1988 G50 3.2: Getting Trailing Arms back into car after bushing refresh

[Skepa122]

Hello,

I am trying to put my trailing arms back into the car after doing a bushing refresh. I went with Elephant Racing bushings and pressing them into the trailing arms went relatively well.

The problem now is that the new bushings are too wide for the slot which receives the trailing arm.

The slot is the one hanging off the torsion tube and I cannot get the trailing arm to fit back in so that I can insert the bolt on which it pivots.

Any ideas here?

1) File down the receiving slot on the inner portion? Potential rust problems
2) Bang on the slot to widen it, potential issues with aligning bolt when reinserting
3) squeeze rubber bushings quickly and try to put it in (tried but it is too complicated and not possible)

[gtc]

How I did it last time:
Compress the bushings with a C-clamp to get it partially inserted in to the slot, then remove the clamp and use brute force to get the trailing arm in to place and align the bolt holes. Wiggling the trailing arm back and forth while pushing seemed to help. It helps to have someone else supporting the weight of the arm.

[Skepa122]

Great idea with the C Clamp, thank you.

I ended up lifting the trailing arm as high as I could and wedging it in the slot and walking it in. It is a super tight fit but somehow it worked.