Steering bushing replacement

[Bjt]

208e timberjack steering bushing needs replaced the one under the tranny. The housing is not egged so the bushing just needs replaced. Any ideas on how to replace? Thanks

[treeslayer2003]

are you meaning the bushing in the cylinder eye? could be a spherical bushing or a plain bronze bushing. i'm not familiar with that machine.
either way, remove the cylinder.

[Bjt]

The cylinder is removed and the bushing is in the frame it has to be knocked or pressed out. The walking beam and this one are the same bushings. Thx

[David-L]

The bushing should not slip right in. I believe a 2 1/2 inch socket will do the trick for pounding it in. you will have to check that size. If the bushing falls in its to loose. By some 5 thous shim stock and make a cone, place it in the weld mount on the machine and then hammer that spherical bushing home. Grease it daily. That front one is just no fun to work on. Make sure the the ears on the cylinder barrel aren't egged out or that will have to be sleeved or welded up and ground out. Good luck. I will be doing this to my 240 during mud season. Done a couple with the shim stock and they seem to hold up.

[Bjt]

A socket n sledge, I can handle that. Thanks ol friend I'll start on it tomorrow.

[mf40diesel]

Please keep us posted on how it goes. I for the third one need to do this on my 225 this spring as well.

If it weren't for the access, it looks like an easy job.  But darn, about the only thing that can get to that area easily is a flashlight beam.  You'd have to hang by your feet almost to get two hands there. 

Seems access is one of the biggest down falls of these old TJ's.  Would it have killed them to make a couple removable belly plates under them?

[Bjt]

I'll let you know how it goes. The tranny is removed so access is good. Heck yeah a removable belly pan would've been great lol.

[Bjt]

The bushing change wasn't as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. I used a 2" socket and enough extension to get above the fuel tank. Then from the passenger side on a step ladder I give it around 4 hard hits with a 8lb sledge that worked the bushing out of the frame. I used a smaller 3lb hammer and the 2" socket without the extension to pound the new one in. I also put the bushing in the freezer for an hour before instillation but don't know if that helps.

[mf40diesel]

I believe the freezer trick definitely helps at least.  Changing dragarm bushings on my old ship we would often dip them in liquid nitrogen.  With that it only required a few taps to get them in,  without it, we would beat on them with a 12 lbs sledge to wear out a man.

I have to reseal the steering ram, so it will be out of the way, which is good.  I guess I will rig up a couple ratchet straps or rope or something to hold it up and pull it out.  Once again, looks like a relatively easy job, tough to get to though.

[Mountain_d]

Where can one buy liquid nitrogen? In what kind of container does it come and how do you handle it?

[mf40diesel]

To be honest with you,  I don't really know where we bought it.  Our port engineer bought it.  If I had to guess, I would say Unitor or maybe Airgas???  Not real sure, perhaps a machine shop would know.  As for how to handle it, we always had it a stainless steel (again actually I assume it was stainless) can, roughly the same as an antique milk jug, like you would see at a dairy.  It had thick styrofoam insulation built around it, and a lid of the same design.

Stuff was pretty cool, (litterally and figuratively)  looking down in the jug it almost shimmered, even though it was clear it was obvious it wasn't water.  For the bushings we had, we bent a piece of steel into a hook and lowered them into the jug, let them soak for a little while, and pulled them out.  With welding gloves, or really any thick leather gloves you could handle the bushing enough to line them up into the parent bore, and tap away.  Made a huge difference.  Without the nitrogen, it was real work to get them in, with it, they would almost slide right in.

[ohiowoodchuck]

A bulk gas supplier can get it, we got ours from air gas or boc gas as it used to be called. It comes in a returnable insulated container. You simply pour it out into a sturdy metal container and place your part in there and give it about 10-15 minutes and it will be ready. Wear long sleeves and gloves when pouring even a face shield. When I was a mechanic at a metal stamping plant we would use it for press pins. I've seen our porta power hit almost 50 ton pressing out pins and after soaking them in liquid nitrogen they would slide in by hand.

[teakwood]

I have done some big bushings on my excavator with dry ice, work good and was affordable

[breederman]

You can get ln at air gas etc. The drop off cans hold much more than you need for a one time job . Look around and buy an old used semen tank and take it in and they will fill it . Or find your local semen salesman and see if he will fill it . Tanks can be had for a hundred bucks or less and should hold juice for at least 60 days.
If you are unfamiliar with ln BE CAREFUL!  It will  burn you. Best to let someone do it that has had some training