to apply a lot of force.

My understanding is that the usual way this tool fails is to do with the roll pins that engage with the bush, hence the re-inforcing kits on offer.

With regard to doing the job, for me by far the hardest part was shifting the splined bolt retaining one of the bushes in sub-frame. a process involving hours of frustrating judicial brutality documented elsewhere on this forum.

After a trial, it was quite obvious that the bush wasn't going to move without applying more force to the tool than I felt was reasonable. As others have said, heat is your friend.

Even after heating the sub-frame around the bush until the plastic began to melt and bubble, a lot of force was still needed to remove the bush. It came out in a worrying series of jerks and needed reheating a couple of times to keep it moving. Anyway the tool survived unscathed which is more than can be said for my nerves.

After removing the old bush get the inside of the sub-frame, where the new bush will fit, as clean as possible. A liberal application of silicone grease will help the new bush slide home.

The tool can be used to press the new bush home, which it will do with another series of jerks and it may be necessary to keep the bush straight on course with some judicious lateral taps from a hammer.

in the end I didn't bother with the reinforcing kit, trusting to experience (or more accurately, luck and foolhardiness!) not to over stress the tool.

Personally I would not have contemplated replacing these bushes myself without this tool although I freely acknowledge it can be done. However the proper tool minimises the risk of personal injury and collateral damage.

Martin

1998 V70 Tdi Auto

Yes, the splines were tough! Here's a couple of 'after' photos just to tease those who are still battling with the job!

As an update to my original post, my trusted garage, Southwell Lane Garage here in Kirkby in Ashfield, Notts, have been working on my 1997 V70 and really doing a great job, plus at competitive rates too. As for the rear bushes, the outer axle pair were straightforward as expected. The delta link bushes were removed with care using an air chisel and without any special tool, again, these proved straightforward. Obviously, you need the correct equipment and having the vehicle elevated helps. They have just done the PCV system and next is the rear springs and dampers. All parts are from PFV. Jamie at PFV has been very helpful with advice.

Here is the listing on Skandix

https://www.skandix.de/en/spare-part...-axle/1061471/

I don't have the reinforcement bit myself, but I have done several bushes, always using the Volvo tool plus heat.

Hope that helps,
Steve

All useful info ^^^^^

I note Skandix recommend removing the suspension arm completely and using rust penetrative fluid and hammer blows to loosen the rust on old arms before using the tool. Presumably we are all working on old arms hence the need for heat and gentle persuasion in addition to the tool. All good fun and games :)

Removing the suspension arm completely is a bigger job but I can understand how that would make things easier. I did think about changing the bush at the other end (the 'Transverse Arm Mounting' in the attached image from Matthews Volvo Site) but at the time I did mine I think I read that they rarely fail.

Just replaced these bushes on 3cars with the tool, 2 more to go. It can be a struggle even with the tool but for example the last one took only for 40 mins.
The tool is massive, did you use impact wrench on it?

I probably did use an impact, but that would be for speed, not for impact, if you know what I mean.

When you heat the arm sufficiently the black plastic bushing melts and almost squirts out. The circumference of the bushing has collapsed and the pressure against the arm is greatly reduced.

At that point, you can screw the tool either with a ratchet driver or an impact, and pull the old bushing out.

But if you don't use heat, there is a risk that the impact will damage the tool.

I clean up the inside of the arm, to make it easier for the new bushing to slide in. I also chamfer the leading edge of the new bushing to make it easier to get started. I also put silicone grease on the inside of the arm.

Steve

As above really, grab a piece of tin to act as a heatshield, make sure your handbrake cables are out of harms way, heat the arm until the plastic starts to ooze out of the arm, big nut and bolt through the end of the bush so you have something to hit. Couple of whacks with a lump hammer and it’s out. To refit use a small flap wheel on a drill to thoroughly clean all the corrosion etc out of the arm, silicone or similar plastic/rubber friendly grease inside the arms and on the bush after filing a slight chamfer on the plastic housing of the bush. Line it up, couple of blows with a mallet until you can get the splined bolt back in.

Genuinely not as difficult as some may have you believe, 100% possible on your drive without the special tool. Getting the splined bolt out can be hit and miss, the nearside flew out on mine with maybe three hammer blows, offside took about 30mins of heating, smacking, wd40, chisels, jacking up on it, all sorts…