[KTE]

Had posted my plans to replace both rear roll over strut arms as a local alignment shop was unable to adjust one of the rears.

Got the hard bit out of the way, arm off and the replacement on. For the life of us, we cannot figure out how to get the knuckle bush to align between the arm holes to reconnect the final bolt!!

It’s very important to get this done asap, as the car is left on axle stands outdoors overnight, don’t want to leave it another especially if nature decides to change up the course of the weather.

Checks done:
Eccentric bolt tightened with washer and locking nut sitting in their position outlined by the subframe, (2 raised notches)
Spring with label at the top, top hat rotated with end of spring sitting correct. Bottom part again rotated to get to the end of the rubber part.
Spring locator hole/rubber piece nearest to the wheel, going through the arm hole.
Raising the arm using a jack under the shock absorber/knuckle bolt connection.
Shock absorber easily aligns after a few pumps on the jack.
Remains impossible to align the bush for BOTH sides of the arm to slide the final bolt in.


All of the YouTube videos show a very easy job of replacing shocks/springs but I had to change the entire arm. Have I overlooked anything?



Thread in local forum: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1904370

[_ObiJon]

Stupid question, have you tried putting a screwdriver in there to try and pry it to line up?

[KTE]

Originally Posted by _ObiJon

Stupid question, have you tried putting a screwdriver in there to try and pry it to line up?

Yes, using a very long and strong one as a pry tool.

Whilst it may line up perfectly on one side, the other ends up being completely off centre. At one point did have the bolt in there but there was no way it was coming out the other end, and when lowering looked like the bolt was at a bad angle.

[_ObiJon]

Hmmm.

Possibly putting a boxed ended wrench through one of the wheel bolts, so that you can have a little bit of extra leverage to pull out the lower outboard pickup, while trying to pry? You would also be able to reorientate it depending on if you need to "rotate" for the front facing side for the bolt.

[KTE]

Having the car raised on a non level drive wasn’t helping, including my pry tool being too long. Couldn’t leverage the hub out without using the ball joint (which you also need to squeeze the bolt through!)

In another world, with more time and no reliance on rushing to finish this would’ve been completed.

Thanks for the tips nonetheless.

[Jvac]

I ran into the problem on one side as well. What I realized is that if your jack isn't properly centered beneath the arm as you raise it, you won't get the bolt holes to line up no matter how much you try/pry. It pushes the arm up on an angle. I finally had to lower the jack, recenter it and go up again. It sounds like having the car on a slope brings the same result.

[fortythirtyfive]

So I also ran into this issue when I installed my B16 coilovers.. the car sat for almost a week on the drive way.

I just had to take my rear shocks out again and watched what happened. Basically the wheel carrier pops back into it's natural position causing both ends to completely un-align. I too thought it might have just been the jack but after removing the bolt today I physically saw the holes jump out of alignment the second the bolt came out.

What you'll need to do is line it up the best you can, then with a 19mm socket (I think?) you need to loosen the alignment bolt and adjust it a few turns, if you have the jack under it still you'll notice it will suddenly pop as it's underload, or if you need fine adjustments low the jack and adjust the alignment bolt.

Once you've got one side in you'll need to begin winding the alignment bolt again to get the other side into shape. I found the drivers side worked flawlessly, however the passenger side would only go so far.. I physically had to push on the hub to get the last bit into shape, then just knock the bolt through with a hammer.

Depending on when you last had an alignment done the bolt could be pretty stuck.. I had to soak mine in WD40 for a while and use an impact wrench to get it to move. A lot of people will roll their eyes if you put an impact wrench near the alignment bolt for obvious reasons so the trick is to only hold it on until you see the tiniest bit of movement, do the rest by hand then.

*edit - you'll obviously need an alignment after doing this

[casualDIYer]

Originally Posted by KTE

Had posted my plans to replace both rear roll over strut arms as a local alignment shop was unable to adjust one of the rears.

Got the hard bit out of the way, arm off and the replacement on. For the life of us, we cannot figure out how to get the knuckle bush to align between the arm holes to reconnect the final bolt!!

It’s very important to get this done asap, as the car is left on axle stands outdoors overnight, don’t want to leave it another especially if nature decides to change up the course of the weather.

Checks done:
Eccentric bolt tightened with washer and locking nut sitting in their position outlined by the subframe, (2 raised notches)
Spring with label at the top, top hat rotated with end of spring sitting correct. Bottom part again rotated to get to the end of the rubber part.
Spring locator hole/rubber piece nearest to the wheel, going through the arm hole.
Raising the arm using a jack under the shock absorber/knuckle bolt connection.
Shock absorber easily aligns after a few pumps on the jack.
Remains impossible to align the bush for BOTH sides of the arm to slide the final bolt in.


All of the YouTube videos show a very easy job of replacing shocks/springs but I had to change the entire arm. Have I overlooked anything?



Thread in local forum: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1904370

Some good and bad news.

The good news. Try long enough and you will get that bolt in.

Bad news. It's a friggn' nightmare of a time to get the bolt holes to align.

The problem: The rear toe makes aligning the bolt holes a challenge

How did I find success?
1) Attach the strut to the chassis then attach it to the control arm. This helps keep the control arm in place. Note the bolt that holds the strut to the control arm is 'HEAD FIRST' i.e. it's head is toward the front of the car, it's bolt to the rear.
2) Now, with a jack slowly raise the wheel carrier to a height to match the control arm.
3) Use a second jack to raise the control arm
4) Thread the bolt REAR FIRST (i.e. the head of the bolt is toward the rear)
5) Now (a friend is helpful here), with wheel carrier and control arm held up by two jacks, toe in the wheel carrier (i.e. push on the side closest to the front of the car) and you will see the holes briefly align. Jam in a screw driver to adjust the alignment and push the bolt through.

Important: For either the strut-control arm bolt, or wheel carrier-control arm bolt, snug the nut on both bolts but do not/not tighten then to full torque. You will either need to raise the control arm with a jack, or put the wheel back on, and using a ramp or something solid, let the car rest on it's own weight, and tighten the bolts to their final torque value (100Nm for the strut, 165Nm for the wheel carrier).

It's a hellish job but doable.