argh, rear ball joints

[Brandon002]

So after dealing with a pesky and extremely annoying squeak from my driver's side rear suspension over the past 2 months I finally got under the car now that we moved in to a house with a big enough garage.

Turns out the squeak is coming from the ball joint. I've read up on making a tool to press them in or out. Has anyone ever tried to pull the rubber boot to clean and install new grease? I figured it might be worth a shot until I can afford to replace more of the rear suspension (plan on the full front and rear refresh from ECS once we actually have some spring weather).

I am just looking for a temp fix as it's embarrassing rolling up to pick my daughter up from school in a high end SAV with a ton of damn squeaking coming from under it. I just don't want to have to pay for an alignment twice if I don't have to and after just moving cash is very tight.

[jst2878]

Someone on here rents the balljoints removal tool

[Brandon002]

I'm not worried about that, I can get the tool at Harbor Freight cheap. I just can't afford the full suspension refresh kit right now and don't want to pull the suspension apart twice. So I was looking for an easy, temp fix to get rid of the noise.

[BigBlack48is]

No need for a special tool... you can rent the ball join tool from autozone/oriley/etc..etc..

I got it done using that + a air chisel + air body saw. I pressed/cut out the old one and pressed the new one back in. It wasn't too bad.

remember you have to deflate your air ride after you get it up in the air!

[Ricky Bobby]

None, its not a serviceable joint/boot, etc. You can spray the shit out of it with grease and hope it lessens the squeak.

And the Harbor Freight tool just to let you know is going to be an absolute bear to use, as its universal and trust me for these ball joints you definitely will want the special tool, unless you have air tools, the old one will need to be cut/pressed out.

If you do choose the Harbor Freight tool and have nothing else I wish you luck, let me know if it actually works because I am highly doubtful, considering how they are pressed in, etc.

Here is the special tool if you do decide to do the job right and if you decide fixing the ball joints properly won't send you to file Chapter 11, at $120 I'm sure you could use it and either rent it to others or sell it to someone on here, a split cost at $60 apiece is very affordable considering it will save hours of shop labor paid to someone who needs to do theirs:

BMW Rear Ball Joint Bushing Tool E38 E39 E52 E53 E60 E61 E63 E64 E65 E66 E67 E70 | eBay

[Brandon002]

Why would you ha e to deflate the air ride? If you disconnect the battery the air ride won't move.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by Brandon002

Why would you have to deflate the air ride? If you disconnect the battery the air ride won't move.

You need to take the pre-load off the rear suspension when working on it, otherwise you will unbolt the ball joint and the pre-load will be fighting you, the wheel carrier won't hang down, etc, since the inflation of the air spring will keep it in place.

Same reason why most mechanics can't diagnose excessive rear camber issues (rear ball joint and wishbone most likely culprits) because they don't take the pre-load off the suspension first. You can deflate the air spring or just put a jack under the air spring itself and jack it up to relieve the pre-load.

[bcredliner]

Not endorsing a fix other than replacement and consider that the squeaking may be communicating it is about to die rather than it only has a lingering, chronic squeaky cold.

If you can find where the original lube exited that could allow you to insert some lubricant. While not on suspension parts, I have used a hypodermic needle for similar situations. Depending on the needle, the hole it makes generally seals itself and it is possible to inject a light grease.

[RajB]

Shame you aren't in the UK as I do have the genuine tool for removing/replacing the rear ball joints.

Tbh as stated above you need to deflate the air bag to get the lower arm back in place after replacing the ball joint. You can just remove the hose off the top offs airbag from inside the boot/trunk area.

Using the tool it's straight forward and just requires the ball joints themselves which actually aren't that expensive.

[Kristophe]

Here's a youtube link that shows the BMW tool being used to R&R the rear ball joints.

BMW 5 Series (E39) 1997-2003 - Rear ball joint DIY, how to remove and install - YouTube