Rear Pitman arms (dogbones): Should they be held in place by the bolts?

[NielsGalan]

or may they "wiggle", twist and turn around the bolts as the car rocks form side to side????

Jeff told me that they should stay in place, but I need a second opinion (no offence Jeff!).

Doctors? Do you concur?

[Rory]

or may they "wiggle", twist and turn around the bolts as the car rocks form side to side????

Jeff told me that they should stay in place, but I need a second opinion (no offence Jeff!).

Doctors? Do you concur?

Hi Niels,

I am not a Doctor quite yet, but i'll give this a try. As hard as it is to admit this, Jeff is right on this one The dog bones should be static and have no play. If you have any play in them then it is time to replace them. Parts should be around $80-90 from BMA or more from other suppliers. New hardware is included in the newer kits and it is a pretty simple job (unless your name is Sean H.). Check out the following link for more info http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/51276. Also, one thing the link does not mention is that the rear trailing arm should be tensioned fully when removing and installing the dog bones (so the bolts line up). Make sure you have the car properly supported on a lift or 4 jack stands and use a jack to tension the trailing arm. Good luck.

Best,
Rory

[liquidtiger720]

hmm, that is interesting. Why did my pitman arms not come with new hardware?


~Is tensioning the trailing arm necessary? I didn't do it, and it went through fine. Is there a detrimental side effect of not tensioning it?

[NielsGalan]

Thank you doctors, for your help.

The trouble is, that we replaced the pitman arms some weeks ago, but after we later changed the subframe mounts the pitman arms (or at least one of them) has begun squeaking like hell, twisting and turning around the bolts. I just hope I haven't destroyed them. I probably shouldn't drive the car at all?

At least I have found something that www.bmwe34.net does NOT explain

[632 Regal]

you can drive it, it will just wear the bolt and the hole in your new dogbones.

[liquidtiger720]

you can drive it, it will just wear the bolt and the hole in your new dogbones.

were you talking to me?

[Russell]

What hardware? The bolts and nut? I put new dogbones on last year and reused the old bolts and nuts. I did use red locktight and torqued everything to about 90 plus/minus foot pounds. They were tight with no play or wiggle. BTW, the old dogbones would flex very easily. The change made the rear end seem a bit more stable around corners. Each time I replace a suspension component, the handling improves that much more. Just my experience

or may they "wiggle", twist and turn around the bolts as the car rocks form side to side????

Jeff told me that they should stay in place, but I need a second opinion (no offence Jeff!).

Doctors? Do you concur?

[Robin-535im]

or may they "wiggle", twist and turn around the bolts as the car rocks form side to side????

Jeff told me that they should stay in place, but I need a second opinion (no offence Jeff!).

Doctors? Do you concur?

The bolts should snugly hold the pitman arms to their mounting locations, but the arm straddles two parts that can move with respect to each other, so there will be some mobility in the arm if you wiggle it.

You may have stressed it by dropping the subframe with the pitman arm attached. If you jack the car up or move the subframe around a lot, it's possible to put a lot of force on that pitman arm, and perhaps something inside the joint was deformed. I usually take the pitman arms off first thing if I'm replacing the shocks or springs etc., so that I don't stress it.

For a cheap fix, maybe you could inject the boot with silicone? Never done it, but people talk about that for ball joints. Heck - it's worth a try just for the fun of playing with a big syringe!

HTH

Robin