DIY: Just Another Lower Control Arm Bushing Swap

[Filip75]

I'm linking this thread to my DIY site. Thanks

[atinybug]

this wouldnt happen to work on a e46 would it? my bushings are shot too and dont really feel like paying the dealer a crapload of money to fix it

[Tommy R]

Thanks for the kind words, y'all. The way I figure......I've gotten tons of good info from this site on how to maintain my car myself (God knows I can't afford to let a local mechanic do it, much less the dealer! ) so I try to return the favor whenever I can. And I try to do that with decently prepared DIY's. Yeah, this one is documented elsewhere, but IMO the more DIY procedures you can see done by different people, the better. It gives more perspectives, if nothing else. :12:

And while I do enjoy Shiner, it's kind of the "base model" beer for my tastes, if you will. I'd much rather ingest some Fat Tire, Newcastle, Bodddington's, and........and............

I'll be right back......

:

Ah, much better. :12:

Again, thanks for the compliments! Stay tuned! Tomorrow I'll be building a cat-back for the car.... Yabba dabba doooooo!

Oh, BTW, I should mention that my buddy, Zac, who helped with the bushing install, GAVE me his '97 M3 suspension! So we put that in last night, too, while we had the car in the air. Very nice, but my car's now taller than when it had the Sport springs. Interesting!

Later,
Tommy

P.S. No idea if this'll work on an E46. Sorry!!

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by Filip75
I'm linking this thread to my DIY site. Thanks

In case you may not have seen them and are interested, I also did some DIY's recently on rebuilding a differential after the dreaded "Diff Bolt Back Out" fiasco and how to swap a diff.

Here they are:
Diff Repair
Diff Swap

BTW, thanks for your site! It's one I frequent for repair help!

Tommy

[Filip75]

hey Tommy,

I've added those links too. Thanks, Filip

[hc1001]

great writeup!... for ur m3 suspension... the stock 3 series spring pad is thicker than the m3 ones... if u didnt get the m3 ones along with the m3 suspension, that could be a reason its a bit higher, for the rear at least...

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by hc1001
great writeup!... for ur m3 suspension... the stock 3 series spring pad is thicker than the m3 ones... if u didnt get the m3 ones along with the m3 suspension, that could be a reason its a bit higher, for the rear at least...

You might be onto something. When I installed the Sport springs, I removed all rubber isolators. The M3 fronts (didn't do the rears yet) were already assembled with their struts and they were installed like that. And their rubber isolators were arlready in there. I may remove the pads today when I do the exhaust, but time's rather short so I'm not sure what I'll do.

Oh, and I measured the front height. The M3 springs with isolators are more than a 1/2 inch taller than the sport springs with no isolators. :

Tommy

[beatniks325]

thanks Tommy R for the excellent write up and pics in all the DIY's you have been posting. Keep up the great work! any new write-ups in the works??

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by beatniks325
thanks Tommy R for the excellent write up and pics in all the DIY's you have been posting. Keep up the great work! any new write-ups in the works??

No sweat! The next write-up will be the custom cat-back that's now mounted up. It's too late to do the DIY for it today, but look for it at least by tomorrow evening.....

Tommy

[Tommy R]

The cutom cat-back write-up is now done. Enjoy!

Tommy (very tired after this weekend!)

[NegativeCambre]

Tommy, have you noticed much change from the new bushings? Also, I forget what the offset gives you... more caster?

Awesome write up. I wish your car was more messed up so we got more awesome write ups! Well... maybe I don't.

Yeah I do.

Steve

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by StevenRyan
Tommy, have you noticed much change from the new bushings? Also, I forget what the offset gives you... more caster?

Awesome write up. I wish your car was more messed up so we got more awesome write ups! Well... maybe I don't.

Yeah I do.

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for your heart-felt concern....

The bushings definitely provide more caster. And unless the camber curve is very aggressive, the M3 stuff may actually remove negative camber. :

I can't say what the bushings alone did, though. I installed the M3 strut hats (along with springs/struts) and the hats provde tons more caster, too. Now the steering is very heavy and snaps back to center very quickly. Honestly, it feels like the car is slower to respond now. However, the front grip seems to be very nice!

Overall, I'm happy with it, but want to get my ride height dropped back to where it was (at least!).

Tommy

edit: Good Lordy, I need to proof read!

[NegativeCambre]

Originally posted by Tommy R
Steve,

Thanks for your heart-felt concern....

The bushing definitely provide more caster. And unless the camber on the curve is very aggressive, the M3 stuff may actually remove negative camber. :

I can't say what the bushings alone did, though. I installed the M3 strut hats (along with springs/struts) and the hats provde tons more caster, too. Now the steering is very heavy and snaps back to center very quickly. Honestly, it feels like the car is slower to respond now. However, the front grip seems to be very nice!

Overall, I'm happy with it, but want to get my ride height dropped back to where it was (at least!).

Tommy

I hear ya. We just did a ton of work to my car... new LCA's and LCA bushings and also RTABS... on TOP of a ground-control suspension, rear M3 sway, and 96+ M3 strut hats (reversed for more negative camber). Isolating one change is absolutely impossible. I did go with stock 325 bushings, but the strut hats gave me wiggity wack caster.

The caster I CAN feel. If I didn't know the caster had changed, I STILL would have been able to tell that the struts were angled differently, like in your mind's eye you can picture what each front strut looks like at what wheel deflection. Fun stuff, like that.

I still need a tad more negative camber... I'm at something like 1.9 and 2.1... I want to get to a full fledged 3.0 for autocross, still pushing a tad. I'm thinking crash bolts, since I'm too cheap for camber plates... any thoughts on this?

Steve

[Tommy R]

Steve,

Have you done the washer trick for more negative camber?

Tommy

[NegativeCambre]

Haven't done the washer trick yet... I'll most likely mangle my toe if I do it, right? Don't want to pay for ANOTHER allignment... seems like I do one every other month for some suspension related change.

Steve

[U1arunit]

Tommy,

I did the LCA bushings tonight and it went very well. Thanks again for the great write-up.

Did you do a write-up for the RTABs yet?

[Balthazarr]

Gotta ask, do those Mechanix gloves allow sufficient dexterity to pick up nuts and washers?
I use a pair of old leather bike gloves, but they don't afford much in the way of manipulation.

Entertaining summary btw. Well done.

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by StevenRyan
Haven't done the washer trick yet... I'll most likely mangle my toe if I do it, right?

Just wear some steel-toes and you'll be fine. Oh! You meant the car's[ toe? :12: Yeah, it'll screw your toe, but will certainly add camber!

Don't want to pay for ANOTHER allignment... seems like I do one every other month for some suspension related change.

Steve

I know what you mean. Fortunately, my buddy works at NTB and can hook me up from time to time. For small changes, I just set the toe at home.

Tommy

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by U1arunit
Tommy,

I did the LCA bushings tonight and it went very well. Thanks again for the great write-up.

Did you do a write-up for the RTABs yet?

Congrats, Mark! And I'm glad I could help. How did you decide to install the bushings? A pull tool or muscle?

Haven't done RTAB's yet, but soon. Before then will likely be stainless brake lines, tranny bushings, and I'm not sure what else.... I did a bunch of stuff tonight, but it was all easy stuff: rear springs, shocks, RSMs, sway bar, and rear pads.

Tommy

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by Balthazarr
Gotta ask, do those Mechanix gloves allow sufficient dexterity to pick up nuts and washers?
I use a pair of old leather bike gloves, but they don't afford much in the way of manipulation.

Entertaining summary btw. Well done.

Thanks! Yeah, Mechanix gloves are okay, but for smaller stuff they must come off. My favorite is skin tight disposable latex gloves. Excellent feel and they keep your hands clean and sweat-free! They're hot, though.

BTW, I was going to install some UUC tranny bushings tonight, but one of the threaded rods in the bushing was screwed up and wouldn't take any of the nuts. Tried cleaning it up as best I could, but I think something's wrong with the whole length of thread. Wrong pitch, I believe.....

TOmmy

[Panzer_M]

awesome,

I got Mbushing on the Ti,

Didn't do it myself though

had my Bimmer shop do it.

[Balthazarr]

Thanks! Yeah, Mechanix gloves are okay, but for smaller stuff they must come off.

I've seen them at PepBoys in different designs.
Any particular pair that's better than another?

[Tommy R]

Originally posted by Balthazarr
I've seen them at PepBoys in different designs.
Any particular pair that's better than another?

Nah, they all seem to tear at the fingers first....

Tommy

[U1arunit]

Tommy,

I used plenty of lemon scented dawn dish soap. I used muscle to get them started on and used a large impact socket to tap the bushing on the inner center metal sleeve part and they went on pretty easily. Thanks again. :

[65Matt]

Thanks Tommy and understeer.com for the great writeups! I used a little different technique when putting everything back together. First, I bolted the new control arms into place without the bushing installed. Next, I used a 24mm socket and a hammer to drive the bushings onto the arm. I wasn't in a hurry to get the balljoint nuts on, and I had plenty of time to drop the car down before the soap lube had time to set up.

Now, for a Mastercard commercial:

Cost for the shop to install your new E36 arms and bushings: $500

Cost of parts by doing it yourself: $185

Cost of tools that you didn't have to do the job (vise, impact sockets, 19mm wrench, sledgehammer): $150

Squeezing the bejeezus out of those little bushings with the biggest damn vise you could buy after all the other methods you tried failed and left you pissed off, throwing stuff across the garage after the bushings became distorted because the vise you were using wouldn't clamp evenly, almost giving up and taking them to a shop and having them pressed in, and enjoying the satisfaction of finally pressing them in and laughing like a madman with your big-assed vise and 3-foot cheater bar so much that you begin to question your sanity: Priceless