Arnott Front Air Strut Bottoming Out, Screwed?

[xsx450]

Originally Posted by Skyline

That control arm does, and it's the only way to change that ball joint, (although you can change the bushing at the other end if your ball joint is good). But the lower control arm (the more forward of the two arms on the E53, also called a Thrust Arm, and the one that has the Thrust Arm bushing you've been contemplating,) does NOT come with a ball joint attached. That ball joint can be bought and serviced seperately.

understood. And the consensus is if I change any of them, change all of them correct?

[Skyline]

Originally Posted by xsx450

understood. And the consensus is if I change any of them, change all of them correct?

Not necessarily. Change any that are bad. Don't just throw parts at it. If you have access to it, look at the service history...some parts might have been changed recently. Generally all the suspension parts in the front of an X5 last about 75k-100k miles, depending on where you live. But one good pothole can destroy things, so a suspension part could fail at any point. Age is also a BIG factor with the rubber components; after about 10 years, anything rubber is suspect, regardless of mileage.

[xsx450]

okay, well I already know the tension bushing and ball joint are bad, so I Will start there.

[Gurjit]

maybe ur shocks are screwed, if your ride height is good than ur bags are fine, it could be ur shocks internals are messed up

push ur car up and down at the front and watch how it rebounds, it should be very hard to move and not rebound

u might not be able to push ur ride up and down, i have never tryed it on my x5 but i have tested shocks on many cars like this

[xsx450]

Originally Posted by Gurjit

maybe ur shocks are screwed, if your ride height is good than ur bags are fine, it could be ur shocks internals are messed up

push ur car up and down at the front and watch how it rebounds, it should be very hard to move and not rebound

u might not be able to push ur ride up and down, i have never tryed it on my x5 but i have tested shocks on many cars like this

It is very difficult to move/rebound... I do think the problem is internal in the shock, going to eliminate the tension bushing/ball joint first before i operate on an air strut

[xsx450]

THE PREVIOUS OWNER FINALLY GOT BACK TO ME.

He said it was "lowered one inch" And he is going to get me the shop information.


This would explain just about everything... I just wonder how they did it...

When i have it in off road mode It does not do it at all, so this should be normal height

Question: When you guys are in the lowered setting, and you hit a hard bump like a speed bump in a parking lot (Sharp not those 3 foot long humps) do you get any bottoming?

I hope after getting this fixed it is better. I hope no permanent damage was done to the struts...

[Ricky Bobby]

I dont get bottoming in a parking lot when my vehicle is at access "lowered" height, maybe because the suspension comes back up after 25mph?

Someone who has access to GT1/programmer can plug the ride height values in for you as well so that you can be back to "normal" height all the time haha.

Front value is 707 mm for 20" sport suspension, and rear value is 709mm with 20" if I am not mistaken.

TerminatorX5 knows the details for sure, he's posted them before.

[xsx450]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

I dont get bottoming in a parking lot when my vehicle is at access "lowered" height, maybe because the suspension comes back up after 25mph?

Someone who has access to GT1/programmer can plug the ride height values in for you as well so that you can be back to "normal" height all the time haha.

Front value is 707 mm for 20" sport suspension, and rear value is 709mm with 20" if I am not mistaken.

TerminatorX5 knows the details for sure, he's posted them before.

How much does the X5 actually adjust when it raises and lowers?

This happens to be at less then 15mph if i hit a sharp enough bump especially on the brakes

[Ricky Bobby]

still sounds to me like your thrust bushings are shot, I always heard bad clunking at low speeds when mine were gone, ESPECIALLY when going over speed bumps.


When it raises it goes up 25mm, lowering is supposed to be down 35mm, my numbers could be reversed though?

[xsx450]

Bushings getting pressed in as we speak... it was easier then i thought getting them off... I used a puller to pop the arm off the ball joint. Bolt from the ball joint came off extremely easy with the impact gun.... Can't want to install these with a fresh set of ball joints...