Rear Trailing Arm Bushings DIY tips & suggestions?!

In layman's term once the trailing arm is lowered and the bracket and bushing are exposed I should make a mental note of how the bracket and bushing are sitting on the trailing arm. And when the new bushing is install I should try to replicate the location/angle at which the bracket originally was?

Edit: RTAB are estimated to be delivered on thursday. Had a staff from mistool e-mail me asking for my address. I responded back but haven't heard anything since.

Edit 2: @scca_ziptie And no, that did not include an alignment. Lol, I'm guessing it's going to be a pita seeing as you would rather pay than save a couple bucks.

Originally Posted by justanotherone

In layman's term once the trailing arm is lowered and the bracket and bushing are exposed I should make a mental note of how the bracket and bushing are sitting on the trailing arm. And when the new bushing is install I should try to replicate the location/angle at which the bracket originally was?

Edit: RTAB are estimated to be delivered on thursday. Had a staff from mistool e-mail me asking for my address. I responded back but haven't heard anything since.

Edit 2: @taylor192 And no, that did not include an alignment. Lol, I'm guessing it's going to be a pita seeing as you would rather pay than save a couple bucks.

I made a couple marks/scars for how it was orientated prior to removing the original/existing bushings so when I put the new ones in and mounted the trailing arm back to the chassis I would be 'close.' I still needed an alignment but she was pretty close. Certainly got an alignment after install and the measurements were close but I was "out of spec."

Originally Posted by justanotherone

In layman's term once the trailing arm is lowered and the bracket and bushing are exposed I should make a mental note of how the bracket and bushing are sitting on the trailing arm. And when the new bushing is install I should try to replicate the location/angle at which the bracket originally was?

Edit: RTAB are estimated to be delivered on thursday. Had a staff from mistool e-mail me asking for my address. I responded back but haven't heard anything since.

Edit 2: @taylor192 And no, that did not include an alignment. Lol, I'm guessing it's going to be a pita seeing as you would rather pay than save a couple bucks.

So basically just make a mark on rta while its sitting on the ground? Not possible. And what do you do if bushing spun on rubber or they were replaced before you bought the car? Only way i could see marking working is on brand new bushings from factory. Then mark them after bracket is loose from car body

What are these shims i hear about?

@scca_ziptie definitely planning on getting an alignment following the job, if all goes well. Thanks for all your help!!

@BeamerCreamer So you suggest to take the old bushings out and remove the bracket and then marking? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of trying to get the bracket inserted back as close to how it was originally or do I have the wrong idea?

Worse case scenario, what happens if I clean off the rear trailing arm, apply the silver graphite to arm and new OEM bushing and then insert in back into the bracket and the trailing arm. This would mean it isn't pre-loaded and what will happen? Faster wear of bushings?

I was just saying in the perfect world that marking wouldnt mean it was in the right place to start with and maybe that is why bushing wore out faster. I doubt it matters much when car is sitting as far as wear on bushing but when driving (say hitting a bump) the bushing would have more twist put on it if it already had twist force on it hen sitting in relaxed state.I would guess 100% of the bushings that are twisted loose from the rubber are torn from the rubber because of too much twist force on bushing. Bracket has to be bolted into place before tightening the main center bolt correct? Therefore if bolt is tightened while wheels are off ground it will have load on it when car is on ground. I believe that if car was off the ground a foot and all tires sitting on blocks( susp normally compressed) that that would be the time to do the final torquing of main center bolt. Pretty sure if this bushing had too much load on it would take lots of the force before your shockabsorber would. I dont think that this would benefit shocks near as much as it would hurt the longevity of the rtabs

Originally Posted by Beamer Creamer

The preload is stress on bushing when car is in relaxed state sitting on level ground right? So this straight bar technique is just a coincidence that the rtab to body mount is bolted at that angle.... Or is it? I thot bracket bolted in close to exactly horizontal with car? If so then this straight edge wouldnt be correct.is that yardstick technique roughly the book way to set preload? Theoretically if downforce on car at relaxed state of car could be kept on suspension while while removing bracket bolts the rta bracket should move away from surface looking flush and not twisting one way or the other. Im pretty sure that if you have preload on your bushing you would have to use a bit of force to get the bracket level b4 putin bolts in or use bolts to straighten things out by tightening one at a time till others go in. If bracket naturally sits in final position while weight taken off of sudpension wouldnt that mean bushing are at no load at that point and would then be loaded all the time when car weight is applied to susp? Not tryin to be a dick just wanna figure out a satisfactory answer for myself i guess. I know it doesnt need to be exact science but i do like parts to last as long as possible and maybe it wouldnt matter so much sitting with bit of load as it does when baggin corner sideways hitting cracks in road

TL;DR

Dude, stop, you're over thinking.

In order to reinstall the RTAB bracket you will have to jack up the RTA to approximately its final ride height for the bracket sits flush - the bracket will not sit flush with the suspension fully extended (aka no weight) if you have set preload correctly.

The RTAB DIYs miss this step cause the DIYs are for poly bushings with no preload, so you can attach the RTAB bracket with the suspension fully extended.

You'll realize all this once you get into it.

Good luck on the RTAB replacement, with the mis tool it's relatively easy to do. Before you take any bolts off, mark where the RTAB console line up to the frame, and the angle of the RTAB console to the RTA so you have relative position of how everything lines up, that will help you approximate your alignment and how to load the RTAB after assembly. Get an alignment after you're done and enjoy how your car drives afterwards!

Thanks for the input thus far. I've decided on just raising the rear, taking off the wheel/tire, and then taking it a step at a time from there.

According to UPS and USPS the rtab and mis-tool have been delivered, respectively. I'll more than likely tackle it tomorrow after school.

So I started yesterday afternoon, but didn't get anywhere. Not because it's difficult or anything, just because it got dark on me. I was really going into it kind of blind cause I was still unsure of the exact locations of everything, but after removal of the wheel everything becomes a lot more clear. I broke one of the little clips that was holding the lines to the trailing arm, not a big deal. I can probably tape it to the arm or something. But, as it was getting dark I was trying to at least do one side, but the 3 18mm bolts (I though I had a 18mm socket, but didn't so had to go buy one and that took a little bit) would not come out. I was using a breaker bar and the 18mm socket to undo the bolt, didn't nudge. I thought I might have been tightening instead of loosening so I tried to apply force in the other direction, nothing.

I eventually just re-connected the lines (brake line? and some other line) and then inserted the tires back on. Lowered car, drove around and no brake light or abs or nothing like that came on. So the car is just as it was before I attempted the project, minus a line to control arm clipper thing. Sunday morning I think I'm going to go to my parents' friend (he's a mechanic) and have him help me out, he'll prob get those bolts to move.

Hi

See here for more on zero pre-load and installation of OEM bushings:
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=927014

While the job is simple it takes effort and understanding - the understanding comes from actually opening everything up and having a crack at it

Good luck. Very worthwhile and rewarding once it's completed.



Sent from my V9 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by justanotherone

So I started yesterday afternoon, but didn't get anywhere. Not because it's difficult or anything, just because it got dark on me. I was really going into it kind of blind cause I was still unsure of the exact locations of everything, but after removal of the wheel everything becomes a lot more clear. I broke one of the little clips that was holding the lines to the trailing arm, not a big deal. I can probably tape it to the arm or something. But, as it was getting dark I was trying to at least do one side, but the 3 18mm bolts (I though I had a 18mm socket, but didn't so had to go buy one and that took a little bit) would not come out. I was using a breaker bar and the 18mm socket to undo the bolt, didn't nudge. I thought I might have been tightening instead of loosening so I tried to apply force in the other direction, nothing.

I eventually just re-connected the lines (brake line? and some other line) and then inserted the tires back on. Lowered car, drove around and no brake light or abs or nothing like that came on. So the car is just as it was before I attempted the project, minus a line to control arm clipper thing. Sunday morning I think I'm going to go to my parents' friend (he's a mechanic) and have him help me out, he'll prob get those bolts to move.

impact gun is your friend. i just did this and it was a breeze. another way to preload your bushing is to hand tighten the carrier where it doesnt move easily, put wheels back on and lower it back to normal ride height, jack up and removes wheels and carrier, then torque the bolt through the carrier at its current position.

OP, buy a spray can of penetrating oil and hit those 18mm bolts with a good spray especially if you live anywhere the car may have seen salt at some point.

Another secret for tough bolts is to tighten them slightly first. This breaks the bolt free and makes loosening easier. Sounds counterintuitive, yet works.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Bimmer App

Is anybody here familiar with the mis tool?

Right now I have the lower control arm exposed with the bushing (removed the carrier and everything). The next step is to remove the bushing from the arm. I am using the mis tool and I set it up like I found in this picture http://home.comcast.net/~fmzip/BMW/P1010033.JPG. And then I tightened it so the bolt starts to show at the end like this picture http://home.comcast.net/~fmzip/BMW/P1010034.JPG. However it's not coming out, it seems the opening (where the bolt goes) that opening is loosely connected to the rubber part of the bushing. Am I using the tool incorrectly?

False alarm. I was using the wrong part at the other end (the end opposite of where the socket is suppose to go). That end was too long and wouldn't fit through the bushing, thus unable to push itself and simultaneously the bushing through the hole.

Edit: When the guy said, "Now to get the bushing out. The simple super fast way...With the proper tool, the bushing will be out in a minute!" I thought he meant figuratively, but he meant one minute literally.

Tip:

If the bushing is really stuck and the MIS tool won't push it out then you can drill and cut the bushing off. I had to do this yesterday for a FCAB that was absolutely stuck on the front LCA. Drilled through all the rubber so the inner part of the bushing would separate from the outer, then used a hacksaw to cut the inner and outer parts of the bushing off.

I managed to removed the bushing. It was simple, I was just using the MIS tool incorrectly. Now I'm having trouble inserting the new oem bushing in. Advice?

Originally Posted by justanotherone

I managed to removed the bushing. It was simple, I was just using the MIS tool incorrectly. Now I'm having trouble inserting the new oem bushing in. Advice?

Clamp them. The new split bushing style allows you to put a metal clamp around them to slightly compress them. This should help you get it started, then the MIS tool will do the rest.

Originally Posted by taylor192

Clamp them. The new split bushing style allows you to put a metal clamp around them to slightly compress them. This should help you get it started, then the MIS tool will do the rest.

Check your PM

Originally Posted by taylor192

Clamp them. The new split bushing style allows you to put a metal clamp around them to slightly compress them. This should help you get it started, then the MIS tool will do the rest.

Try one of these: