Thrust arm ball joint stuck. Help!

Tried replacing thrust arms this weekend. Drivers side came out with moderate force, passenger side will not break free. I tried some heat, breaker bar, holy water, sledgehammer, nothing would get ball joint seperated from the knuckle. I ended up stripping the screw in the seperator and had to cut it free. Any suggestions? I would really like to avoid the walk/drive of shame to the mechanic. I've heard of a hydraulic ball joint seperator, but cannot seem to find one.
thanks.

Was the ball joint separator the one from Harbor Freight? I had the same thing happen when I couldn't get a ball joint to separate. I had the entire assembly out of the car and was doing it on a bench top in a vice. Once the threads stripped, I couldn’t turn it either way and I had that same sinking feeling. I finally said the heck with it and got a 4 pound sledge and whacked the crap out of the separator and the ball joint came loose. I was lucky because that was the last one that I needed to separate to complete the front end rebuild.

Based on your situation, the only thing that I can think of is to get the proper ball joint separator (it's $$$) or remove the entire knuckle and take it to a machine shop.

In retrospect, and if I have to do it again, I am going to put pretty high tension on the separator, let it sit for a few minutes, whack it a couple of times with the hammer, tighten it a little more and repeat the process until I get it free.

I know this may not have helped much, but I wish you the best of luck. Let us know how you finally get it resolved.

Thanks for the reply. Yup, it was a harbor freight seperator. I cranked it down as much as possible let it sit for about an hour and then proceeded to beat the snot out of the back of the seperator trying to pop the ball joint. No luck. Where did you find the actual BMW tool?

Hey, I'm about to attempt replacing my front thruster arms. Anyone have a decent link on the process? I'm considering using M5 bushing instead of the stock ones. Not much more $$$ but read they are much stiffer.

It s the tie rod fork is the one that works,.you will just break ball joint forks they are to big. Recommend a suspension shop for strut cartridges and upper control arms install ,alignment will be necessary. If your shocks are good,the stock 750il bushings work just fine pre- installed on the control arm.

Originally Posted by ricks5series

Not much more $$$ but read they are much stiffer.

The M5 bushing is just a better design all around to begin with. IMHO unless the car happens to be a stock-class concours, there's no justifiable reason not to go with it when you can.

There's a plate at the bottom of the strut/axle assembly. The ball joints of the thrust and control arms and tie rod attach to it. You can detatch the plate from the strut housing by removing three bolts. If you have the big bolts out of the suspension arms at the bushings and the tie rod detached, you can take the whole plate/suspension arm assembly off the car and take it to a bench where you can apply force most effectively. Here's an image from realoem: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/m/n/5.png

The plate I'm describing is just below #15 in the diagram.


HTH

Originally Posted by Kain23

Thanks for the reply. Yup, it was a harbor freight seperator. I cranked it down as much as possible let it sit for about an hour and then proceeded to beat the snot out of the back of the seperator trying to pop the ball joint. No luck. Where did you find the actual BMW tool?

Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you on the tools. Just as a disclaimer, I haven't purchased these tools so I can't speak to the quality or how well they work. Here is a site I had saved for BMW tools:

http://www.samstagsales.com/bmwtools.htm

Here’s the ball joint tool page that has several different tools:

http://www.samstagsales.com/bmwtools.htm#suspension

Here’s another one, but I don’t know if it would work any better than the one from HF:

http://www.amazon.com/OTC-6297-Ball-...=5336612388-20

Hope this helps some.

Originally Posted by Mr._Graybeard

There's a plate at the bottom of the strut/axle assembly. The ball joints of the thrust and control arms and tie rod attach to it. You can detatch the plate from the strut housing by removing three bolts. If you have the big bolts out of the suspension arms at the bushings and the tie rod detached, you can take the whole plate/suspension arm assembly off the car and take it to a bench where you can apply force most effectively. Here's an image from realoem: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/m/n/5.png

The plate I'm describing is just below #15 in the diagram.


HTH

^^^^ THIS ^^^^ is the answer.

Do not bother fighting it on the car. You can remove the entire plate from the car and only have to pop one tie rod joint. I found the inside one the easiets to seperate.

Then a hammer and a block of wood will work faster than any of the pullers made.

I had a similar issue when I did mine. It took a lot of beating with a sledge and pickle fork.....It got to the point that I didnt care if I broke or damaged anything. I just beat it till it popped out. I was swinging an 8lb long handled sledge like a golf club...

Hi everybody.

I had the same problem (BMW build tough) and the best solution that I found, and I tried a lot, was to remove the plate and remove it on a bench. Sounds to much work, but it's not that hard: just bolts to loose.

After the work, and for caution, I took it to line up the wheels.

Best of luck.

Best regards

Fernando

Thanks everyone for the replies. I finally got if out with some mapp gas and a bigger hammer. Now after I buttoned everything back up and took her for a drive, I'm still getting the shake while braking The car feels a lot better, but still noticeable. I'm left thinking I'm just going to have to replace the lowers and the tie rod ends.

It was the Shocks on mine. look for signs of fluid leakage.

Originally Posted by luckydog

It was the Shocks on mine. look for signs of fluid leakage.

shocks are good, new tires, new rotors, and very recent balance and alignment. Still not better.

The bushings on the lower arms are subject to less stress than the thrust arm. I like Lemfoerder 750il thrust arm bushings (mine are going strong after 100K miles) but Meyle arms/bushings should do for the lowers.

If the tie rods have a lot of miles, yeah, why not replace them. It could save you the hassle of getting a third wheel alignment after R&Ring the lower arms and finding the problem persists.

BTW, just to ask a dumb question, are you on to the flood of crap suspension parts that have afflicted the aftermarket? Gotta be careful about any "bargains" out there.

The best course of action, at minimum, is replacing upper and lower arms and tie rods all at the same time. In other words, everything attached to the strut plate. You also need to consider the pitman and idler arms connected to the cross link inboard of the tie rods.

Excellent advice not to cheap out on these parts as well. Meyle or Lemforder, anything else and you WILL be doing this again in six months or less.

You can preload the ball joint with a ball joint separator tool and smack the collar that the ball joint is being held in and the shock wave along with the preload from the separator should pop the ball joint loose. Use a BFH not one of those carpenter hammer.

I am flat amazed at the number of posters that still insist on doing this job the hard way.

I do not own one of those ball joint tools, just an old pickle fork. By using the method reccomended by Greybeard, the same method I discovered when I did the job, it can be done in under and hour. That would be both sides, uppers, lowers and tie rods.

Once on the bench, you do not need a BFH or a special puller. You do not need to fight it, just work smart

Originally Posted by snowsled7

I am flat amazed at the number of posters that still insist on doing this job the hard way.

I do not own one of those ball joint tools, just an old pickle fork. By using the method reccomended by Greybeard, the same method I discovered when I did the job, it can be done in under and hour. That would be both sides, uppers, lowers and tie rods.

Once on the bench, you do not need a BFH or a special puller. You do not need to fight it, just work smart

Thanks Snowsled7,

I haven't begun but will utilize Greybeard's method very soon. Seems logical in that when all of the bushings are removed from the car's suspension points, there would be less stress and binding at the ball joint ends, making them easier to remove.

Hi everybody.

Wise choice Ricks5series. Remove entire thing.

Best regards

Hi again,

So as I stated I still have the shake when braking, I got a chance to get back under the car and noticed the right LCA has a small amount of movement in it. I can twist it about a mm or two on the same plane as the wheel (towards front and back of car). Do you think this is enought to cause the amount of shaking I'm still getting? Also is there a easy way to test the Tie rods? I'd hate to change parts that are still functional.
thanks.

Yes. That is enough play to cause your problems. If the lower control arms are that worn, then the tie rods are likely shot as well. The only way that I know to test them is to see if there is play. However, just because you don't feel any play does not mean they are good.

Unfortunately, the front suspension on these cars wear out I just rebuilt my entire front end recently and just bit the bullet and purchased the high quality (and therefore higher $$) parts. That is my recommendation to you if you can swing it financially.

You can replace the components one at a time until you get rid of the shimmy, but the old components will likely cause increased wear on the newer items.

Either way, good luck.

thanks for the reply. I'll check them this weekend. Does the center tie rod generally wear or could I just get away with doing the outers?

Originally Posted by Kain23

thanks for the reply. I'll check them this weekend. Does the center tie rod generally wear or could I just get away with doing the outers?

I don't know if they wear at a diffierent rate or not

If I recall, the center rod assembly was rather pricey. You may want to try just the outers to see if that works. Just keep in mind that the center will be X number of miles more worn than your new outers and may give up the ghost sometime.

Good luck

Do the inners and outers as a unit. Doing the uppers without the lowers and still having a problem should have been a lesson When you go to do this job, at a minimum, I would do uppers and lowers (control arms). If you are going to do tie rods, the inner and outers are the minimum. The idler arm, pitman arm and swaybar links completing a lower front end rebuild. Then you have the shock cartridges and upper strut mounts. On a 20 year old car, if you want it to drive as intented, this is the list you will have to work through. Welcome to BMW