OK, here we go....The painless howto guide to possibly the worst job on a Crossflow 7...Changing the A-Frame bushes, in less time than it takes for your tea to go cold !
So, you're driving along and you get the 'gearbox clunk' . Initially, it feels like something has broken on the gearbox , but the longer you own a 7 , the more you realise it is fixed with the cheapest part you can buy !
So, you have 'The Clunk' , and the remedy is new A-Frame bushes........
Tools needed are:
- Rubber/Wooden mallet
- 19mm ring spanner
- 19mm Socket
- 'Big Red' Screwdriver
- Fingerless gloves (to save skinned knuckles !)
First.....make a cup of Tea, but with two mugs, one for the tea and one to drop the bushes into,
Right, into the garage...
No need to jack the car up.
- Undo the nut and bolt and knock the bolt out with a wooden/rubber mallet.(19mm)
- Lever the A-Frame down and pull the bushes out - They usually look destroyed !
- Now the difficult bit. Your bushes have been stewing in boiling water , and are now a lot more pliable. slide the bushes into each side of the A-Frame.
- Next, squeeze the bottom of the bushes with the Mole-Grips. This should compress them just enough to get the top of the bushes inside the lugs on the Diff.
- You can then release the Mole-grips, put the scissor-jack under the A-Frame and slowly jack into position. Usually it wont line up (ie: front to back) , so slide a large screwdriver into the bolt-hole and lever the A-Frame into position (Surprisingly easy!) , slop some copperease on the bolt (so that you can actually get it off next time !), tap the bolt back in and do up to the 'FT' Tolerance (That's 'effing tight ' to you and me !)
You should now be able to stand back , sip on your tea and admire your now very tight rear-end !
If your tea has gone cold , you are not working fast enough !!!!!