Front suspension questions

[Henn28]

Originally Posted by miloh

Ok that makes sense. I wouldn’t have made the ball joints from scratch, just if there was an obvious “ball joints you would have to press yourself but is superior build quality”

I’m not absolutely sure, but I think these are the only game in town:
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...-arm-bearings/

Turner also sells monoballs for the lowers as well. Like the uppers they come as complete arms or just the bushings.

If your roads are smooth where you live these may be the way to go, despite the cost. They should last a long time. As I mentioned, the ride was very, very good. They tightened the x5 up quite a bit from the OEM upper bushings I was cycling thru every 18 mos or so. Too tight for the crappy streets we have in New Orleans at the end of the day however, so they are in my parts locker as spares. I might toss them back on if these poly bushings start squeaking again though. The pothole fairy landed and fixed a few of the bigger ones around my neighborhood recently.

The polys feel really nice, but I’m no better off if I need to drop them too often for new grease.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by Henn28

I’m not absolutely sure, but I think these are the only game in town:
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...-arm-bearings/

Turner also sells monoballs for the lowers as well. Like the uppers they come as complete arms or just the bushings.

If your roads are smooth where you live these may be the way to go, despite the cost. They should last a long time. As I mentioned, the ride was very, very good. They tightened the x5 up quite a bit from the OEM upper bushings I was cycling thru every 18 mos or so. Too tight for the crappy streets we have in New Orleans at the end of the day however, so they are in my parts locker as spares. I might toss them back on if these poly bushings start squeaking again though. The pothole fairy landed and fixed a few of the bigger ones around my neighborhood recently.

The polys feel really nice, but I’m no better off if I need to drop them too often for new grease.

Changed mine to poly bushings. I think they're the best way to go. They have lifetime warranty and I haven't ever had to refresh the grease.

[X5chemist]

I did bushings on mine. A local shop charged me $20 each to press them in. There's an arrow on the bushing too. I must be clocked correctly to the arm. I replaced all four in one morning. Not hard to do with ramps and proper tools.

[andrewwynn]

[mention]Henn28 [/mention] have you ever tried running lower psi to help the pothole situation? There is A LOT of margin on the psi numbers even before you'll get significant edge wear.

I use a Segway MiniPro for mobility and ouch on the poor knees if i inflate to spec (45) i inflate to 25 and soaks up most of the sidewalk bumps.

I haven't aired up e53 since 2021 but i think it's something like 32/39 front/rear maybe 32/32 if empty trunk.

Drop five and unless you drive crazy numbers your tires won't wear that fast. Air up full for trips of course.

I kind of don't use brakes for corners that's what m/s is for so I add 2-3 on the fronts to try to get more wear in the center.


–awr–

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[80stech]

Tire pressure has a much more noticeable impact on wear than gas mileage.

[miloh]

now this is podracing

[paramax55]

This many years down the road, it seems like most aftermarket parts are made by the same manufacturer. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. I bought an eBay kit that had all of the parts for both sides. It was a 10 piece kit for about $120.00. It worked well and solved my twitchey steering. Actually, my more-than-normal toe probably also had something to do with it.

The ball joint that's held in with two bolts can be pretty stuck. And the tie rod ends are known for freezing. But an acetyline torch can fix both of those problems.

[andrewwynn]

I changed the main ball joint you describe on my e53: was one of the last jobs i did.

One popped out with a couple his of the hammer the other took the better part of an hour.

I use mapp* gas there's just a lot of metal to wick away the heat meant to help.

*It's no longer actually mapp but it still burns hotter than propane.


–awr–

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