control arm bushings?

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Joshdub

I have the same ones sitting in a box. Waiting to gather the rest of my parts. Have you driven it yet?

Yes, I driven the X on the highway and really didn't notice that much difference between these bushing and the original BMW bushing that was on the car. I suppose if I autocross the X I may notice some improvement, but I won't be autocrossing the X. No squeak so far, but I only installed them yesterday. Will see what happens in the long term. My original arms and bushings were still good so if I don't like this setup I can always go back to the original.

If you don't have a press I would suggest splitting/cutting the polyurethane bushing (leaving the steel bushing insert alone) in half like what powerflex did with their sport bushings.

[Lamby]

Hi Guys, I was at Goodwood festival of speed (is a large motor show in the UK for those of you in the US) and I was speaking to a guy at the stand. They had a display with the powerflex bushes attached to.... you guessed it, a BMW X5 control arm! There where 4 in a row, 1 was OEM BMW bush, 2 was Powerflex Yellow, 3 was Powerflex Purple, 4 was a bright blue. I chatted to the guy as I was amused about the fact they where X5 control arms and he told me this.

"If you feel how much movement there is on the rubber OEM Part compared to the purple, you will understand how much movement there is on this part of the car as you are only moving it with your arm not a 2 Ton X5."

I must say, after feeling the how much movement there is in the bushes, It makes me think, next time I need to do these, I am going Powerflex for bushing. BMW will only care about 3 years, as long as there parts last that long bonus if more. Powerflex have a lifetime guarantee. I did look at Powerflex before but I am sold on them now. He also suggested the Purple ones for the X5 E53 for stiffness/comfort.

[TiAgX5]

Goodwood??? I hate you!

Been to Goodwood twice (stuck around Europe after the Le Mans 24hr in '04 & '08).
No better automobile event on the PLANET!!!

I went with the full purple Powerflex kit on my X (subframe included, not installed yet).

The Powerflex bushings make a noticeable difference in reducing geometry change due to mushy OE bushings deflecting under chassis loading & over bumps. A few hot laps around the Sebring 12hr track (with 5 on board) proved the Powerflex setup is worth EVERY cent!

Tire wear was also reduced.

[Riggodeaux]

And here I thought "Goodwood" was the title from some cheap porn movie....

That said, I'm struggling with thrust arm removal from the ball joint on my driver side. Not on a lift, so my leverage/access isn't the best, and I've already broken my first cheap harbor freight 3/4" ball joint tool attempting its use to leverage the thrust arm off the ball joint [nut removed easily]. Hammer, from different angles, hasn't yet done the trick. Any tips? PB Blaster and lack of rust in toasty warm Georgia has made this time-consuming job manageable, but advice needed on knocking this one sumbich loose, then get to the female hex/star bolts holding in the ball joint itself ...

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by Riggodeaux

And here I thought "Goodwood" was the title from some cheap porn movie....

That said, I'm struggling with thrust arm removal from the ball joint on my driver side. Not on a lift, so my leverage/access isn't the best, and I've already broken my first cheap harbor freight 3/4" ball joint tool attempting its use to leverage the thrust arm off the ball joint [nut removed easily]. Hammer, from different angles, hasn't yet done the trick. Any tips? PB Blaster and lack of rust in toasty warm Georgia has made this time-consuming job manageable, but advice needed on knocking this one sumbich loose, then get to the female hex/star bolts holding in the ball joint itself ...

Remove the tie rod so that you will have more room to get the ball joint separator into the lower ball joint. Took me only a minute with my ball joint separator to pop the ball joint off the tension arm.

This is the ball joint separator I used for both the tie rod ball joint and the lower ball joint.



That a female TORX head screw. You need to get a set of female TORX sockets. Don't be cheap by trying to hammer a regular socket on it and hoping it will work, because it won't and you'll end up buying a a new/use upright.

[Ricky Bobby]

if you aren't keeping the ball joint (you should be replacing it anyway as good practice)

A nice mini sledge or BFH on the thrust arm to pop it out from the BJ will work -

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

if you aren't keeping the ball joint (you should be replacing it anyway as good practice)

A nice mini sledge or BFH on the thrust arm to pop it out from the BJ will work -

This is the only thing that worked for me (5lb mini sledge) on the arm. This was after 6 hours messing with pullers/seperators/etc. Remove tie rod (I was replacing them anyway) so you have more room, take good aim, and swing. Took a good 5-10 good whacks before it finally popped the bottom ball joint off. It was on there GOOD.

Oh, also, make sure to clean the lower ball joint insert area and use some anti-seize on the knuckle to prevent your replacement from seizing in there.

[MINIz guy]

Forget about sledge hammers and removing tie rods. Rent this Pitman arm puller from Advance Auto and tap it on with a hammer so the puller stud lines up with the ball joint stud. Comes out like butter.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

[crystalworks]

^I tried something similar. It deformed the ball joint stud and necessitated the uttering of many swear words. My ball joint was SERIOUSLY frozen in there. Soaked for 2 days in lube before working on it too...

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

This is the only thing that worked for me (5lb mini sledge) on the arm. This was after 6 hours messing with pullers/seperators/etc. Remove tie rod (I was replacing them anyway) so you have more room, take good aim, and swing. Took a good 5-10 good whacks before it finally popped the bottom ball joint off. It was on there GOOD.

Oh, also, make sure to clean the lower ball joint insert area and use some anti-seize on the knuckle to prevent your replacement from seizing in there.

Six hours???? Under two minutes.

Video on removing the ball joint on the thrust arm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_ek...ature=youtu.be