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Thread: Offical RTAB DIY (WIthout SPecial TOOLS!!)

  1. #1
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    Offical RTAB DIY (WIthout SPECIAL TOOLS!!) Lots of PICs

    Alright this is the official RTAB DIY without the Special BMW TOOLS! I was convinced that somebody needed to do a write up on how to do the RTAB’s without having access to the 600 dollar special tools to do the job with. I mean come on how many of us are going to put out that kind of money to do this job. In fact who wants to even pay 100 bucks for a tool to do the job? Exactly my thoughts

    Any way to start with I need to give some credit to aweather for his great write up on how to do this job “with the BMW tools.” The information in his thread proved invaluable to my adventure.

    To start with you will need to obtain a new set of bushings the M3 96+ ones. I also bought some shims for the rear trailing arms from edge motorwerks. I believe ground control also sells some shims. These shims however are not necessary if you don’t feel that you want them or want to spend the money on them.

    Here is a list of the essential tools you will need, and others are probably helpful too so don’t hesitate to bust out your favorite tools in addition to the ones listed here.

    You will need 2 18mm sockets for getting the 18mm bolt out of the rear trailing arm bushing, you will need a large flat head screw driver, hammer, power drill, 7/16” drill bit, and lastly other various socket sizes for pulling off all of the surrounding hardware and such.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 10:58 AM.

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    The first step is to jack up the car put it on stands and make sure it’s all supported securely the next step is to pull the rear wheel off on the side you are working on. After the wheel is off you will need to remove the 10mm bolts that hold the brake line to the RTA. If you don’t the brake lines will be holding up the arm which will put a lot of unneeded stress on the brake lines. After you have the two bolts holding the bracket to the arm its time to remove the RTAB consol from the underbody of the car.

    This bracket is held in by 3 18 mm bolts. The firs thing to do is just make some marks as to where the bracket is lined up. I just scratched away all of the grime around the bracket so I could see a clear outline of it through all the grease and grime that had collected. After you have it marked pull the three bolts out allowing the arm to drop down. Now you will have the RTAB consol in front of you and its time to take out the 18mm bolt that holds the bracket to the actual RTA. Put a socket on either side and use a breaker bar and ratchet or impact wrench if you’re using one to loosen these up. After the bolt is out just slide the carrier off and you should be left with just the front of the arm and the old bushing in the arm.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:00 AM.

  3. #3
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    Now comes the fun part we have to get this old bushing out of the arm. This is where that special tool would be really handy but us poor folk will have to tackle this another way. (The Ghetto way ) You take your power drill with a 5/16” drill bit and start drilling holes around the aluminum center in the bushing. Try to make the holes as close to each other as possible and go all the way around the bushing drilling all the way through the rubber. Kind of twist the drill around a bit while you’re drilling causing it to cut through more rubber. After this is done the center part of the bushing should be able to be ripped out leaving a hole in the middle of the rubber area.

    Now Measure the gap between the flange and the trailing arm real quick with some feeler gauges and make note of this gap. You will have to put the new bushing in with the same gap. To get the rest of this bushing out take your huge flat head screw driver and put it between that flange and the trailing arm and start hammering away on it. The metal of the bushing should start to bend inward toward the hole you drilled. AS it does it will create a gap between the metal sleeve of the bushing and the hole in the RTA. Put the flat head in this gap and drive it deeper into the hole using a wedging motion each time to bend the bushing in while you’re driving the screw driver deeper into the bushing hole. Finally you should be able to just wedge the bushing right out of the RTA. This is how I got mine out. Only I used an air chisel to start with, and then went to the screw driver but both methods will work.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:00 AM.

  4. #4
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    This is a picture of how the bushing should bend up toward the center as you drive your screw driver in further and further.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:02 AM.

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    Now it is time to press the new bushings in. This is where it will be necessary for you to make your own custom Home Depot tool. Run to the store and pick up two steel 2” end caps and a 7/16” threaded rod with two 7/16” nuts and washers. Drill a hole in the center of both caps and cut the rod so that it is about 6 inches long, a nice manageable size. Thread a nut and washer on one side of the rod an run it through one of the end caps.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:03 AM.

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    The first half of the tool that goes on the inside of the RTA.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:04 AM.

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    . I used a bit of dish soap to lube the bushing up with. Place the cap with the rod through it on the inside of the RTA with the opening of the cap facing the outside of the car. Put the rod through the center hole of the bushing and then put the other cap on with the opening of the cap facing the new bushing. Thread another nut on to hold the whole thing together. Now align the bushing so that the notches in the flange of the new bushings are up and down just as they were in the old ones that used to be pressed into the RTA. Simply put a wrench on one side to hold the nut in place and a socket on the other and start tightening up the nuts so the caps start moving together pressing the bushings into the RTA.

    I found it didn’t take much to get them in only took bout 2 min per side to press them in. When you get near the end measure out the gap between the flange of the new bushing and the trailing arm that you measured on the old ones before you pulled them out. Its important to make sure that you get this same gap again with the new bushings.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:05 AM.

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    Whew well your now done with the worst part of the whole job. Its now time to put the carrier back on. First put the shims in if you have them and then put the carrier back on and slide the 18 mm bolt through and thread the nut on the other side so your ready to tighten it all up. Take a rod and align it so its flat with the carrier and about 8mm above the lower disc brake bracket mounting hole. After you get it aligned right put a line on the consol and the RTA so you know where the orientation of the bracket is supposed to be. Now tighten that bolt up to 81 ft/lb torque and try to keep those lines lined up while you tighten it. After you have done this just bolt up the carrier in the reverse process you took it off being careful to align it up to the marks you made before you took it off. After you get it all aligned up just tighten up the bolts to 57 ft/lbs torque and your all done with your first side. Congrats.

    I hope this helps any questions feel free to ask.
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    Last edited by leedawg; 11-19-2005 at 11:06 AM.

  9. #9
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    good stuff, loved the ghetto end cap press

  10. #10
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    Nice DIY

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    Wish I had this a few months ago.

  12. #12
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    kudos on using the endcaps, great idea.

    you should put this on www.bimmerdiy.com if you are interested.
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  13. #13
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    Thank you for sharing this

  14. #14
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    lee, when i do this you're going to have to explain that last part to me a little more but it's a nice write up. i think the part i'm most concerned about is the aligning part after you put the bushings in
    -Ivan

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    OH that yeah the aligning part really isent as critical as its made out to be. I talked with the edge motorwerks ppl for awhile about it. YOu know Eric and GLenn out here in northern california. Any way they say they just eyeball it. Thats pretty much what I did too. THe idea behind it is just so when you tighten up the 18mm bolt that holds the carrier to the RTA you just want to do so with the bracket in a position that dosent preload the bushing. So you align it about where the bracket would be with weight on the arm and being bolted up to the car. If you look where the rear brake caliper bracket is bolted to the wheel hub you will see that there are two bolts. If you were to draw an imaginary line from the lower bolt of that bracket all the way to the bracket is about the line the arm sits on when loaded. SO just make that bracket level with that line, mark it with a sharpy or something so you know where that point is and then tighten the thing down. Hope that helps a bit.

  16. #16
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    Does anyone know the diameter of the RTAB? If you get the right size caps and pipes you could build a tool that works exactly like the victory tool for about 10 bucks and a little time. The tool pictured above to insert the bushing and 1 cap with a short piece of pipe small scrap metal block with a hole in it and the threaded rod to remove the bushing. I plan on building this in the next week or so I will let everyone know how it goes. I just need the bushing, they are over $65.00 CDN (55.80 USD)at the dealer here in Canada for the pair, what are you guys paying in the US?
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    damn thats a great write-up! When I get my car back ( and a little $ in my pocket), I'll definetly be doing this!
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by T-Rex
    damn thats a great write-up! When I get my car back ( and a little $ in my pocket), I'll definetly be doing this!
    Thanks I just thought its rediculous to have a write up that requires all these special tools. It will cost you less to go out and buy an air compressor, and an airhammer to get this done.

    As for the diameter of the bushings yeah I did the same thing measured them and then spun down on the lathe a peice of metal to go though but I had a hard time making the tool hold up under the pressure it kept slipping off the actual arm. BUt if you get something work please post it up here will help everybody else out. Oh yeah I paid something like 20 bucks or something like that from Edge motorworks but they are bout the same at the dealer. LEt me know how these installs go for you guys and any questions dont hesitate to ask.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by mech9t8
    Wish I had this a few months ago.

    +1

    great write up!
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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by roberttran
    +1

    great write up!
    +2

    I think I know a shop that seriously should have read this before replacing the RTABs on my car


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  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by leedawg
    Thanks I just thought its rediculous to have a write up that requires all these special tools. It will cost you less to go out and buy an air compressor, and an airhammer to get this done.

    As for the diameter of the bushings yeah I did the same thing measured them and then spun down on the lathe a peice of metal to go though but I had a hard time making the tool hold up under the pressure it kept slipping off the actual arm. BUt if you get something work please post it up here will help everybody else out. Oh yeah I paid something like 20 bucks or something like that from Edge motorworks but they are bout the same at the dealer. LEt me know how these installs go for you guys and any questions dont hesitate to ask.
    I might actually be asking for your help when it comes time to do these...i'd be happy to throw in a 6pack and some pizzas
    '03 E46 M3 - "Brittney"
    '92 E34 525i - "Ivanka"

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by T-Rex
    I might actually be asking for your help when it comes time to do these...i'd be happy to throw in a 6pack and some pizzas
    Hey no problem Id love to help you out. Its always better to tackel a job with two ppl instead of one. Just let me know and we will do it

  23. #23
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    great write-up. now i wished i did mine myself last year.
    oh well there's always next time
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    Thanks for the write-up.

  25. #25
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    nice.

    really good idea using those endcaps man.
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