Rear lateral link bushing replacement and rear wheel alignment

[Bill B.]

I just got new tires on my 2002 Legacy L Wagon and noticed that the outside edge of the left rear tire was wearing.  I found that the rear wheel alignment bolts where frozen, and I could see that they had not been touched since the recall undercoating..  I made a video that can be accessed at

I cut off the bushing and bolt with a 4 inch x 1/6 inch x 3/8ID Norton Norzon cutoff wheel and a drill.  Glad I didn't try the sawzall method.  The hard part was removing the bushing from the lateral link and pressing in the new one, but I developed a method and the second one went much better than the first.  Also, I think I make the right choice by replaceing the inner bushing under the car, instead of trying to remove the outer bushing and replacing the lateral link and bushing as a unit.

 

The bushing was removed by first pushing the inner bushing sleeve out using puller, and then cuttling a slit in the outer sleeve with a hack saw.  I then broke the outer sleeve loose with a punch, and finished with a puller.

 

The most helpful technique I can share, is how I got the bushing pressed back into the lateral link.  I used a long 1/2 inch bolt.  one end had 2 washers.  The inner washer just fit inside the lateral link, and served to center the bolt head.  My 27mm socket head matched up with the bushing, and it went in straight.

 

Hope that helps

Bill

 

 

[Legacy777]

Bill,

 

Welcome to the USMB and thanks for the informative post and video!  I'm sure it'll help someone in the future.