The first bush is the hard one. The second one drifts out easily with the tool which is heavy duty and also perfect. I did consider drifting one bush down until it contacts the second and then drifting both out, but the prospect of both being stuck put me off.
The sad thing is that new bushes fit perfectly over a new kingpin. The stub axle tube is misaligned when the fittings are welded on. I also considerd having the stub axles line bored, but obviously then you have the issue of securing the bushes so they don't move in the stub. A skilled engineer could line bore, secure the bushes, and the kingpin would just slide in without reaming. I've never heard of that being done, which suggests it's not worth the time and effort!
Absolutely nothing to do with the tubes being misaligned during the welding process. I've retubed several stub axles and I've clocked them up in the lathe afterwards which has shown nil distortion post welding.
Issue with line boring is that it is practically impossible to maintain any meaningful accuracy over the distance of a stub axle tube in a lathe You would probably need a boring bar overhang of at least 10.5" inches, the flex from this, coupled with an unbalanced work piece such as a stub axle would cause chatter in the machined surface!
Arwyn
