I finished putting in the new bushings. The left side was pressed out and the new poly bushing in the new sleeve was pressed in. It worked well but took time and was hard work. I couldn't get the right side to budge. So once I commited to burning it out it took 5 minutes. Far faster and easier than pressing it with very little residue to remove. If I had to do it again I'd use the burn out technique. A little work with the Dremmel and it was a shiny silver sleeve. My problem now is how to align the holes of the bushing to the trailing arm. I think now that I should have done one side at a time. The axle is sitting on my jack. One of those tapered punches that steel workers use to align holes for bolts would be handy. I have some pictures I'll put up if I can figure out how to get them uploaded.
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Simon 80 240 317k 18 years. 'White Lightning'

I just completed this w/poly on all rear on my 88 245. I used the car's jack under the rear of the trailing arm where the spring retainer is and used a Phillips screw driver to pry/help align the holes. What I noticed when putting a jack under the differential was it pushed the front [where U joint is] upward which caused the misalignment. Push down there by placing a block of wood between the U joint and the underside of the car. That will push the differential rearward. Also, FIRST I spread the ears on the trailing arm just a bit to accept the slightly wider poly bushing by using a block of wood and a few blows from a hammer. Tightening the bolt snugs it back. I took off both sides at the same time but left the torque rods and panhard rods until the control arms were bolted back in place to help maintain bolt alignment. But aligning bolts is the unspoken challenge next to getting the bushings out. Resist the temptation to pound the bolts in so you don't strip the threads. When properly aligned they will require very little force. Even when you get one side of the bolt in you will still need to pry w/ a screwdriver to align the other side. HTH.

You're absolutely right about the jack under the differential causing misalignment. I put another jack just aft and the movement up and down moved the hole on the left side forward and aft. Once that bolt was in place I had to move the hole on the right side for and aft with a come-along attached to the rotor. Three other jacks finished the job.
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Simon 80 240 317k 18 years. 'White Lightning'

From your post it appears you did only the TAB bushings?? At least the rest of the suspension will help get everything back. Hindsight hits us all.

At this time you'll just have to fight it. From my first fight: The cars jack comes in handy.

Use the non car jack under the differential, and lift the axle up to a point where you think the trailing arm will fit. Trial and error from this point on.

On the left side first, since you will not fight as much of the tracking arm, use the cars jack under the trailing arm and between the two jacks and some muscle on your part, get a large screwdriver into the bolts hole far enough so the axle will stay put when you take the cars jack out and work on the other side.

On the right side, use the two jacks and some muscle to get another screw driver that fits between the brake disc and the bushing started into the bushing from the OUTSIDE in. With that screwdriver, "adjust" until the bolt starts from the inside and then drive the bolt partially through but not into the other side of the trailing arm. Or you may get lucky and have it go all the way through. Driving the bolt through with a hammer when not fully aligned may damage the bolt threads or the side of the trailing arm.

Return to the left side and place screwdriver in the outside, pull inside screwdriver, get the bolt started, then all the way through. Finish right side.

Reads easier than it is; but with the second jack you are only twisting the trailing arm instead of lifting and twisting.

Duane

Sometimes the best thing to do is to walk away from a frustrating job. I got back to it this morning and with three floor jacks and a come-along was able to get the bolts in in 45 minutes. I hooked the come-along to the right rotor and to the the towing loop near the back bumper. that gave me fore and aft movement. the floor jacks did the rest. Thanks for the help.
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Simon 80 240 317k 18 years. 'White Lightning'

I decided to try doing one side at a time also the next time I replace TAB's. I aligned the axle with trailing arm by pushing and pulling the axle by hand until I could get the bolt in. I also used a jack under the center of the differential to rotate the differential into the correct position. Dan

the other problem with doing both is that the axle is flopping around as you try to press out the second bushing. I couldn't get any leverage on the bushing tool and had to burn it out.
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Simon 80 240 317k 18 years. 'White Lightning'