E39 540i DIY: Replacing your center link and tie rod ends

[Cyrix2k]

Use TRW outer tie rods & centerlink. I was able to get my pickle for fit... it destroyed the boot on my old balljoint, but it's being replaced.

[PokerIzWork540]

Use TRW outer tie rods & centerlink. I was able to get my pickle for fit... it destroyed the boot on my old balljoint, but it's being replaced.

Ok so parts are here, center link both tie rod ends and bushing for idler.. Tie rods are out all nuts or bolts are loose but the ball joint for the pitman will NOT budge!! Any ideas..

Right now i literally have the car lowered with a jack on a edge of the jack stand underneath the bolt stud for the ball joint.. I actually think the stud is holding the entire weight of the left front and still wont budge.. I have a pickle fork wedge in between the joint and sprayed with plenty of penetrating spray...

Is this for real?? wtf

[Cyrix2k]

knock the pickle fork in as tight as you can and let it sit for a while, then hit it again. It will come off. Mine all came out pretty easily but I had one ball joint on a control arm that did not want to come out. It actually started pulling the insert out of the steering knuckle! Letting it sit with the pickle fork or ball joint removal tool in place usually loosens it enough for it to pop out immediately when you return. If that doesn't work, I suppose it's fine to try heat.

[PokerIzWork540]

knock the pickle fork in as tight as you can and let it sit for a while, then hit it again. It will come off. Mine all came out pretty easily but I had one ball joint on a control arm that did not want to come out. It actually started pulling the insert out of the steering knuckle! Letting it sit with the pickle fork or ball joint removal tool in place usually loosens it enough for it to pop out immediately when you return. If that doesn't work, I suppose it's fine to try heat.

OK so nothing I could do would release the ball joint from pitman to center link.. So i loosened the pitman and it slid right off with ease as did the idler.. A couple little turns and moves of the pitman and it pulled right out through the passenger side wheel area..

Gunna have a professional separate the ball joints and press the new bushing in the idler... The pitman does have a flat area within the gear notches for orientation, installing should be a piece of cake..

[Cyrix2k]

OK so nothing I could do would release the ball joint from pitman to center link.. So i loosened the pitman and it slid right off with ease as did the idler.. A couple little turns and moves of the pitman and it pulled right out through the passenger side wheel area..

Gunna have a professional separate the ball joints and press the new bushing in the idler... The pitman does have a flat area within the gear notches for orientation, installing should be a piece of cake..

sweet. I actually tried to take my pitman arm off and it was corroded on/stuck. But hey, whatever works!

OK so nothing I could do would release the ball joint from pitman to center link.. So i loosened the pitman and it slid right off with ease as did the idler.. A couple little turns and moves of the pitman and it pulled right out through the passenger side wheel area..

Gunna have a professional separate the ball joints and press the new bushing in the idler... The pitman does have a flat area within the gear notches for orientation, installing should be a piece of cake..

sweet. I actually tried to take my pitman arm off and it was corroded on/stuck. But hey, whatever works! Install it at the same vertical position.

[PokerIzWork540]

sweet. I actually tried to take my pitman arm off and it was corroded on/stuck. But hey, whatever works!


sweet. I actually tried to take my pitman arm off and it was corroded on/stuck. But hey, whatever works! Install it at the same vertical position.

Yup ..

So the bushing and the idler were great buddies and didnt want to come apart, but luckily my dads good friend is a really good tech, a small bit of grinding and was able to remove that last sleeve from the idler. new one went in well..

Actually all he did to remove the Idler and pitman from the centerlink was put them tightly in a vise and smack the sht out of the arm ends and center link they popped quickly..

How important is it to torque these ball joint nuts on install? I will make sure to have the wheels on and compressed before tightening but do you have the specs if needed?

[Cyrix2k]

Yup ..

So the bushing and the idler were great buddies and didnt want to come apart, but luckily my dads good friend is a really good tech, a small bit of grinding and was able to remove that last sleeve from the idler. new one went in well..

ha, that one got the best of me. I had a new idler/pre-pressed bushing overnighted to me after bending my vice trying to press the old bushing out.

Actually all he did to remove the Idler and pitman from the centerlink was put them tightly in a vise and smack the sht out of the arm ends and center link they popped quickly..

How important is it to torque these ball joint nuts on install? I will make sure to have the wheels on and compressed before tightening but do you have the specs if needed?

I'm surprised the pickle fork didn't do the trick. I can look the torque up, but I just tightened by feel. The suspension actually doesn't have to be loaded for these and because of the way ball joints seat, I don't think proper torque is super important. However, make sure you have a quality allen(?) key to counter hold the ball joints while tightening. I tried using a cheap chinese one and stripped one of the center link counterholds. Again, as I NEEDED to get the car back on the road and I did this at 5:30 PM EST, I ended up having another center link overnighted to me from california. That was an expensive lesson...

[MANUYC]

I just finished install of center link and two tie rods. The fork sux I was working on one side for two hours with the fork and the zdmark tool are good for nuckle ball joint. But to take out the center link joints nothing worked as good as the tool from harbor freight that the other member mentioned earlier in the thread. Thank you sir with that tool it only took mr ten min both sides combined to pop them out. That tool is only 20 bucks and the fork is 10 bucks. Waste of money for the fork.
Get the black ball joint piper from harbor freight

Thank you DanQ1 for the info on the ball joint piper from harbor freight

[Cyrix2k]

What pickle fork are you guys using? I've taken my entire front suspension apart with the one I got from sears and it makes short work of all those joints.

[PokerIzWork540]

What pickle fork are you guys using? I've taken my entire front suspension apart with the one I got from sears and it makes short work of all those joints.

I completed the assembly of my steering today and its perfect..

Let me just say Ive only done this job once, so obviously not sure about all the variables.. But I definitely found it much easier to just pull the pitman arm off with the idler, and using a vise to perform the centerlink to arms ball joint removal.. The only tough part may be the pitman removal, which is my case pretty much fell right off, but it definitely did not have enough of a gap to get the pitman tool in, so if it happens to be super tight not sure its the best option.. ( By the way I was using the standard long fork which had the perfect gap for the joint, with a sledge hmr)

The thing that gets me the most out of everything ive read though, is how people stress to get an alignment afterwards, ive never done alignment but this is for sure the easiest part of the job for me, I mean adjusting the toe on these car is CAKE.. I measure joint to joint and made a couple little adjustment and its perfect, if i notice and problems i can easily correct it..

**Ohh and for the wheel knuckle ball joint to tie rods i actually used the large pitman remover they have at pep boys for like $4, was going to replace the ties anyways, only mod i made was grind the tool pressure stud from a point to a flat surface**

[tomjrau]

Just performed this on my e39 540i. I was experiencing vibration and shuddering through the brake pedal under braking with no other symptoms. A distinctive "clunk" and extra movement could be elicited by grasping and wiggling the left front wheel at the 3 and 9 positions.

I had originally set out to replace just the tie rods, but ended up having to replace the center track rod as well because 1. the left ball joint on the center tie rod had gone bad, 2. couldn't get the tie rod end off the center track rod because the threads had been chewed up by too many prior alignments.

The harbor freight tool as mentioned earlier worked like a charm popping out both tie rod ends and center track rod ball joints.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qua...tor-99849.html

This $20 tool was also used to pop out my thrust arm joints so its been a really vital tool to have. I tried to set the new tie rod assembly to the same length as the old one by meticulously measuring and counting threads to preserve alignment settings. However, the car still pulls slightly to the left. Looks like I'm going to have it professionally aligned.

Thanks for everyone's input in this thread!

[topaz540i]

do pitman arm's actually go bad? i know the idler does because of the bushing.

[Cyrix2k]

do pitman arm's actually go bad? i know the idler does because of the bushing.

I don't see how they could.

[cdb3113]

I don't see how they could.

Somehow worn splines maybe... but I've never seen one go bad. I think I'm pretty hard on the steering on both cars, too.

[pbr87]

Just performed this on my e39 540i. I was experiencing vibration and shuddering through the brake pedal under braking with no other symptoms. A distinctive "clunk" and extra movement could be elicited by grasping and wiggling the left front wheel at the 3 and 9 positions.

I had originally set out to replace just the tie rods, but ended up having to replace the center track rod as well because 1. the left ball joint on the center tie rod had gone bad, 2. couldn't get the tie rod end off the center track rod because the threads had been chewed up by too many prior alignments.

The harbor freight tool as mentioned earlier worked like a charm popping out both tie rod ends and center track rod ball joints.

http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qua...tor-99849.html

This $20 tool was also used to pop out my thrust arm joints so its been a really vital tool to have. I tried to set the new tie rod assembly to the same length as the old one by meticulously measuring and counting threads to preserve alignment settings. However, the car still pulls slightly to the left. Looks like I'm going to have it professionally aligned.

Thanks for everyone's input in this thread!

Just did this job on my '00 540i with very similar experience to this and all i have to say is x1000 on using this tool. It fits all the necessary ball joints and does them without damaging the threading.On the pitman arm and idler arm ball joints it fits at kind of an odd angle and I reccomend using a rubber mallet to gently tap the puller into place for better leverage. Also it is possible to fish the old ctr track rod out of place with tie rods still attached and is equally easy to slide the new one into place. If you have a lift or a garage with a pit this job is much, much easier to do than laying on your back.

[srhite]

Just did this job on my '00 540i with very similar experience to this and all i have to say is x1000 on using this tool. It fits all the necessary ball joints and does them without damaging the threading.On the pitman arm and idler arm ball joints it fits at kind of an odd angle and I reccomend using a rubber mallet to gently tap the puller into place for better leverage. Also it is possible to fish the old ctr track rod out of place with tie rods still attached and is equally easy to slide the new one into place. If you have a lift or a garage with a pit this job is much, much easier to do than laying on your back.

No one mentions heating the parts. Even a propane torch with MAPP gas can help a whole lot to separate parts. Of course, you should have welding gloves and a fire extinguisher handy too.

[E39540V8]

Do you guys replace all the self-locking nuts or just re-use what you have?

Thanks

E39540v8

[Cyrix2k]

Do you guys replace all the self-locking nuts or just re-use what you have?

Thanks

E39540v8

ALWAYS replace nylock nuts. They generally come with the replacement parts. I am guilty of re-using some of the other "one time use" nuts though, like on the CSB. I usually blue loctite those.

[E39540V8]

ALWAYS replace nylock nuts. They generally come with the replacement parts. I am guilty of re-using some of the other "one time use" nuts though, like on the CSB. I usually blue loctite those.

Thanks Cyrix

Another expensive order from ECS is on the way. After seeing the price it is a no brainer anyways.

Can't wait to feel new steering

E39540v8

[E39540V8]

Just got told the center links are NLA

Bugger

[Cyrix2k]

Just got told the center links are NLA

Bugger

TRW center links are in stock at Pelican

[E39540V8]

Hey Cyrix

Just letting you know there are no RH drive ones at Pelican or ECS. I have ordered though schmiedmann, which will be interesting as there is no brand on them, I really wanted TRW.

Thanks for you help

E39540v8

[Cyrix2k]

Hey Cyrix

Just letting you know there are no RH drive ones at Pelican or ECS. I have ordered though schmiedmann, which will be interesting as there is no brand on them, I really wanted TRW.

Thanks for you help

E39540v8

ohhhh, I didn't realize australia was RHD.

[hoonee46]

Thank you OP, for the awesome guide, and thank you all for the inputs via comments.
Parts are en route (center link and idler arm).
I have the HF tool and fork ready

[eastman]

DanQ1, I'm replacing front end suspension and steering on e39 540i. Will this tool work to seperate all ball joints?