My car was up on jack stands for roughly 6 months without a rear end with no problems.
CSi #18 - Car & Driver Magazine 1994 actual test car
-- Hellrot/Black-Gray (1 of 1 NA CSi color combination)
BMWCCA E31 Chapter International Clubs Liaison
North America Representative, 8er.or Board of Directors
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
Ah...yeah I've got the 12-ton harbor fright press, still can't get a good angle on it with the shield in the way, will give it another try.
I have to take the hub apart to remove the axle shaft right? The rubber boots are intact, but original, should I replace them while I have it apart?
Last edited by e31jann; 12-11-2014 at 01:40 AM.
Get yourself various lengths of pipe. IIRC, I used some 1", or 1-1/2" galvanized pipe and black pipe from Homedepot. They should be around 3-4 inches long. This will be the spacer that sets on the shop press crossbar. Place the spindle on top of this pipe (better if you have a second pair of hands to steady it), now get the piece of pipe that is just a hair smaller than the bushing and placd it on top of the spindle bushing. Place the metal plate on top of the upper pipe and start cranking on thd press - should pop right out.
To help with this, you can get a propane torch and slightly heat thd outside of thd spindle at that bushing - makes the removal much smoother. When you go to reinstall, I kept all the rear end bushings in the freezer until needed - makes it real easy to have them almost drop right in.
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
Making some progress - got the old bushings out of the trailing arms. Have a question about how to clock the new bushings in the arms. You can see in the pic below that the center shaft alignment is all over the place (right side is the original alignment) -- I assume it spins? I can't budge it. Should I just match the factory positioning of the rubber? Even that looks wrong to me -- shouldn't the fat rubber part be along the thrust of the bushing, instead of up and down?? It must be right, it's original...am I over-thinking this? Are these gigantic images annoying?
Last edited by e31jann; 12-16-2014 at 10:39 PM.
You need to look at the repair manual. The bushings are marked and there's an angle that is to be aligned with a mark on the arm according to the side you are installing
https://www.bmwtechinfo.com/repair/main/721en/
Last edited by m10n; 12-16-2014 at 11:00 PM.
While you're down there ...
Yes! I didn't have this, thanks.
ok, i'm just looking at this picture. something appears defective about the bushing in the center, the mounting shaft should not be in that position and would appear to be free spinning in the rubber, thus is not functional as designed. it needs to be returned and they should be oriented like the other 2 in the picture
While you're down there ...
Wokke has some really cool bushings for that job. I hated that job. What a royal PITA that was. But I'm glad I did it, it kept me from destroying Wuffer's car at speed going down the 101 at Garberville when my Michelin rear 315 decided to let loose! We were side by side when she blew, destroyed the tire but Maleficent tracked straight and true, thank goodness!
I helped a guy with his rear hub a few years ago. The shop he used had managed to bend that cast steel hub AND neglected to put the backing plate on before pressing in the new wheel bearing. A thorough job of ham-fisting indeed.
Those 2 new bushings in your pix appear to have differing orientations of the shaft to the rubber section. I can't swear that it matters, but if there's a strength axis versus a flexible axis to the rubber, it could. I'd go for 2 that are the same, for instance some red polyurethane units 8^)
The indexing of the bushings is intuitive; they're about 15 degrees offset, to match the installed angle of the arm. There are marks on the arms and the bushings. The arms are identical, only differ by the mounting of the bushings.
How come the middle half of any project always takes the most time?
Yeah those bushings don't line up any way they're turned...I swear the shaft should turn inside the steel sleeve, maybe just a tight fit? hmm..
Check it out I made a tool to press out the axle shafts:
Merry Christmas!
Last edited by e31jann; 12-26-2014 at 12:00 AM.
+1
What I do in addition to using grease or anti-seize compound, I wire brush the splines on the axle shaft and the hub to make sure they are absolutely gunk-free. It makes reassembly 100 times easier.
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
Good call on the assembly grease and cleaning, I'll definitely do that.
I'm a bit stuck on these trailing arm bushings. I put a good amount of torque on the center shaft of an old bushing and I couldn't get it to turn inside the sleeve, so at this point I'm assuming they're designed to stay put. The orientation of the bushing is obviously important, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to put the marks on. I can only assume now that the new ones I got are defective and can't be used. They look like genuine BMW parts, the markings are identical to the originals, the only difference I can see is the finish (old ones appear to be gold zinc plated, the new ones are some sort of silver-colored plating). I guess they could be knockoffs? Crap!
My oem new bushings were a silver plating also, Received them in a netted bag from gault.
This part is a -Z mover in terms of popularity in any parts system anywhere. Anyone who would conterfeit it needs their meds adjusted and wouldn't be allowed near machinery. They were NLA for a while, so maybe BMWAG got a new batch with some QC issues. I can send you some poly ones, properly indexed and marked, on Friday 8^) Over 100 sets have been installed on Euro cars with no problems AFAIK.
PS The axle does not turn in the bushing.
Last edited by Max Lumens; 12-28-2014 at 05:19 PM.
How come the middle half of any project always takes the most time?
D'oh, I'm at KOH that weekend. Wrenching on my buddy's race truck (assuming we finish it in time..)
http://ultra4racing.com/category/king_of_the_hammers/
I also replaced all the rubber bushings in the rear carrier, or subframe, as well as in the trailing arms. CSI front bushings in the trailing arms. Upper differential bushings, and nose strut. Then added the CSI sway bars front and rear. New front traction arm bushings too. Finally a Jim Blanton 4.10 M Sport LSD. No more wiggles and better acceleration! A bit thinner wallet.
Parts run, round 2:
Description Part Number # inner rubber repair 33217840673 2 outer rubber repair 33219067806 2 axle nut 33411133785 2 torx screws 33211227279 13 CSi trailing arm bushing 33322227835 2 exhaust rubber mounts 18211723101 2 diff cover gasket 33108305033 1 front exhaust gaskets 11761711717 4 rear exhaust gaskets 18111719370 3 upper control arm 33321138015 2 fuel filler hose 16111180899 1 rear trans mount 24711131663 2 fuel filters 13321720102 2 mid exhaust gasket #1 18111723531 1 mid exhaust gasket #2 18111719370 1
Let me know if anything looks wrong with my list. Upper gas tank hoses look solid, so I'm not going to mess with them, but if you're doing this job and they look the least bit suspect, I'd replace them because it's a major PITA to get to them.
you forgot the rear upper wishbones (can't buy those bushings seperately) - contact WOKKE for a less expensivve alternative to OEM parts.
'93 850Ci - Mineralweiß Metallic
2001 740iL - Titansilber
ALPINA B7 -Alpinweiß III
...the price of cool ain't cheap!
I did - sort of. I ordered the CSi bushings -- the center shaft alignment isn't perfect, but it's much better than the last set and close enough that I'm going to use them. Pressing those in today.
I had to fabricate some extensions for the press ram so I could get at the hub bushings. To do that, I cut 3", 4" and 5" sections of 1" O.D. steel round bar, and then pressed a little section of 1" I.D. steel sleeve part way on the end of each bar to so they slide onto the press ram. Works like a charm, and I'm sure I'll use them for other projects. I still need to tweak the depth of one of the bushings because I pressed it a bit too far. In addition to Bill's excellent press arbor kit (the press job would have been nearly impossible to do cleanly without it), to press in the hub bushings I needed a 1-1/4 socket and a 1-3/16 socket which I ground smooth internally.
Is there a preferred way to assemble the crossmember -- bolting everything on outside the car and installing the whole thing as a unit, vs. bolting the crossmember in and then hooking on all the parts?
Another Q. -- use a lubricant on the bushing surface? I assumed a light coat of grease, but for the full-floating bushes, is a different prep needed so they don't walk out? They don't have any retainers, just the press fit holding them in place. I googled it a bit and didn't find a conclusive answer.
- - - Updated - - -
Oh -- I also replaced the axle shaft boots and grease. Getting all 6 ball bearings back into the CV joint was a really fiddly process. They mean it when they say don't let the axles hang down when one end is bolted to the car -- there's a thin metal shield inside which is easily damaged.
Have I really been working on this 3 months now? Urrg I'm so slow....never shoulda put the computer and the beer fridge in the garage
Last edited by e31jann; 02-14-2015 at 06:19 PM.
Regarding suspension parts Wokke, I am currently overhauling my front end.
So far I have replaced anti roll bar and control arm bushings, KAW springs and TRW shocks (may replace with Bilsteins in time). I have new track rod ends here not yet fitted.
Next parts to buy:
Top mounts
steering arm connecting rods
Droplinks (sway bars I think you guys call them)
Anything else you recommend replacing?
Any other recommendations?
Aaron
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