Brilliant..I love making tools from the HD!!...

 

My mechanic was replacing the front ball joints and busted the bolt to the subframe. He tried drilling out the bolt and damaged the threads on the subframe. Now he plans to install a replacement bolt with nut. Will this compromise the stability of the front control arm? Any suggestions appreciated.

Thx

 

I am in process of replacing these LCA bushings plus sway arm bushings, the inner ball joints and the tie rods. Everything is ready for re-assembly but I am unsure about the sway bar positioning. There are 2 potential screw ups:
1)How do I make sure the bar I s centered (not too far to driver's side and not too far to passenger side?

2) How do I make sure swaybar geometry/angle is correct to bolt up to the end links?

I assume when I torque down the bolts to 122 ft lbs that hold the sway bar onto the LCA, the sway bar won't move easily in the side to side or pivot up/down directions.

What's it like to slide the subframe back into position and get everything to line up?

 

I got it all done. It is a big job. It seemed to be going well until I put one of the Powerflex outer bushings in backwards (DOH!!)...and I thought i was being smart and careful not to do that...and I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right by accident. I had the bracket upside down (note to self....the part number side should be DOWN). Powerflex instructions aren't great. I'd recommend laying the LCA assembly and bracket in place (sort of like a dry fit) to make sure you have it right before you commit to pressing it in. AND/OR....mark the "UP" side, along with a direction arrow on the bracket to show which way to press in the urethane bushing before you press out the old one and hopefully all those safeguards will prevent you making this mistake.

I used my neighbour's 80 ton hydraulic press to remove old bushings, and my bench vise to press in new Powerflex bushings. My 35 year alignment mechanic friend says heat should never be used on suspension components. I'm sure many would argue that point.

I had to use my good quality double hammer, 1/2" drive impact gun on full tilt to remove the 2 LCA bracket bolts. I tried a 1/2" breaker bar with a pipe attached for leverage and they wouldn't break loose.

I was following a set of how-to instructions to drop the sub frame but a couple of points were missing. They say to undo the 2 outer balljoint bolts, but forget to mention to separate the outer balljoint as well. It also never mentioned to unfasten the lower control arm bushing bracket bolt. I was trying to follow directions precisely so it was a bit confusing.

re-aligning steering u-joint was a PITA. Also, leave crush tubes loose until you get front bumper mounted as there is some wiggle room needed to keep bolt holes aligned.

ALSO, as i removed fasteners, I loosely threaded ALL of them back into the hole they were removed from (where possible), even bumper and bumper cover bolts), as there are so many and easy to confuse. It made re-assembly a lot easier. Not looking for lost bolts, and able to make sure the right fastener was going back where it belonged.

anyone that says 3 hours to do this job must be starting on eastern time and finishing on western time. I am not a mechanic but am pretty handy and have taken on big jobs like this before. I could definitely cut my time back, but no way is 3 hours realistic. If all goes well, plan for at least 6 hours. I also replaced the inner ball joint, the sway bar bushings and the tie rods, so maybe add time for those. In order to re-use bellows boot on tie rod, i had to cut tie rod with a zip disc.

How much time does a Mini dealer quote to do this job?

 

Mine quoted me a hair under $1000 parts and labor. That was the second to last time I considered having anything done by them.

Figure at around $150 an hr, and the bushings costing what they cost, they're billing a minimum of 5 hours.
I think I've spent that amount of time reading about this service. Maybe I'll wake up one morning and it'll be done...

 

We have a front control arm bushing and ball joint DIY here that may come in handy for someone. Article lists about 4 hours of your time and a much cheaper tab than the dealership.

 

does that 4 hours include dropping the subframe? seems like that would take 4 hours on it's own.

 

That particular how to does drop the subframe.

 

So I chose the method that does not drop the subframe, seemed simple enough. While it's entirely possible to do this on jack stands I don't think it would be very easy with out at the very least air tools. I tracked down my issue to a slightly bent control arm which ate up the ball joints on that side. Go figure, 3 alignments later... Replacing all the ball joints while I have it apart. Unfortunately Fedex didn't come until later in the day or it would most likely be back together...
I'll post more pictures when I can.

 

SuperPro had a video explaining why their bushing was better than others and it made sense to me. I also found it for a slightly lower price than the Powerflex product. The kit came with grease to ease the coupling of the two bearing parts and I decided to do the replacement without dropping the subframe.

After nuts were most of the way off, control arms were loosened using sledgehammer inboard of outer ball joints then aft and outboard of inner ball joints. Removed control arms with pry bar. Sawzall (air body saw may have worked too) used to cut away old bushings. 1/2" pipe floor flanges with half inch stud a foot long pressed in new bearings most of the way. Then the aft flange had to be modified per the 1st photo (only 1 of 4 cord ties is shown) and the press assembly tightened until the modified flange fractured. The front side of the press used a 2-9/64 CR-V from Adv. Auto KIT46 per 2nd photo. Ratcheting tie-down strap for reinstallation of control arms. Torque specs for control arm: 41 & 59 ft-lb. (5 & 6mm T-handle wrenches and 18 & 21mm crows-foot wrenches are very helpful for torquing.)

Pickle fork for ball joint separation is worse than useless since it broke the boot on the outer joint and forced grease out of the inner. Monoject curved-tip syringe used on drivers side to add lithium grease to the inner ball joint and the CV joint. CV boot resealed with OTC 4623 banding tool. (The CV joint leakage was from an unrelated repair.)

Motor On!

 

I got the inner balljoint separated from control arm by using a two-arm puller. the jaw just fits between the subframe and the control arm.