Is it the lower or upper control arm that causes shakes

[SMOKEY53]

I just replaced my lower control arms today with Meyle replacement arms (saves pressing out/in bushes).

Has made a vast improvement to the way the car steers - before it was very vague and the steering wheel and the direction that the car was moving in felt slightly disconnected.

Anyway, it handles much sharper now and the shimmy that I used to get under light braking at highway speed it gone.

Took about 2 hours to do from setup to clean up. You will need a ball joint separator. I bought one off eBay that matched the part number for the BMW tool. Unfortunately it was just a bit too small so I had to cut down the bolt that joins to the steering knuckle in order to get the clamp over it. I would have been stuffed without it though, it took a lot of force to get that end of the arm out and when it did finally break loose it shot out with such force it chipped the concrete.

Car needs an alignment but going to wait until I get the Billies/lowering springs in. Good luck!

[chivas]

Originally Posted by SMOKEY53

I just replaced my lower control arms today with Meyle replacement arms (saves pressing out/in bushes).

Has made a vast improvement to the way the car steers - before it was very vague and the steering wheel and the direction that the car was moving in felt slightly disconnected.

Anyway, it handles much sharper now and the shimmy that I used to get under light braking at highway speed it gone.

Took about 2 hours to do from setup to clean up. You will need a ball joint separator. I bought one off eBay that matched the part number for the BMW tool. Unfortunately it was just a bit too small so I had to cut down the bolt that joins to the steering knuckle in order to get the clamp over it. I would have been stuffed without it though, it took a lot of force to get that end of the arm out and when it did finally break loose it shot out with such force it chipped the concrete.

Car needs an alignment but going to wait until I get the Billies/lowering springs in. Good luck!

I wonder if working on the front end is like the E39. If so, I've got all the tools to do it.

Chipped the concrete!???!! Wow!

[SMOKEY53]

Originally Posted by chivas

I wonder if working on the front end is like the E39. If so, I've got all the tools to do it.

Chipped the concrete!???!! Wow!

Yeah it bloody flew out like it was strapped to a rocket. I'm glad my foot wasn't under it at the time. I think the right thing to do is to leave the nut loosely attached so that when the joint separates (ie explodes apart), it catches it.

Probably similar to working on the e39, but I think the steering knuckle on the e53 is just that little bit bigger which made it hard for me to get the jaw of the tool to open up enough to get over the head of the bolt and get a good grip on it. This guy explains it best, skip to around 4:50 to see how it pops!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jotYlVj09xM

This is what I bought.

BGS Germany ALL Ball Joint Puller Shifter Remover 50mm | eBay

Note it says only suits joints up to 50mm, e53 must be >60mm because I had to cut about 10mm off the ball joint bolt to get it to seat. But it's all fun and games - even when you buy the right tools, it's never straight forward!

[imalabil]

Best LCA brand? I'm going to stay away from the $25 Chinese ones...

[SMOKEY53]

Lemforder, Meyle or OEM are safe bets


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[imalabil]

I see Delphi is listed on Pelican Parts website as an OEM supplier, and I believe it for GM products.
Has anyone used their arms?

[admranger]

Originally Posted by SMOKEY53

The trick to using these ball joint pullers is to tighten them up a bit (more than a wee bit) and then take your trusty ball peen hammer and wack the part that has the hole, right near the hole. The vibrations break the joint free and you don't chip your concrete (or worse). No need to crank on these until they nearly self-destruct...

[garrett.fell]

I bought the harborfreight one but had to grind on it a bit to allow-it to open more! I don't think it was much more than $10.


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