Tension Strut Play
 

Hi

How much play should there be in the tension strut? I can grab hold of the middle of the strut and pull it back and forwards a good quater to half inch? It looks like the rubber may be perished inside as I can see some very small cracks in it.

BMW X5 2002 E53 4.4i M62

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/s.../WP_000106.jpg

If you hear a sound coming from the brakes when you suddenly hit the brakes at turtle speed , then the bushing need replacement. I replaced mine 2 days ago and it was slightly damaged, but enough to make that sound.

What sort of sound am I listening for?

So I just crawl forwards at 5mph and hit the brakes quickly and listen for this sound?

true. press full brake suddenly to stop the car when crawling (try it in little sloppy road) you can try it again and again seconds apart just to hear the braking sound it makes. The braking sound should be smooth & damped not hard or loud. Sometimes you cannot recognize the sound difference between normal & faulty bushing. Try another car and you can sense the difference. Any mechanic will simply detect it in seconds. The black spots seen in the bushing picture, if it is a shred in the bushing material, then definitely it is faulty

You should be able to feel it in the steering wheel too but if you have that much play, it's a pretty safe bet that they are shot.

^ This. If you can move it that much by hand, a 5000lb car will move it a lot more.

X2 on what Slick said.


Mine had that much play if not more, trust me if the arm isnt tight due to looseness of the bushing, replace!

its a common wear item on our cars, go with OE quality replacement (I used Meyle HD, solid rubber and not filled with fluid like OE bushings) and no they are not harsh in any way!

the question is not so much "can you move it", but "how easily can you move it".

they're super easy to replace if you're doing the whole arm and definitely make a noticeable difference. Also, they don't require an alignment.

Even with that fair picture, it's easy to see that those bushings are shot.

Any visible cracks in ANY rubber bushing means it's time to replace.

Mine were MUCH better than yours, and I just replaced them this past weekend. I had cracks that were almost impossible to see while on the car, but I was going through the entire suspension one step at a time untill it was solid, so I did them. Even with really minute, almost hairline cracks in mine, replacement made a big difference in how the car felt.

To describe one big symptom of a problem in the X5's front suspension, the weight of the car can cause a pivoting effect of the hub assembly under braking if everthing is not tight and perfect. Jab the brakes at low speed and they will feel like they are grabbing sudenly with a "clunk". Apply the brakes smoothly...nothing.

I would get the Meyle HD bushings...or entire Meyle arms with the HD bushings already installed.

I just did the driving at 5mph and break test. The car made a rubber creaking sound followed by a clunk with the breaks grabbing and the car stopping rather quickly

Guess it is time to replace the bushes!

Sky, I saw yours in one of the posts. you wouldn't happen to be interested in renting your tool out now would you :-)
Just wanted to throw it out there..

OP: let us know which bushing you put it and how it rides afterwards

I don't want to rent this out, as it's kind of a wear and tear item; I had to repair the threads on the threaded rod three times just to get the job done. And I think I'll need to find another piece of threaded rod before I use it again.

If I had it to do over, I think I would have just bought new arms with the bushings already installed. If you want to buy one of the tools, contact Moosa at: [email protected]

anyone see a diy w/pics on this?
couldnt find it in tis.
one side is just a bolt and nut.
the other side going to the spindle is attached to ball joint?
how do you remove other side (towards spindle) without replacing ball joint?
thanks!

Alex are you doing the arms or just the bushings?

If you are doing just the bushings you will need a ball joint separator and an E14 socket for the bolts on the spindle.

If you are doing the complete arms I would spend the 50 bucks, get 2 fresh ball joints, get an E14 socket and a BFH and whack that fucker out of the spindle.

I've been driving the honda for now. And let my X5 dry up with a dehumidifer running inside. lot of rain in new england and noticed damp are in the trunk space where the tail light is...
now the X is in my garage waiting for the replacement, standing on jack stands.
i have bought all the parts needed, and meyle ball joints.
and i bought the whole arm. and e14 sockets
just the ball joints are good and no play besides the tension strut bushing.
would hate replacing them when they're still good. I thought it might be easier to leave the old ball joint on and use the ball joint tool to keep it still in there? Do you think it possible of doing it while keeping the old bjs on? my indy wanted to originally do it that way.

I mean if you can pry at the arm carefully you might be able to keep the ball joint in the spindle without damaging it, the problem is the corrosion that is probably going to be your problem to get everything separated, I saw an old post where a guy actually bent the "ears" of the ball joint trying to pry it apart from the arm, the joint is really pressed in there good. if you look up tension arm replacement on a search a lot of guys get hung up trying to re-use the ball joint, if they weren't only like 55-60 bucks for both I would try to re-use as well, but it was easier for my indy to replace the ball joints with the arm and easier on me as I wanted to be sure as much suspension was fresh as could be.

hey whats the worst that can happen if you aren't drying the car much? you get hung up trying to reuse the joint and need to order 2 ball joints, I would say give it a try to re-use first, and if you run into snags, then whack the fuckers out and replace with new ones.

Oh and your water in the X is coming from either clogged sunroof drains or disconnected sunroof drains, I would take care of those ASAP or you will be getting a lot of moisture in the car, and the ensuing electrical problems that will result from standing water in a compartment with a lot of wiring.

I checked the drains for the sunroof. they seem to open up and close.
what your way of checking that... the manual check of flooding sunroof rain catcher?

And already got the new bushings if i cant reuse those.
Do i need ball joint tool for the tension struts? couldnt find an answer on that.

also the arms i bought. one side is a bushing and the other is just a hole.? im guessing the ball joint goes into it and than the nut screws in on other side?

thanks

Yes, thats right. Its a pressure fit so you just thread the nut one the arm is on the ball joint and tighten er up.

if you're getting water by the tailgate I would pour some club soda into the rear drain area by the rear corners of the sunroof (you can do it with sunroof open just don't pour into your car lol), and check to see if the water comes right out the rear, if it doesn't then there is blockage somewhere. Have you checked the "drain holes" that you can see when you open the hatch? should be clear with no obstructions