Going to replace both thrust arms

[Weasel]

Is the shimmy felt every time you hit the brakes and speed varies the frequency of the shimmy? Or does it not happen constantly, but only most of the times you hit the brakes... If you very lightly apply the brakes and slow down more slowly does it do it?

[kevinkay]

my shimmy is felt in the brake pedal. I have 100k, replaced brake pads at 60K without turning the rotors down-(DUMB)-because the pads and rotors did not wear well they are groved and one rotor is the back looks like it has rust spots where the pad never makes contact, or that calaper is not working correctly?? I am going to replace the rear rotors and new pads tomorrow, could a warped rotor in the rear give a shimmy on the pedel?? To ansewer your question it is pretty constant with speed, obviousley less pronounced at slower speed, but still there
THANKS!

[Weasel]

While only front brakes can really cause a steering wheel shake, all 4 can cause pedal feel. I take it the front brakes are all good? If so and the rears are wearing poorly/uneven it wouldn't be a bad thing to change them out. Just pay attention to the amount of force needed to compress the calipers on each side, because if one is noticeably harder to compress it is sticking.

[Rutly]

Originally Posted by flyingmachine

I haven't seen an answer to OP's question. All those tools mentioned except the BMW special tool in prior replies will fail doing this job. The ball joint is not machine pressed in. It's pressed in while you tighten up those 2 bolts that hold it. So, it's still a pressure fit. Don't think about removing them by hands after removing those 2 bolts. Weasel pointed out one tip - make sure your socket has good grip on the bolt. They're very easy to be damaged. It sucks when that happens.

The BMW special tool is actually similar to slide hammer. I don't think you want to spend that money on this tool (a couple hundreds). Now, here is the tip you need. Cost of this solution could be $0 if you can rent them from local autozone. If you want to own the tools, get them from place like harborfreight for cheap. 2 things you need - slide hammer(like http://www.tooldesk.com/images/close...TD-3045_lg.jpg 3lbs one is good enough) and tied rod/pitman arm puller(like http://4x4icon.com/offroad/063007_st...2645_small.jpg).

Put the pitman arm puller as the attachment on your slide hammer. Leave thrust arm on the ball joint but remove 2 bolts holding ball joint to the steering knuckle. The just use the pitman arm puller on your slide hammer to hold between thrust arm and ball joint. Give it about 2 strikes and ball joint should come off. If the ball joint is heavily rusted, spray something like WD40 or PB Blaster and give it a few strikes. Leave it there to let the fluid penetrate thru. Give it a try after a couple minutes and it should do the trick.

Here is another tip. Make sure you get the alignment done after replacing the arm.

Thanks so much for this trick. After reading this post I was worried I'd be stuck with my X5 jacked up and my suspension in shambles. I used this assembly of tools and it made SIMPLE work of removing the ball joints. However, mine weren't very hard to remove and I suspect could have come out with some prying and a whack or two on the side with a hammer. I barely tapped the arm with this tool and the ball joint came out. I had very little rust, though.
If the joint had been heavily seized/pressed in place, I'm confident this would have removed it.
One of my concerns was being able to get the truck high enough off of the ground with a jack to use this tool, which is 24" long. A regular floor jack was fine, because the joint is angled almost 45 degrees forward.