Tie rods and ends - DIY job?

[leicesterboy15]

I've done it!!!! Piece of piss, no problems, 2 and a half hours from wheels off to wheels on.

Nice one! Did you buy the parts from a dealer? Is it worth spending the extra on BMW parts for this? The rods look pretty simple to me, theres about £120 difference between BMW and GSF, thats a big difference for something that looks relatively simple. What do you think?

Any tips on the ball joints? Do you need the scissor type ball joint remover or do you just undo the bolts? Can you do the job with the wheels on (ie ramps) or does it have to be on stands? I got my lower and upper arms done but the steering wheel is off centre and the 50mph wobble is still there (only now its at 60mph and you can drive out of it) but at least the suspension no longer clatters over bumps! I went to get the alignment done and they told me the adjusters were to rusty so I need to replace them before I can get it aligned. Hopefully that will fix my wheel wobble! HOPEFULLY!

[e34.535i.sport]

Nice one! Did you buy the parts from a dealer? Is it worth spending the extra on BMW parts for this? The rods look pretty simple to me, theres about £120 difference between BMW and GSF, thats a big difference for something that looks relatively simple. What do you think?

Any tips on the ball joints? Do you need the scissor type ball joint remover or do you just undo the bolts? Can you do the job with the wheels on (ie ramps) or does it have to be on stands? I got my lower and upper arms done but the steering wheel is off centre and the 50mph wobble is still there (only now its at 60mph and you can drive out of it) but at least the suspension no longer clatters over bumps! I went to get the alignment done and they told me the adjusters were to rusty so I need to replace them before I can get it aligned. Hopefully that will fix my wheel wobble! HOPEFULLY!

I bought themfrom a place called eurocarparts in manchester as i'm on a tight budjet at the moment!!! You can get varying quality parts there i.e lemforder etc (they on the internet too), and i've found them to be great for me so far. My steering feels a lot better since (i got it aligned straight after!), so hopefully yours will too!

I used the scissor type again for the ball joints, made short work of them. If i'm honest though i bet you could have knocked mine out with a 2lb hammer as they weren't in too tight. Its a very simple job, i just jacked one side up and put a stand under, the took the two nuts off the ball joints and got the seperator on them. then measure up the new one tothe old one (tighten up the adjuster nuts) and then torque up the ball joint nuts. Done! Move on to the next side.

Let me know how it goes if you haven't done it already!!!!

[Ferret]

I bought themfrom a place called eurocarparts in manchester as i'm on a tight budjet at the moment!!!

Lol, did you visit the one that's about a mile from the Man U ground?

There's also a GSF in manchester, which is round the back of the trafford centre...

From the T Centre head away from the motorway (the industrial road out that runs behind selfridges and then out to the kelloggs factory), up onto the motorway link dual carriageway again head away from the motorway and it's off the first roundabout

I moved from manchester as a student 12 months ago, and used to work in the T Centre

[e34.535i.sport]

Hey thanks ferret, i didn't know about GSF and it turns out there's one right around the corner from me!!!! I'm in Liverpool you see, so its a bit of a pain heading to manchester when i need parts. How have you found them? Eurocarparts have served me well so far but they messed me about a bit with my thrust arms recently so i'll be glad to have another place to go to, especially with it being so close.

I wish i knew about GSF yesterday, the upper radiator hose went and i lost pretty much all of my coolant again (flushed it and replaced a different hose last week), marvelous. BMW didn't have one and cant get it until tues, euro cant get one until mon, so i'm off the road now. I dont want to risk taping it up temporarily as i'll have to fill it up with new coolant and i could loose all that again.

[Ferret]

Hey thanks ferret, i didn't know about GSF and it turns out there's one right around the corner from me!!!! I'm in Liverpool you see, so its a bit of a pain heading to manchester when i need parts. How have you found them? Eurocarparts have served me well so far but they messed me about a bit with my thrust arms recently so i'll be glad to have another place to go to, especially with it being so close.

GSF tends to be a tad more expensive... but the guys behind the counter know their **** - (hint: on a good day a ten minute chat with the guy behind the counter about random ****: weather, that nice vw outside that they own, etc... gets you access to their trade prices. Lol, dont do it if they've got a busy queue forming, it'll piss them right off ) I'd go to them any day over Euro Parts, quite often the euro parts guys are just till-trained monkeys that dont give a cr*p about knowing anything - they're just there to get their staff discount on parts for their riced out vw golfs etc...

[e34.535i.sport]

...the euro parts guys are just till-trained monkeys that dont give a cr*p about knowing anything...

I'm with you on that one!!! I'll be needing something for the back end soon so i'll give them a try - they'll be a damn site cheaqper than the dealer thats for sure! Cheers Ferret, happy motoring!

[Master Shake]

I need to change my tie rods and the ends - seriously worn and seizing. Ball joints are absolutely shot.

I just want to know can i change these or do i need to get a shop to do it? I'd like to do it myself and then drive to a tracking place straight away and get them tracked in the right level, would this be ok?

If so any tips or hints on doing so would be great, as i'd really like to take this one on. Thanks.

John.

As it is used in this thread, does "worn and seizing" mean that they would have really sticky spots when turning? Almost as if the steering locked in place for a second? I have this, and only in right hand turns. I also just discovered that my right side upper strut mount is broken. Not looking forward to replacing that bit. Already did the left as well as the struts.

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer on this folks.

[E34-520iSE]

It sounds to me like that broken upper mount is causing the drag in the steering. Worn tie rods create shudders and rattles when braking, not dragging when steering. Get it fixed then check everything else while the car's jacked up.

HTH,

Shaun M

[e34.535i.sport]

Well mine were all rusted and the threads were seriously worn. I assume they are difficult to adjust when it comes to tracking too. Oh and the ball joints were wobbling all over the place. I agree with E34-520iSE, i cant see the steering sticking during a turn because of worn tie rods.

Hope you sort it out soon!

[Master Shake]

OK. Got the new upper mount in. Almost all of the steering issue (locking) went away. Boy, all of the ball joints are toast. Thats the next job.

Anyone used the sets off of eBay? They for for like $300 for all ten pieces including pitman arm. I know they are not Lemfoerder quality, but I only put like 5K a year on this car.

I ran out of daylight and didnt have time to look at the swivel in the steering column as was suggested on this site in another post. I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

Thanks for all the input!

Ciao!