lets talk rear suspension.

[davintosh]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

what are you looking to rent the tool for?

I honestly was toying with just buying 1 replacement bushing and seeing how long it would take me to do 1 with a sawzall and blowtorch and a floor jack to press in place, and leave the new bushing in the freezer overnight so it shrinks the rubber a bit before install...

That's probably a good plan, to just test with one (but I'd suggest you buy all four so you can finish the job if it goes well.) I put the bushings in the freezer also, and I'm sure that helped. A floor jack will work to get it in, but when I did it, the corner weight of the vehicle wasn't enough to press it in; had to apply a little heat to the subframe, which allowed it to drop down onto the bushing slowly. I've seen others that have looped a chain between the top of the subframe and the lower frame of the floor jack so it's got something more than the weight of the vehicle to push against; if I were going to do it again, that's what I'd try.

As for rental fees, I was thinking $50 for a rental fee (provided it's returned in a reasonable amount of time.) I'd probably run the rental thing similarly to how I've seen others do it; you, the renter, would pay me up front the replacement cost of the tool ($300) which becomes the rental fee plus deposit. I would ship the tool to you (my cost) with tracking info/insurance, and when you're done with it you'd ship it back (your cost) with tracking info/insurance. When I confirm that all the pieces are there and nothing is broken/damaged I refund your deposit. Keep in mind, this is just preliminary, as I don't even have the tool yet, and I haven't taken a lot of time to work it all out in my head. But I'm not looking to profit hugely with this rental thing, just offset the cost of the tool a bit. And if it's a help to some of you guys as well, that's all the better.

[mark scheurer]

The rear upper control arms are worn -- mine were at 90k when I went for alignment and no one knew it then. The camber couldn't be brought into spec.

Then I started getting a squeak from the bad side around 104k and the culprit was the upper control arm. I had both replaced and the camber issue went away -- in fact the car had to be re-aligned because after the repair, too much camber adjustment had been dialed in with the worn arms and had to be taken back out to get the car back within specs.

I think the main symptom and usually the only symptom of worn-out rear upper control arms is camber that cannot be brought to within spec.

All I did is replace these and the X5 is fine. My indy says the shocks never wear out.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by davintosh

That's probably a good plan, to just test with one (but I'd suggest you buy all four so you can finish the job if it goes well.) I put the bushings in the freezer also, and I'm sure that helped. A floor jack will work to get it in, but when I did it, the corner weight of the vehicle wasn't enough to press it in; had to apply a little heat to the subframe, which allowed it to drop down onto the bushing slowly. I've seen others that have looped a chain between the top of the subframe and the lower frame of the floor jack so it's got something more than the weight of the vehicle to push against; if I were going to do it again, that's what I'd try.

As for rental fees, I was thinking $50 for a rental fee (provided it's returned in a reasonable amount of time.) I'd probably run the rental thing similarly to how I've seen others do it; you, the renter, would pay me up front the replacement cost of the tool ($300) which becomes the rental fee plus deposit. I would ship the tool to you (my cost) with tracking info/insurance, and when you're done with it you'd ship it back (your cost) with tracking info/insurance. When I confirm that all the pieces are there and nothing is broken/damaged I refund your deposit. Keep in mind, this is just preliminary, as I don't even have the tool yet, and I haven't taken a lot of time to work it all out in my head. But I'm not looking to profit hugely with this rental thing, just offset the cost of the tool a bit. And if it's a help to some of you guys as well, that's all the better.

Well I like that rental cost/info idea! If its set up through paypal its even easier too!

Let me know how the tool works when you get it in, if its really a breeze like you say, I'll pay the 50 plus my return shipping to make it an easy job! shoot me a pm and let me know!

[epdarks]

I took my X into an indy today. 02 4.6 w/ 140k miles.

To my surprise, every component in the rear suspension was solid besides the 2 front sub-frame bushings which were "ok for now".

We did find out that I am having the dreaded drive-line issues (spline stripping)... was quoted about $2300 for 2 new drive shafts, guibos, with install.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by epdarks

I took my X into an indy today. 02 4.6 w/ 140k miles.

To my surprise, every component in the rear suspension was solid besides the 2 front sub-frame bushings which were "ok for now".

We did find out that I am having the dreaded drive-line issues (spline stripping)... was quoted about $2300 for 2 new drive shafts, guibos, with install.

Good to hear your suspension is pretty nice! I have low miles on mine (65k) but I get worried with the age of these rubber components, the materials break down over time as well as mileage.


Sucks about the driveshafts, but with all the power you are pushing down at your miles I would expect some issues there!