Complete Rear Suspension Overhaul (lots of pictures!)

**PurduinaM3** · Sun, May-03-2009, 02:41:50 PM

So last Monday, I was able to use an awesome shop with a lift and all the tools needed to do my rear suspension thanks to Chris (CMT) and Ben (Bin_jammin). The only catch was that we had to do it after shop hours, and finish by the time the shop opened (8 am). Seeing how Calvin and I are always up for some wrenching and a good challenge, we accepted and got started on the car at around 9 pm.

First of all, I’d like to thank Ben and Calvin again for their help. No way that I could have done this by myself, or got it done in nearly the time that we did. Calvin has done this multiple times, so he was a huge help, and Ben is an excellent welder/fabricator.

Now just for some background information, my car has 120k miles on it and the symptoms were that the rear end would be hesitant in transitional changes and over any bumps mid turn. I’ve got a full suspension on my car, and I’ve replaced almost everything to date, so it was pretty obvious that the rear bushings were the culprit. I replaced the 4 subframe bushings with Poly Powerflex bushings, the 4 balljoints with new Lemforder parts, the 3 diff bushings with Lemforder parts, and the two LCA bushings with Lemforder parts. What I didn’t replace were the bushings that came new with my SPC LCA’s, the RTAB’s (already have UUC Poly in there), and the RSM’s (already have GC RSM’s). There are 19 bushings total for anyone who is interested in doing this job. I also replaced the front tie rods since I was going to be doing an alignment anyways (last replaced at 80k with Meyle, this time replaced with Lemforder).

Pile of parts

Me and Ben trying to get that horrid E-brake cable out (worst part of the job, by far). It was seized in there and wouldn’t come out no matter what.

Ben and Cal trying to use a torch and then PB blaster to get the same cable out.

Drivers side rear suspension with the shock not attached. You can see the hub and how it connects to the upper control arm, lower control arm, and axle. The axle doesn’t have to be fully removed to do this job – if you just pull it out from the diff and leave it connected to the hub, you should have no problems. One of the ball joints is where the SPC LCA connects to the hub, and the other is where the upper control arm connects to the hub. There are two on the other side too. We also replaced the bushing that connects the upper control arm to the subframe.

Everything is out! If you notice, we had the rear brake calipers suspended by wire. If you unbolt the one bracket holding the line and carefully move them, it is definitely possible to keep them out of the way while doing this job, so that you don’t have to add new fluid or bleed the brakes again when done. This was a huge time saver for us.

Another view of the empty rear end with only those damn e-brake lines hanging.

Here’s the differential sitting on the tranny jack.

There are two diff “ear” bushings that are on the differential itself that need to be replaced.

Parts from the pass side.

Here is Ben attempting to remove the old subframe bushings.

LUNCH BREAK!!!!!

You can see that we took a break for lunch right before 1 am… and that I absolutely LOVE McDonalds chicken nuggets…. (the lady was nice and threw in extra McNuggets for free!!).

Calvin is unstoppable, and got right back to work after he was done eating.

**PurduinaM3** · Sun, May-03-2009, 02:42:47 PM

Old subframe bushings removed

And the mess that goes along with it…..

Old subframe with all the bushings removed

The dreaded cracks in the subframe right where the sway bar tabs are attached. This is a known problem, and I’ve purchased new sway bar reinforcement tabs to weld on in order to prevent this. However, I forgot the tabs at home, so those will be welded in next week along with the Mike Radowski Diff support.

Upon further inspection, it was mostly the paint that had chipped off in that area, so we used a die grinder to remove it down to the metal to see how the welds looked.

One side was fine, the other side indeed was cracked. Larger sway bars were on for 10k miles, and for only 2-3 auto-x’s. I’m guessing that it was cracked or at least starting to crack far before the aftermarket sways. I’d suggest that everyone inspect theirs and get the reinforcement tabs welded up.

Ben welding the cracks.

**PurduinaM3** · Sun, May-03-2009, 02:43:36 PM

Painting the subframe with non rust black paint.

Seams are welded and fixed

One of my old ball joints (I think its slightly broken hehe )

Pressing the new one in with the coolest Snap-On tool evAr!

All done!

MM Underpanel and MV RS lip

God damn exhaust hangers… 10k miles and they’re toast. Mostly due to the heavy stock exhaust system which will soon be replaced…

New PF Poly bushings greased up and in the subframe

With the new front diff bushing

This is the best stuff for greasing up poly bushings – Marine grease, its water proof and won’t wash away!

Calvin practicing his Captain Morgan pose

**PurduinaM3** · Sun, May-03-2009, 02:50:05 PM

All done!

We finished the car about an hour before the shop opened, and it took us about 10 hours straight to remove everything, press 13 bushings in and out, weld/paint the subframe an reassemble everything – not bad at all!

Final impressions - after overhauling all of the suspension and the alignment to my specs, the car feels MUCH more stable. The most noticeable time is if you turn the wheel sharply back and forth, the car just sticks like glue and goes back and forth with ease. Before, the car felt sloppy and would be extremely hesitant. Going through transitional turns as I mentioned before is much smoother now, and there seems to be much better rear traction around hard cornering. Overall, I didn't notice too much NVH with the poly subframe bushings, but the car is a bit stiffer over harsh bumps. Not anywhere as bad as I was expecting, and nothing compared to my stiff coilovers or the rest of the suspension.

If anyone was wondering, my setup consists of:

GC Track/School Coilovers
GC RSM's
Eibach Sway Bars (26mm Front/24mm Rear)
Turner Adjustable Sway Bar End Links
Turner Sway Bar Reinforcement Tabs
UUC RTAB's
UUC Red Tranny Mounts
Powerflex FCAB's
Powerflex Subframe Bushings
Vorshlag Camber Plates
Vorshlag Wheel Stud Conversion Kit
SPC Rear Adjustable LCA's
New OEM Bushings/Ball Joints everywhere that's not poly
X Brace

Only thing that is restricting the car now is the fact that the front struts on the GC coilovers are blown and need to be rebuilt. I'm just debating whether to rebuild them and then sell them in the Fall when I have more money for AST's or just suck it up and get the AST's now.

fiveightandten · Sun, May-03-2009, 03:09:05 PM

Awesome thread Bobby. Looks like you guys definitely got into it.

I can't wait to take a ride in your car and see how she handles. Must be planted darn well with a setup like that.

I'm going to have at this today. I've elected to go OEM, as you know. Should be interesting to see the difference in install and feel compared to the stuff you went with.

Bin_jammin · Sun, May-03-2009, 04:04:14 PM

Hahaha I look so pissed working on that ebrake cable! It was great having you guys over, long nights go better with good people around. Let me know when a good time is for the reinforcements.

Cal, it was great meeting you man, you're welcome in this neck of the woods at a second's notice.

M3n00b · Sun, May-03-2009, 04:11:39 PM

Nice work. Joo guys are badass.

**PurduinaM3** · Sun, May-03-2009, 04:17:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiveightandten

Awesome thread Bobby. Looks like you guys definitely got into it.

I can't wait to take a ride in your car and see how she handles. Must be planted darn well with a setup like that.

I'm going to have at this today. I've elected to go OEM, as you know. Should be interesting to see the difference in install and feel compared to the stuff you went with.

Awesome dude. Give me a call if you get stuck on anything. I'm curious as well on the difference between OEM and Poly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bin_jammin

Hahaha I look so pissed working on that ebrake cable! It was great having you guys over, long nights go better with good people around. Let me know when a good time is for the reinforcements.

Cal, it was great meeting you man, you're welcome in this neck of the woods at a second's notice.

Thanks again Ben. Good times were definitely had that night

I'll definitely be in touch so we can figure out when to do those reinforcements...

T2 · Sun, May-03-2009, 06:34:13 PM

Quality Work minus the chicken sponge patties from Mickey Dees.

**PurduinaM3** · Sun, May-03-2009, 07:20:43 PM

Not much is open after midnight on a Monday night in the middle of nowhere Connecticut

Sun, May-03-2009, 02:41:50 PM	#1
PurduinaM3 Banned Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 15,677 In the garage: '98 BMW M3 '05 AUDI A4 Reputation: 0 Location: White Plains, NY	Complete Rear Suspension Overhaul (lots of pictures!) So last Monday, I was able to use an awesome shop with a lift and all the tools needed to do my rear suspension thanks to Chris (CMT) and Ben (Bin_jammin). The only catch was that we had to do it after shop hours, and finish by the time the shop opened (8 am). Seeing how Calvin and I are always up for some wrenching and a good challenge, we accepted and got started on the car at around 9 pm. First of all, I’d like to thank Ben and Calvin again for their help. No way that I could have done this by myself, or got it done in nearly the time that we did. Calvin has done this multiple times, so he was a huge help, and Ben is an excellent welder/fabricator. Now just for some background information, my car has 120k miles on it and the symptoms were that the rear end would be hesitant in transitional changes and over any bumps mid turn. I’ve got a full suspension on my car, and I’ve replaced almost everything to date, so it was pretty obvious that the rear bushings were the culprit. I replaced the 4 subframe bushings with Poly Powerflex bushings, the 4 balljoints with new Lemforder parts, the 3 diff bushings with Lemforder parts, and the two LCA bushings with Lemforder parts. What I didn’t replace were the bushings that came new with my SPC LCA’s, the RTAB’s (already have UUC Poly in there), and the RSM’s (already have GC RSM’s). There are 19 bushings total for anyone who is interested in doing this job. I also replaced the front tie rods since I was going to be doing an alignment anyways (last replaced at 80k with Meyle, this time replaced with Lemforder). Pile of parts Me and Ben trying to get that horrid E-brake cable out (worst part of the job, by far). It was seized in there and wouldn’t come out no matter what. Ben and Cal trying to use a torch and then PB blaster to get the same cable out. Drivers side rear suspension with the shock not attached. You can see the hub and how it connects to the upper control arm, lower control arm, and axle. The axle doesn’t have to be fully removed to do this job – if you just pull it out from the diff and leave it connected to the hub, you should have no problems. One of the ball joints is where the SPC LCA connects to the hub, and the other is where the upper control arm connects to the hub. There are two on the other side too. We also replaced the bushing that connects the upper control arm to the subframe. Everything is out! If you notice, we had the rear brake calipers suspended by wire. If you unbolt the one bracket holding the line and carefully move them, it is definitely possible to keep them out of the way while doing this job, so that you don’t have to add new fluid or bleed the brakes again when done. This was a huge time saver for us. Another view of the empty rear end with only those damn e-brake lines hanging. Here’s the differential sitting on the tranny jack. There are two diff “ear” bushings that are on the differential itself that need to be replaced. Parts from the pass side. Here is Ben attempting to remove the old subframe bushings. LUNCH BREAK!!!!! You can see that we took a break for lunch right before 1 am… and that I absolutely LOVE McDonalds chicken nuggets…. (the lady was nice and threw in extra McNuggets for free!!). Calvin is unstoppable, and got right back to work after he was done eating. Last edited by PurduinaM3; Sun, May-03-2009 at 04:22:00 PM.

Sun, May-03-2009, 02:43:36 PM	#3
PurduinaM3 Banned Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 15,677 In the garage: '98 BMW M3 '05 AUDI A4 Reputation: 0 Location: White Plains, NY	Painting the subframe with non rust black paint. Seams are welded and fixed One of my old ball joints (I think its slightly broken hehe ) Pressing the new one in with the coolest Snap-On tool evAr! All done! MM Underpanel and MV RS lip God damn exhaust hangers… 10k miles and they’re toast. Mostly due to the heavy stock exhaust system which will soon be replaced… New PF Poly bushings greased up and in the subframe With the new front diff bushing This is the best stuff for greasing up poly bushings – Marine grease, its water proof and won’t wash away! Calvin practicing his Captain Morgan pose Last edited by PurduinaM3; Mon, May-04-2009 at 03:59:36 PM.

Sun, May-03-2009, 02:50:05 PM	#4
PurduinaM3 Banned Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 15,677 In the garage: '98 BMW M3 '05 AUDI A4 Reputation: 0 Location: White Plains, NY	All done! We finished the car about an hour before the shop opened, and it took us about 10 hours straight to remove everything, press 13 bushings in and out, weld/paint the subframe an reassemble everything – not bad at all! Final impressions - after overhauling all of the suspension and the alignment to my specs, the car feels MUCH more stable. The most noticeable time is if you turn the wheel sharply back and forth, the car just sticks like glue and goes back and forth with ease. Before, the car felt sloppy and would be extremely hesitant. Going through transitional turns as I mentioned before is much smoother now, and there seems to be much better rear traction around hard cornering. Overall, I didn't notice too much NVH with the poly subframe bushings, but the car is a bit stiffer over harsh bumps. Not anywhere as bad as I was expecting, and nothing compared to my stiff coilovers or the rest of the suspension. If anyone was wondering, my setup consists of: GC Track/School Coilovers GC RSM's Eibach Sway Bars (26mm Front/24mm Rear) Turner Adjustable Sway Bar End Links Turner Sway Bar Reinforcement Tabs UUC RTAB's UUC Red Tranny Mounts Powerflex FCAB's Powerflex Subframe Bushings Vorshlag Camber Plates Vorshlag Wheel Stud Conversion Kit SPC Rear Adjustable LCA's New OEM Bushings/Ball Joints everywhere that's not poly X Brace Only thing that is restricting the car now is the fact that the front struts on the GC coilovers are blown and need to be rebuilt. I'm just debating whether to rebuild them and then sell them in the Fall when I have more money for AST's or just suck it up and get the AST's now. Last edited by PurduinaM3; Mon, May-04-2009 at 03:59:51 PM.

Sun, May-03-2009, 03:09:05 PM	#5
fiveightandten He'll save children, but not the British children... Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 7,699 In the garage: '03 BMW 330CI '02 SUBARU WRX '98 BMW M3 Reputation: 0 Location: Connecticut	Awesome thread Bobby. Looks like you guys definitely got into it. I can't wait to take a ride in your car and see how she handles. Must be planted darn well with a setup like that. I'm going to have at this today. I've elected to go OEM, as you know. Should be interesting to see the difference in install and feel compared to the stuff you went with. __________________ -Nick

Sun, May-03-2009, 06:34:13 PM	#9
T2 The Anti-Poser Join Date: Apr 2003 Age: 48 Posts: 2,799 Reputation: 0 Location: Ft. Worth	Quality Work minus the chicken sponge patties from Mickey Dees. __________________ T2 - www.thedriversedge.net "I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW and run off into the hills, or wherever. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder: "Did little demons get inside and type it?" I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts."

Sun, May-03-2009, 02:42:47 PM	#2
PurduinaM3 Banned Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 15,677 In the garage: '98 BMW M3 '05 AUDI A4 Reputation: 0 Location: White Plains, NY	Old subframe bushings removed And the mess that goes along with it….. Old subframe with all the bushings removed The dreaded cracks in the subframe right where the sway bar tabs are attached. This is a known problem, and I’ve purchased new sway bar reinforcement tabs to weld on in order to prevent this. However, I forgot the tabs at home, so those will be welded in next week along with the Mike Radowski Diff support. Upon further inspection, it was mostly the paint that had chipped off in that area, so we used a die grinder to remove it down to the metal to see how the welds looked. One side was fine, the other side indeed was cracked. Larger sway bars were on for 10k miles, and for only 2-3 auto-x’s. I’m guessing that it was cracked or at least starting to crack far before the aftermarket sways. I’d suggest that everyone inspect theirs and get the reinforcement tabs welded up. Ben welding the cracks.

Sun, May-03-2009, 04:04:14 PM	#6
Bin_jammin Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 50 Reputation: 0 Location: Cheshire	Hahaha I look so pissed working on that ebrake cable! It was great having you guys over, long nights go better with good people around. Let me know when a good time is for the reinforcements. Cal, it was great meeting you man, you're welcome in this neck of the woods at a second's notice.

Sun, May-03-2009, 07:20:43 PM	#10
PurduinaM3 Banned Join Date: Jul 2007 Age: 27 Posts: 15,677 In the garage: '98 BMW M3 '05 AUDI A4 Reputation: 0 Location: White Plains, NY	Not much is open after midnight on a Monday night in the middle of nowhere Connecticut

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