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
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