407 wishbone control arm bushing replacements

[407]

So, for a bit of fun I decided to replace the wishbone/ control arm middle bush and the rear bush as well

In the car, it looked a bit knackered (but when pulled out seems fine but got replaced anyway) but the the rear bushing was total knackered (actually separated from the rubber)

All went well with undoing various bolts and then I came to the torx bolts - why did Peugeot decide to use torx bolts, esp when the E13 torx wrench did not actually fit the bolt (a normal 13 mm ring spanner sort of does the trick)

Having undone the main torx bolt (E18), it became apparent the CV joint was in the way so you could not pull the bolt out. On Citroens you can jack up that wheel using the suspension but no, not on the Peugeots.

I found that top steel plate that supports the control arm looks pretty flimsy compared to the rest of the engineering, but I guess does the work okay.

I used steel pipe shoved up under the suspension to lower the car and jack it up a little to clear the CV joint (first attempt using a hardwood 4 by 4 ended up with the suspension splittering the end of the wood and almost pulling the CV joint out)

With the control arm out, I then discovered that the new rear bushing hole was only 19.6mm diameter where as the end of the control arm was 20mm - seems there are two rear arm bushes - a normal one and the SV one - why beats me - given the time of day and not wanting to wait a few days to get a new one, the control arm was machined down to 19.5mm fit the new bush given its likely to be the last time it ever gets replaced

After pressing the new middle bush in, I refitted the control arm only to find that there was no way to realign the E18 torx bolt to its nut given the new bushing was pretty stiff and straight (eg wrong angle)

After various attempts, I gave up and undid the CV joint bolt and steering joint, separated from the hub and pushed the suspension up out of the way and the E18 bolt finally when in. I did not remove the disc or brake callipers, which does make it a bit heavier to handle.

Seems the trick is to undo and separate the CV joint from the hub first which makes it a bit easier.