Upper Rear Trailing Arm Bush Replacement Guide

[Yobbo]

I had an annoying rattle from the rear of my V50 for quite sometime and became more apparent when I had coilovers installed - the noise can be described as sounding like one of the rear quarter windows is loose and at threat of falling out, or a little gremlin swinging a hammer about in the wheel arch.
Nonetheless it is ANNOYING, and can be generated with a bite of the clutch from idle and over various bumps in the road - it is most commonly misdiagnosed as the rear anti-roll bar droplinks being shot...

I decided to polybush mine using the Powerflex Rear Trailing Arm Blade Bush but more or less the same rules apply if using the OEM ones.

The copy of the Laser tool required for the installation:-
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Removal-I...72.m2749.l2649

No instructions supplied so here is the link (save it, in case the link goes dead):- http://www.lasertools.co.uk/items/PD...structions.pdf


The guide I followed, (but not exactly...*):-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQE2h3EKAtY&t=237s

* It's a good video but a couple of points to note:-

- During removal, on the hub itself; you should loosen the lower control arm, upper control arm, lower tie rod, and shock bolts before you undo the two upper trailing arm bolts. Otherwise the trailing arm (also known as the 'lateral link/hub carrier' by Haynes) will be freely swinging about and getting the bolts loose in that position could end up mangling the control arm bushings...
Before removing the lower control arm completely undo both of the top nuts on the anti-roll bar drop links then push the bar all the way down and out of the way.
The lower control arm bolt can be removed by jacking up the hub a bit, this will allow the bolt to be removed easily.

So for REMOVAL my method is to -
1. Loosen the nuts of both wheels and jack up both sides of the car to put on stands (one notch will do), remove wheels.
2. Remove the top anti-roll bar nuts.
3. Remove a brake caliper and suspend with bungee cord.
4. Loosen bolts connected to the hub
5. Remove top anti-roll bar nuts
6. Remove plastic cover - be careful the nuts are weak.
7. Remove the upper trailing arm bolts
8. Unclip all the ABS wiring rivets and the handbrake torx bolt (be steady)
9. Slightly jack up the hub on the lower control arm, remove the damper bolt, then remove the lower control arm bolt (use spring compressors before hand if stock height), remove the upper control arm bolt.
10. Loosen the tie rod bolt until you can fold the trailing arm hub towards you and rest it in the inverted position - you will now have access to unclip the ABS sensor, drape this on the other brake cables above and out the way.
11. Remove the assembly from the car, mindful not to snag on the ABS or handbrake cables.

- INSTALLATION
* KNOW YOUR TORQUES:-
- 2 x upper trailing arm bolts = 120nm
- Damper bolt = 115nm
- Upper C.A, Tie rod, Lower C.A. = 110nm
- Anti-Roll bar drop links = 50nm
- Brake caliper slider bolts = in the Haynes manual but I go 'tight enough'.

1. Insert the upper control arm bolt and nip it up flush, you might be able to use a foot/knee or a box to help get the initial position - don't forget the brake hose clip! This makes repositioning a hell of a lot easier.
2. Get the two upper bolts nipped up flush with thread lock on, re-assemble the ABS wire harness rivets and the handbrake cable mount as well.
3. Insert the tie rod bolt and nip it up
4. Reconnect the ABS connector
5. Insert and nip up the shock bolt
6. Insert and nip up the lower control arm bolt (lift with a jack)
7. Pump the jack a few more times to take the hub up to tension while ensuring the coil is seated correctly - I removed mine, rotate clockwise until the rubber base slots into the hole.
8. Torque the bolts to spec in this sequence, 2 x upper C.A., Damper bolt, Upper C.A., Tie Rod.
9. Re-install the plastic cover, only finger tight as the nuts are pathetic!
10. Re-install the caliper, reattach the brake hose to the clip on the U.C.A.
11. Lower the hub again and re-install the anti-roll bar nuts only when you have done both the arms on the car.


OKAY, so that covers removal and installation of the trailing arm but what about the dreaded bush? Well I will try my best to cover both the Powerflex and standard type.
1. Use tippex or similar to mark the bushes' plate alignment, this is crucial when using the standard bushes as they do not rotate like the Powerflex ones.
2. Follow the instructions for removal from the Laser manual (outside to in), either set the arm up on the floor and stabilise with your foot or put in a vice. Make sure the tool is mounted straight and does not go in at an angle, I found that I could make a quicker job of removal by intermittent bursts from my electric windy gun, you run the risk of stripping the bolt head if you do this so be very careful... Use lots of moly grease on the threads!
3. If using the Powerflex bush saw out the inner alloy cage (actually you MAY need to this for OEM bush... I didn't measure up the set I had so just check beforehand), an electric saw makes a light job of this, I made three cuts then knocked out with screwdriver and hammer.
4. Clean up the inner surface of the hole with sandpaper
5. You may indeed find that a bush won't fit, what I found that one of the Powerflex bushes was slightly wider and in addition, the installation cup holder didn't quite sit flush on the lip of the bush case either...
So what I did was use my bench grinder to carefully grind down both the bush casing lip and the casing body maybe spending about 10-15 minutes per bush evenly rotating, then using sandpaper to smooth it all up.
I also did the inside of the hole on trailing arm, maybe not necessary...
6. Liberally grease up both the bush and the arm's hole.
7. Attach the installation cup facing from the inside to the outside of the arm which ideally should be positioned under a tool box, mount the installation cup and ensure it is 100% straight - I couldn't do this on one arm because there was a raised weld which made the bush go in p*ssed, what you should do is use some thin and long piece of metal between the arm and the base of the tool to level things out - washers might work here.
8. Re-install the bush - pay extra attention to the alignment of the OEM ones ensuring they dont rotate.

Re-install to the car as above, say goodbye to horrid rear-end rattles and a jiggly back end over bumps and round corners!

Don't forget to book in a 4-wheel laser alignment too.