Good. You will have no problems. Pay attention and buy the beverages. Your friend could do it if he has a press. If not, this is a good idea. Make sure he lines them up correctly. There are marks on the bushing and lolli. Same goes for when you put it back on the control arm. Make sure you line it back up properly He wanted to keep dirt off of them. the boots are there to keep dirt out of the area beacause dirt can destroy the steering rack seals. If yours are fine, just use yours and put these on the shelf. If not, use these. If he is worth his salt, he'll be able to eyeball it pretty darn close. Remember, if you want the solid RTABS, DO the RTABs IF the shop DOES NOT have the special tool to do the subframe bushings. If they don't have the tool, they will have to pull the subframe so it would make sense to do them at that time. IF the shop DOES have the special tool, they will not need to pull the subframe and there will be no duplicate labor. Clean them with sand paper or similar, or use a conversion primer. The rust is no big deal though. Those are the upper strut mounts on the rear struts, and they have reinforcement plates with them too. Those go inside the trunk, not outside the car, they sandwich the strut tower. If the mount rubber looks bad or split, replace them (but keep those plates) otherwise just use them. Get new links front and rear. The front mounts will be fine, but the rears should probably be reinforced. This can be done either on the car, or when you pull the arms for RTABs. Do not ever take advantage of a helpful mechanic. Buy him food, drink, and offer to pay, even if it is in bar tabs.
Im back with more questions. Im looking on Turners website and they offer rear sway bar mount reinforcements for both the upper and lower sections of the rear suspension. The upper reinforces the sway bar bushing mount, and the lower reinforces the lower links. I would imagine the upper reinforcement is more important. Is the lower link reinforcement necessary? Also, I'm assuming these reinforcements need to be welded on, correct? Approximately how much is this going to cost? As always, thanks for the help.
Yes, the lower link reinforcement is necessary. Probably even more so than the upper, but with bushings and links that have no cushion, you will be ripping tabs and body in short order without them. I know the lowers must be welded, but that should be on the order of 0.5-1 hour labor. Don't know about the uppers.
So next Saturday is the day that my buddy and I will be replacing the front suspension and the rear springs/shocks. The only thing that I still need is the hardware. What hardware should I be replacing when we put in the new stuff? BTW, I decided at the last minute to order OEM CAB, Subframe Bushings, and Diff Mount.
Best wishes with the project. Regarding "'hardware", since you seem to have all the other pieces, I assume you mean the replacement nuts, bolts, clips etc. When I redid the suspension and steering systems on my 1991 318i last winter, I replaced more or less everything. I just went through the realoem diagrams, got all the part numbers and took them to a dealership. The parts guy went in the back and brought back all kinds of stuff in small plastic bags. Parts they didn't have (in my case, enough "self-locking colar nuts" for the F & B shock mounts) (part 07119904295) they ordered and had them within 48 hours. Parts guys can be saints sometimes. About the only warning I have is that a few of the parts had the decimal slipped in the price list. $0.50 nuts were coming up at $5.00 each. I spotted it (easy when $8 worth of stuff rings up at $80). I wonder customers who had their nuts replaced as part of a dealer service repairs got kicked in the, umm, shin regarding part price.
I don't want to hijack Grinch's thread but I have a closely related question. I'm about to put 14.5mm rear sway bars (12mm stock) on my car (also replacing 20mm front sways with 21mm). I am thinking of ordering an upper bar reinforcement kit from TMS, but it's my idea that with that mild an upgrade I wouldn't need the lower link reinforcement also. Am I wrong, just being penny-wise and pound-foolish? (I also have Bilstein HDs and M3 springs in the rear.) The reason I'm considering the reinforcement kit(s) is that the car is 20 years old and has been tracked in the past. I intend to do a bit of track (driving classes) but mostly spirited street driving.
Thanks. This is exactly what I have done. Im going to the local dealership tomorrow with a list of part numbers.
Im sure someone more knowledgeable than me will give you an answer, but I don't think you "need" the reinforcement kit for such a mild upgrade. Im putting on a 19mm rear bar, and for that Ive been recommended to have the reinforcement kit welded on, but for only a 14.5mm bar I doubt you need it. BTW Steve, its great to see your posts about your e30. I remember seeing your threads on The Car Lounge when you were looking for, and then bought, your e30. Good luck with the upgrades!
Its my understanding that the lower mount fails first. I believe the prevention is the same as the cure: weld on stronger tabs. If this is true, then you may as well wait until they break before repairing. As I recall, MGarrison described this in another thread somewhere. FWIW, I've got 16mm Eibach bars on the back of both of my E30s and so far no breakage.
That's cool! I can't tell you how much I've appreciated "the kindness of strangers" over the past few years in bringing me from total noob to semi-noob status. TCL and this forum are full of knowledgeable, wise, and generous folks. I only hope to be able to pass on a fraction of what I've received from others before I become recyclable material myself.
I just recently did all of this work myslef inmy backyard over a weekend. We a huge amunt of work on my rusty, siezed up 88 vert. But its doable. If your looking for a good reliable NJ shop, you can go wrong with "German Car Shop" in Edison NJ. They have been around forever and are good guys.
