Do these symptoms sound like worn/loose thrust arm bushings?

[AllanS]

Lately, i've been getting the shakes again, from 45-60mph. The steering shakes badly when hitting small, frequent bumps, especially while turning, and there a clanging, vibration like noise on said small bumps, usually audible from the right hand side at lower speeds.

I gave everything a cursory checkout last week, and nothing was loose, or looked like it might be trouble, but when I changed the thrust arms last time (750 arms), I didn't torque the bolts under full load, but simply jacked up the hub while the wheel was off. I'm thinking that this might have something to do with it, since there are no other real possibilites that I can see. Any suggestions would be great-

Thanks!
Allan

[Jazzman]

If you did not torque the bushing bolts while down on the tires and loaded normally, you probably destroyed your new bushings. The bushing angle of play is based on the whole arm in the normal loaded position. If you tightened it down in the angle where it was jacked up you were basically trying to twist the bushing to the normal loaded angle, which unfortunately will stress it to the point of tearing. Just follow Bruno's instructions and everything will be OK. Noise when hitting a bump with followed by the shaking is normally due also to worn out ball joints.

Lately, i've been getting the shakes again, from 45-60mph. The steering shakes badly when hitting small, frequent bumps, especially while turning, and there a clanging, vibration like noise on said small bumps, usually audible from the right hand side at lower speeds.

I gave everything a cursory checkout last week, and nothing was loose, or looked like it might be trouble, but when I changed the thrust arms last time (750 arms), I didn't torque the bolts under full load, but simply jacked up the hub while the wheel was off. I'm thinking that this might have something to do with it, since there are no other real possibilites that I can see. Any suggestions would be great-

Thanks!
Allan

[632 Regal]

yep thrust arms/ball joints possibly on the control arms also, check the steering ends good. you will get shake if anything has play including worn shocks.

[AllanS]

Jeff, how do you tell if ball joints are worn, do they just have a lot of play in the joint itself? Do you know if it's side to side, or one particular direction?

[AllanS]

I guess I'll be buying new thrust arms, then. 150$ is a damn expensive way to learn to follow directions properly. Would it be a good idea to swap out the control arms as well?

[ryan roopnarine]

calipers will check the up/down play, doubt common "side to side" wear occurs, you could also check it with clay/playdough and a spark plug gauge if you don't have a caliper around.....after looking hard for wear specs, i'd say within .030 is an acceptable amount for the ball joints in the e34, even though that is more likely appropriate for an e28.....ymmv may vary with play specifications. ( i know at least one state that fails bmw 5 series for .035 and over on their MOT).

Jeff, how do you tell if ball joints are worn, do they just have a lot of play in the joint itself? Do you know if it's side to side, or one particular direction?

[AllanS]

Thanks Ryan

[AllanS]

Would it be logical to also change the tie rods and center tie rod while I'm down there? Is it possible that they might have been damaged as well?

[Bill R.]

sitting on the jack, I mean you started to lift it off the jack stands then I would say the the suspension was easily loaded enough and the thrust arms are probably fine... Also checking ball joint play with calipers would be a major pain in the ass and its not likely to work very well. You would typically put a dial indicator on the joint and use a big pry bar to load/unload the joint to measure the play... I would visually inspect the thrust arm bushings and see if they are visibly damaged, if you had the suspension that far unloaded when torquing you should be able to see some tearing on bushing.... Then if that looks ok, I would check (with the car raised up and suspension unloaded) the wheel bearings, grab the tire with one hand on top of the tire and one hand on the bottom and rock it back and forth pushing with one hand and pulling with the other. IF there's play there its most likely the wheel bearings, then grab the tire at each side halfway up the tire so your hands are at equal points on the tire halfway up and push pull again... Any movement here beside actually moving the steering wheel would be worn tie rod ends or center link ball joint wear or idler arm wear... sometimes its easier if you have someone else push/pull on the sides of the tire while you look at each tierod and at the center link where it connects to the pittman arm on the steering box and at the idler arm, sometimes visible play is obvious and that could be the cause of your shaking. ... Then i would check the big nut on the strut and tighten it some with a pipe wrench to see if thats the clunking and then inspect the ball joint ends on the sway bar links... usually if you tap on the sway bar with a rubber mallet out by the links you'll hear the links rattle if the joints are bad.

Would it be logical to also change the tie rods and center tie rod while I'm down there? Is it possible that they might have been damaged as well?

[AllanS]

You're a wealth of knowledge, thanks Bill. I'm going to try all that out tonight and see what I find. I've noticed that I can wiggle the wheel at the sides like you mention, using my feet when it's sitting on the ground as usual. If this happens while the wheel is locks or held stationary, would it be an indicator of tie rod/center link ball joint wear?

If so, would a standard array of pickle forks be good enough to get all that off in order to install new parts, or do you think a real tie rod puller would be necessary?

Thanks,
Allan