Just came across these:
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...-arm-bearings/
Anybody try them yet? Any comments, concerns? How do they compare with Wokke’s?
Last edited by Dr. T; 01-19-2018 at 03:14 PM.
They are very well made. I picked up a set in December for $175 on Sale! I have the Moosehead engineering bearings already installed, and will most likely get another set of Lemforder arms for the Turner units, and try them out. One advantage of the Turners is a very good seal, as well as a circlip to keep them centered in the arm. The Mooseheads are a press fit, but are rebuildable.
Six years later. $278/pr.
Moosehead would have been yet another $100.
There are yet other suppliers.
At this time GenBMW solids are $50/ea, off-brands in the $20 range.
Btw, E31 LCA's are $425/ea.
>>> Would be interested in comments re:NVH, Turner v Moosehead v others.
OTC 6297 for side access. E-style can't get in there.
The tool's bolt head was 24mm iirc, whereas the upper ctrl arm hardware was 22mm.
A 10 ton press plus misc tube laying around the shop made it a quick and trivial project.
Press-out: about 3 tons. Almost nothing.
Press-in: spiked to 7 tons. Getting serious.
*** Footnotes ***
* Raison d'etre: Shimmy returning after a dozen years, 20K miles.
* Wanted to investigate spherical rather than solid.
It's what BMW should have done.
My decision to investigate made it a $300 project vs as little as $40 for a cheap refresh.
* The ball joint end of the re-used arms were in great shape, boots still looking good.
* I decided to have the flange face vehicle center so the brand and PN is visible.
* One annoyance: The overall width (not diameter) was 0.050in less than solid bush, iow's the width of a thin washer.
Since a loose washer might just get lost by the next service dude, I decided just to snug in the bracket at the X-frame.
Moosehead worked great
I had turners for 2 years; no issues.
Much better.
I can report that the original issue is solved, after a little goofiness.
I originally thought that I had made just that one change, installed the Turner's in place of the tired solids, and therefore this would be a good Before->After test with just one modification.
But then a drove off and even my passenger was saying "What's wrong with your car?"
Bang, bump.
Bump, bang.
After suffering that one drive I remembered that, prior to the swap, I had been jacking up the tire pressure, searching for relief from the steering vibrations.
Minus 2 psi and things are moving back to "pleasant enough", yet no where near the modern ride of my 2018 C300.
To recap:
The degradation in solids was allowing a harmonic oscillation, which was the primary annoyance, quite significant and getting worse.
However, once the Turner's had removed that primary oscillation, this then unmasked all the original exciters to that harmonic, and these were still affecting the chassis.
Things like tire & wheel balance, loose joints, etc.
Moving tire pressure from 36psi to 34 (by my gauge) seemed to quiet down the chassis vibration and the expansion strip reporting.
Fyi, before the current episode I had been running in the 30-32psi range. Maybe I'll return there.
If I were a picky owner, someone who cruises blissfully, I'd next refresh all other tired bushings, joints, etc., including the back end.
*** And one more thing ***
By "much better" I mean that refreshing the upper arm bushings removed the problem.
I do not mean to say Turner balls are better than OEM solids.
Rather the after is much better than the before.
New vs new, I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference (in response) in casual driving.
So if you're on a budget, there is no shame in staying OEM.
Last edited by Hyper; 12-04-2023 at 10:20 AM. Reason: One more thing
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