Not so fast. I got the thrust arms off the ball joints, and the screws out, but my cheapo Harbor Freight ball joint tool simply would not fit to extract the thrust arm ball joints. hammer wacks did not have the desired effect. So - I installed everything [the 10 piece FCEuro Meyle HD set up, plus sway bar bushings and replacement covers for the tie rods] but the new ball joints [and one side tie rod, threads at the steering rack end stripped - be very careful!], had it hauled to my favored local indy this am [who was to do the alignment and check for bad bearings in the back anyway] and had them finish the project. Picking it up in the morning. Lesson learned: buy all the right tools before starting something like this. And the 10 year old adhesion of many original fasteners made removal a bear. Required lots of patience and judiciously applied heat most everywhere, despite having a 'southern' SAV with minimal corrosion - not quite like the Texans', but pretty clean.

Didn't I tell you to buy a real ball joint separator???

http://www.xoutpost.com/1078489-post84.html

You got the ball joint off the arm, but couldn't get the ball joint off the spindle/upright, you need an air hammer to smack it out, or you need to fabricate a tool in which you can use the threads on the ball joint to pull the ball joint off the spindle/upright.

I have posted about buying real tools instead of the Chinese craps from Harbor Freight tools for working on cars, but many other posters on this and other forums disagreed with my bashing of buying Harbor Freight tools to work on cars. You get what you paid for.

Glad I was able to change my thrust arms by myself and only took me 1-1/2 hours to do both sides. Total cost to me was $105 dollars, 65 for the PBS polyurethane bushings and $40 bucks for a set of used thrust arms. I had the OTC ball joint separator when I did the suspension for my E34 10 years ago.

^:iagree: with upallnight - in my case I was able to use the Harbor Freight wheel bearing press set to do my front wheel bearings a few years back, but with HF tools, ALWAYS be prepared to make an additional trip to Home Depot or the hardware store - the cheap soft steel used in the threaded rod included in their bearing press kit stripped out on the first try and I had to get a hardened steel threaded rod from Depot to finish the job -

And yes, give yourself double time - If you think the job will take an afternoon it most likely will take the weekend -

Glad to hear she is going to be driving like a new X again Riggo!

Hey Ricky,

If you need to replace a press in wheel bearing, get the Harbor Freight hydraulic hole punch (yea I know it's a HF tool). it will make removing the bearing so much easier. You already have their wheel press set so you have all the cups and plates and you already have a harden steel rod. The HF hydraulic press can be purchased for under $90 bucks with a coupon.

Here's a video on the setup on a BMW X3. The YouTuber also did a similar video for a Scoobie Doo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3dgrgmMZw0

Having the right tools always make the job a lot easier.

^Thanks man - I completed the job 3 years ago in situ with the HF wheel bearing adapters press kit and completed it easily with the spindles on the car - it worked great once I got a better threaded rod to use with it - and I actually split the cost of the tool with a member on here and sent it to him so he could complete his front bearings - Cool video on the X3 though!

is there any reason not to replace the ball joints while doing the arms? I think I'm going to do it as a preventative as long as I'm in there anyways.

ylwjacket - I did mine about 18 months ago, if you can get the arm off without the boot being damaged, as I did, then you are okay and no need to do it if they are ok. However, getting these buggers out is a real pain, I used a angle grinder to cut out balls then then a dremel to cut the sleeve off.

thanks - doesn't sound like much fun.

Often the failure of one suspension component, assuming all parts have the same number of miles on them, signals the rest are nearing the end of their life cycle. Rule of thumb is around 100,000 miles. Of course, some have needed to do suspension work at significantly less or more miles. The downside of rebuilding the entire suspension is primarily cost. The upside is that you only have it apart once. There are suspension rebuild kits that have everything you would need. Over the years I've gone both routes. Sometimes I didn't have to do anything more for 20-30,000 miles or more. Sometimes it was like dominos. I did get very efficient. I think it is best to do it all at once on a heavy vehicle like an X5.

For some the job goes smoothly. Most of the time that is directly associated with whether or not they had the right tools. You can be sure if you rebuild the whole suspension you will realize a dramatic improvement in how your vehicle feels and handles.

:iagree:

Plus one on the do everything at 100K+ if it was not completed before.

Replace the ball joints when doing the thrust arms they are only $25. One trick that has worked is to leave the thrust arm attached, remove the mounting bolts from the joints and smack the arm down with a BFH. Out pops the tapered ball joint on the 3rd hit. (Spray everything with PB Blaster or WD-40 before hand). Some of the joints pop out with a smack on the top of the joint while still in the spindle/upright.