Got my thrust arms on with the nuts not tighten yet, most DIY say to drop the car on its own wheels and torque the nuts to avoid preload. Right now the car is on two towers both front wheels dangling, Can I just jack up the wheel(to simulate the car being on its own weight) and torque the nuts?

dont know much about this, but can youre jack exert 1 ton of pressure on the front wheels? Otherwise your not simulating the cars weight correctly

but like I said, I dont know much about it...

If you can apply enough upward force to the hub that the spring compresses down to the normal ride height, then yes, that should work.

I've done this on other cars with good success, but I haven't tried on an E34 to know if there's a good spot on the hub to apply the force without slipping or causing some kind of damage. I can't remember if there's anything important below the strut base.

drive it up on some ramps and tighten it that way. i did it and worked fine.

One would want to be pretty damn carefull the force needed to compress the spring isn't enough to push it off the jack and stands...You are using jackstands, eh?
Be berry berry careful, it is all fun and games til you have a ton and a half car lying on the floor with your leg pinned under it...or worse
Good luck. Work safe

Standard practice on a 4 arm lift is to stick a T stand under the steering plate and lift the assembly (and the corner of the car) until the frame rail's weight is off of the forward lift arm that corresponds with the T stand's side. Not exactly the safest way to do it, in theory, but...if the car falls, it drops a few millimeters back onto the lift plate.

Basically, the bushing needs to be set to ride height, which means getting the typical amount of weight on the front suspension.

Thanks Guys!

*UPDATE*
Ok so the thrust arms are in. I jacked the wheel hub right under the upper control arm ball joint and tighten the nuts in that end. Car feels fine, no weird noises or clunks. I replaced the bushings with the Bavauto urethane upgrades. I don't drive the car hard, but it doesn't feel harsh either. I'll keep you guys posted if something snaps off.

Got my thrust arms on with the nuts not tighten yet, most DIY say to drop the car on its own wheels and torque the nuts to avoid preload. Right now the car is on two towers both front wheels dangling, Can I just jack up the wheel(to simulate the car being on its own weight) and torque the nuts?

Yes you can. That is what I did. just place the floor jack under the caliper where the bottom ball joint is. You will notice a perfect place to do it....

Worked for me! :)

make sure (ESPECIALLY if you did sway links too) to retorque the bolts after a bit. My new sway links needed a retorque because they started clunking after 300 or so miles. Just fine now!

That procedure is not required for urethane bushings.

Good luck with the urethane. There is enough force in the thrust arm bushing during hard braking to destroy urethane bushings, esp cars that are tracked.

drive it up on some ramps and tighten it that way. i did it and worked fine.

Is it safe to put that kind of stress on loosely-mounted suspension arms? I mean, the thrust and control arms are what keep the wheel aligned in the y-axis, and as soon as they hit the incline of the ramps, that'll put a lot of stress on them when they're weakly mounted.

I just had a jackstand capsize on me :crying. Now I've got a dent in a door and some small dents in the frame underneath. There needs to be a better way than what I just tried to pull...

Not to steal the thread, but let's say that someone were to tighten the thrust arms before the car was lowered [not under load... also not me who did this] and the thrust arms starting clunking and causing a shimmy the next month. Could loosening the thrust arm nuts then re-tightening them help the shimmy?

Also, is it possible that the stock sway links and other suspension parts could just need tightening after 150k miles to restore a smoother ride?

Anyone?

No that means you have destroyed those bushings and tore them cause they were staying loaded hard when they should have been even.

If you look theres 3 angles the arm can be on..even,up and down

Up has a stop, down has a stop

yours was pressing on the stop when it should have been even.So you tore the stop...U need new ones


Not to steal the thread, but let's say that someone were to tighten the thrust arms before the car was lowered [not under load... also not me who did this] and the thrust arms starting clunking and causing a shimmy the next month. Could loosening the thrust arm nuts then re-tightening them help the shimmy?

Also, is it possible that the stock sway links and other suspension parts could just need tightening after 150k miles to restore a smoother ride?