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6 ton harbor freight press for panhard bushing?

H

holdenjp

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Location
Indiana
Anyone have any experience with the 6 ton table top Harbor Freight press for swapping bushings for panhard, torques, etc...? Never mind that I know some people think harbor freight stuff is garbage. I don't own a shop so I don't need expensive stuff.
 
Might have a hard time getting the old sleeve out. I've had some that were pretty stuck in there. If you're buying, at least get the 12T, should suffice for most things. I have access to a burly 20T, never had something that wouldn't either press out or damage if it wouldn't press out. lol
 
Six tons isn't enough. 12T isn't enough if the car has seen road salt. We almost blew up a friends press at his shop trying to get these bushings out of the Boston 245.

If you're going poly, you can go "medieval" on the thing and get the bushings out without a press. It's not fun to be sure..... but it's cheaper than a press.

-Ryan
 
I did the panhard with no press fyi.

Torched old bushings out (or drill holes), then use a sawzall to cut the sleeve (or jigsaw or chisel or whatever fits tbh). Once the sleeve is cut, you can use an awl to peel it off of the outer shell and they'll drop right out. I think there's a how to on this somewhere? (Google)

Poly will slide in with no press. Haven't used/tried rubber.
 
Ryan_R said:
Six tons isn't enough. 12T isn't enough if the car has seen road salt. We almost blew up a friends press at his shop trying to get these bushings out of the Boston 245.

If you're going poly, you can go "medieval" on the thing and get the bushings out without a press. It's not fun to be sure..... but it's cheaper than a press.

-Ryan
Click to expand...

Dang, seriously? Hadn't planned on getting a press that big, but I guess maybe I don't have a choice.
 
when I was doing that stuff on the 242 I'm working on, I burned a lot of those out, cut the shells with a sawzall and collapsed them in. kind of a pain, but not very difficult. I had some trouble getting the press to push things out without damaging the trailing arms
 
You definitely can just cut/burn out the rubber, then cut the inner sleeve as mentioned. For me, I look at it as a chance to buy a press, something I've found to be an invaluable resource in the shop.
 
I have a 15 ton press and sometimes even that has to work at the bushings. The bigger ones like the front trailing arm bushing can be tough. But it has always got it.

Sometimes you still have to burn a bushing. When doing the front control arm bushings last weekend we had to burn the rear one apart because the inner sleeve corroded to the control arm. Then grind the inner sleeve to get it off the control arm.
 
My personal rule when buying stuff from Harbor Frt is that if the item carries weight or force, I am going to get one with a rated capacity much larger than I think I need. I don't want to be running those things at or near their limit.
 
84 Blue 240 said:
I've had 100 tons on stuff like that for an hour before they came loose. I'd be shocked if 6 tons does anything.
Click to expand...

That's scary to think about, only maxed the 20T a few times, had to break out the heat before it popped. Thankfully if need be, the press itself could easily handle a 40T jack without fear of anything popping.
 
I got the 20t and it works well for bushings and bearings. I wouldn't use their hand tools but a press, why not. You will use it for more than bushings if you like to play with cars. You may find their ball joint cups good to have. You can use them to support the old and new bushings unless you have a lot of large sockets
 
Even with a 6 ton press you will easily mangle parts of the car that you're trying to press the bushings out of if you're not careful. The tricky part is the mandrels you need to properly apply the force where you want and support the part you're pressing the bushing in,out of, having a machine shop is handy for that. More often I've ended up just using a bench vice as a press for Volvo bushings.
 
Wouldn't surprise me, heard that with a few when the 20T finally broke them loose, can't imagine a 100T.

Also, FYI, bearing races make excellent drifts. ;)
 
One of the best things I've bought is the drifts and receivers for the 240. They have worked well and over the last 20 years I've only ruined one for the torque arm bushing. I also bent the top of the drift for the rear trailing arm front bushing but it still works.

If the bushing is tough, giving penetrating oil time to work and heat usually wins it over.
 
I used our good old bench vise on all the bushings... Surprisingly the vise did not break during the process, it only developed a bit weird sound when its turned. :lol:
I did not change the front bushing of the trailing arms though.
 
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