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New Welsh top mounts New upper ball joints New tie rod ends Lower shock bushings were toast. New end links and upper control arm bushings. Also cleaned the speed sensors. Looks so much better in here now.
So the question now is, with the car in this position (wheel well liners are removed) what else should I look into? I have decided to have a local shop do the lower control arm bushings. I do not have a lift and am not comfortable working underneath the car on jack stands.
The lower ball joints on both my Jags were bad. The lower arms on an X100 are not that hard to remove, especially if you replace the inner tie rods at the same time.
Getting them back in is tricky, but I used a dremel tool to chamfer/smooth the subframe to make the bushings slide into place easier.
I'm in the middle of this too, although it started out as an ABS module fix. Waiting for parts as my lower shock bushings are as sad as yours, and the upper mounts are the originals.
You might replace the flexible brake hoses 'while you're in there'? I've no idea what their lifespan is, but mine have recently celebrated their 21st birthday so they're heading for the replaced parts museum.
I'm in the middle of this too, although it started out as an ABS module fix.
I know how that goes. Mine started out just replacing the upper shock mounts because my front end was so low.
Once I got the shock and spring out I said might as well do the lower bushing. Then the control arm bushings looked
bad so did that, then end links look easy so might as well, then upper ball joint etc etc.
The lower ball joints on both my Jags were bad. The lower arms on an X100 are not that hard to remove, especially if you replace the inner tie rods at the same time.
Getting them back in is tricky, but I used a dremel tool to chamfer/smooth the subframe to make the bushings slide into place easier.
I appreciate your suggestions but I have reached my limit. This all has taken me a month ( mostly spent waiting for parts) working in the Florida summer heat. I have read on the forum the lower BJs are a pain so I am passing on that project and will have my local shop do that part. It will be money well spent.
are you doing lower control arm bushings with the lower ball joint? It wasn't bad doing that job on jack stands - did lower control arm bushings, lower ball joints, inner tie rods and tie rod ends on mine a few months back. Biggest pain is reinstalling the lower arm but I used a little mechanical agitation (5lb sledge) along with a scissor jack on each bushing of the lower control arm - this way the arm went into place evenly.
How are the sway bar bushings, inner tie rods and steering rack bushings - all easy to do while you're there
I appreciate your suggestions but I have reached my limit. This all has taken me a month ( mostly spent waiting for parts) working in the Florida summer heat. I have read on the forum the lower BJs are a pain so I am passing on that project and will have my local shop do that part. It will be money well spent.
Buy a pair of inner tie rods and give them to the shop to replace when they are doing the Lower arms. They will spend more time trying to not damage the bellows in place and slide the LCA bolt past it. (or worse, loosen the rack and strip one of its bolts) than if they loosen/remove the bellows and remove the inner tie rods.
Today not starting off well. Dropped the car off yesterday to have the front lower ball joints done. They just called
and said they could not get the BJ out of the arm so they put everything back together and told me to come get it
They recommended I buy new lower control arms with BJ already installed. They are $795 each on Jagbits.
Neil - The ball joint can be removed - it's just a pain in the behind. Getting out - just need a lot of pb blaster and hydraulic press but install is more of a pain as the control arm is angled - so when trying to press in, the control arm tends to shift. I followed the advice of forum member Ungn and used some 2x4's under the arm to absorb the force. It gave some but was sturdy enough to allow the new ball joint to be pressed in. link to my thread below
The trick to removing the Lower BJ's is you spend 10 minutes with a $10 w/coupon Harbor Freight cut off wheel. Three cuts in the flange to make room on the flange for a cup.
10 minutes per BJ, max. If you lived in Dallas, I'd charge $150/Arm for BJ/removal install. The great thing is, the removal/install seems so hard, new BJ's are dirt cheap.
The trick to removing the Lower BJ's is you spend 10 minutes with a $10 w/coupon Harbor Freight cut off wheel. Three cuts in the flange to make room on the flange for a cup.
10 minutes per BJ, max. If you lived in Dallas, I'd charge $150/Arm for BJ/removal install. The great thing is, the removal/install seems so hard, new BJ's are dirt cheap.
You need to cut away the flange on the BJ so plates or cup you are pressing the arm against has something to rest on.
Start with these three cuts.
Don't cut into the arm, When the groove is almost through the flange, use a large screwdriver to break the flange piece off.
Even being careful and taking your time, these cuts can be done in 10 minutes.
It may take a couple more cuts (5 total) + some rounding, but the same cup that presses the balljoint in, can be offset enough to be used to press the balljoint out.
I just make a shelf so the plates on my Harbor Freight 20 ton press catch the arm edge around the Ball joint.
Neil - were you able to get the ball joints removed/replaced??
I have an appointment with a foreign indi shop Tuesday. He says he works on Jags but seems a bit unsure of
how to proceed with the lower ball joint. He says estimate for the BJ job is $600. He is also going to do a transmission fluid
change $250 which he is much more comfortable with as BMW has the same transmission and he does those regularly.
We will see how it goes. II figure I can at least get the trans fluid done and check that off my list.
I took the control arms off, took them to NTB (said the could do the job). They were able to get the old ones pressed out but damaged one of my new ones installing as they did not brace the arm properly and it shifted. I ended up getting a 20ton press and was able to press the new in. If push comes to shove, not sure how much it would cost to ship them up here but we could discuss the option
07-21-2019, 10:28 AM
