Removing the pilot bushing

[rashenup]

I'm in the middle of doing a lot of maintenance work on my D1 before I move, and one thing is changing out the rotoflex. Getting the rear driveshaft off of the truck wasn't a problem at all... but the pilot bushing?? That's a different story altogether.

I've done some searches and basically all I've found out is what I already know. Getting that bushing out is no easy task.

Those of you who have successfully removed one of these, how did you do it? I'm going to start at it again in a little bit and any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Herkvet]

I had the same problem. A puller tool wouldn't work along with liquid wrench or a torch, or a combination of all three. I gave up pulling it out all in one piece and resorted to extracting it with a cold chisle. I cut out the inner brass bushing first, then went to town on the outer race of the bushing. After a while the bushing folded in enough to break the friction, and I pulled it out with vise grips. Good luck


:beer: :beer: :beer:

 

[jaacina]

A lot of force is what pulled it out of my Disco I and Disco II. I heated and hammered it out. Wrecked a vice grip to get it out.

 

[edthediscoman]

Funny, mine seemed in good shape when I did the rotoflex a week ago, so reading what a PITA it is, I left it in and regreased it.
Figured that will hold for a while as it did not feel much different than the new one. The bolts on the other hand, need to be replaced, as I had to use the old ones and they have wear marks on them.
Good luck, as that would be a bear.
Ed

 

[rashenup]

Thanks for the replies. Taking the chisel to it sounds like the way to go. I'll have to give that a shot tomorrow.

 

[LiftedDisco]

I removed my rear prop shaft and locked the centre differential. Then drove down to LR in front-wheel drive and the Service Manager had a tech pop it out with the LR tool while the truck was outside. Free of charge.

Your results may vary...

I am Canadian.

:cheers:

 

[jrsimpson]

Heat and BFH failed to budge that centralizing pin. Not having a slide hammer, I made my own puller (modeled after LR service tool):
http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?p=192671#post192671

With the puller I removed the pin easily in 5-10 minutes.

 

[Herkvet]

That's an awesome homemade tool; but we're talking about the bushing in the driveshaft, not the centralizing pin

 

[Howiemeister]

omg! talk about conjuring nightmares! here's what i wish i had done: taken the shaft to a local machine shop (before screwing with it myself) and paid them whatever they wanted to pull it out. here's what i did: torched it, dremeled it (diamond and grinder bits), hacksawed it, and finally got it cut up enough to where a chisel, bfh, and vise grips could pry it out. it cost me most of the day, a couple of six-packs for the relief help of my buddies, and some busted knuckles to remove the damn thing. tip for getting the new one in: throw the new bushing in a ziplock and toss in the freezer for awhile. before installing, torch the shaft. anyone with condensation or other issues for this method, please feel free to chime in, but it worked great!

 

[jrsimpson]

Oops, that's my mistake. Thanks for the complement on the tool. You're refering to the bushing that allows longitudinal motion (stretching and compressing) of the drive shaft?

Howiemeister, X2 on the temperature differential trick for pressed parts. I easily installed a press-fit u-joint into the yoke (J**p drive shaft) by freezing the bearing cap in liquid nitrogen (LN) at -196 deg C. I have access to LN at research lab, but it's pretty commonplace at most universities and certain medical centers. Dry ice (-78.5 deg C) might be another alternative.

 

[rashenup]

I'll have to keep the trick about freezing the new bushing in mind when I finally can get to it...

But for now I've passed the point of no return. The old bushing has been sufficiently destroyed that I have no option but to move forward. It needed to be replaced anyways as it was very loose on the pinion.

It looks like the way to get it off is just to keep hacking away at it until it finally comes free.

Thanks again for the pointers.

 

[BaldEagle]

i left mine in when i changed the rotoflex, so by the next time i needed one the bushing had pretty much welded itself to the shaft. i wrote a thread on my own version of a driveshaft conversion that i did a few months back