[shushikiary]

I assume you mean the OD of the poly part that goes into the control arm? Or do you mean the OD of the ends of it that stick past the ID of the control arm's race?

I could measure the latter but not the former.

[GearHead335i]

Yes I mean the OD of the poly part which would be the ID of the arm.

[NiNeTyOne]

Originally Posted by Quinnhogue7

Does anyone know the circumference of xDrive from thrust arm bushings? I'm going to be doing my own polyurethane bushings. So I will keep everyone posted because if they come out well I'll be mass producing them on a somewhat of a smaller scale.

So I've gotten 67mm, 66.3mm 70mm but cannot find a concise measurement. If anyone knows the circumference measurement please help a brother out

If you do this, it would be nice if you made them with an outer sleeve like the pressed in OE busgings (but much thicker outer sleeve).

Use 95A Durometer which is only about 5mm thick between the inner bushing and the outer press in wall of the bushing.

I like solid bushings here but NVH is an issue. By introducing a very thin 95A poly core it would solve the NVH issues and it would make an enormous difference in handling.

The yellow Strongflex ones are nice, but they still flex too much. I'm almost tempted to go with UHMW at this point.

Maybe what we need is OE style outer, with the bushing like the Strngflex, but a two part UHMW core.

It may be time to talk to my machinist.

[hugyourewoks]

I put the red bushings in. I am lucky work has a solid Snap-on puller set. I used a 1/2in drive air impact to get the old bushings out, but it still took quite a time. The bench vise was perfect for pressing the new bushings in. Keep em straight, and they'll suck right in.

[matteblue3er]

Originally Posted by Quinnhogue7

Does anyone know the circumference of xDrive from thrust arm bushings? I'm going to be doing my own polyurethane bushings. So I will keep everyone posted because if they come out well I'll be mass producing them on a somewhat of a smaller scale.

So I've gotten 67mm, 66.3mm 70mm but cannot find a concise measurement. If anyone knows the circumference measurement please help a brother out

It's just a hair smaller than 3in. I used a 3in hole saw to press mine out and the bushing slips right into it.

BTW, the RWD and AWD bushing is the same OD. The only difference is the width. The RWD bushings are 10mm wider than AWD. See post #36.

I honestly don't see the benefit for you to produce these. With strongflex making them and RWD being easily modified to fit AWD, it's just not worth it.

[Greyfox]

How do the red powerflex bushings ride and handle potholes and such?

I know normal bushings are fairly brutal when you hit the occasional hole to hell.

[eurojulien]

If anyone is interested in a set:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1403844

[Kaoshan]

Ive read through the majority of this thread. Is there a way to replace the ball joint on the opposite end of the arm without replacing the entire arm? I'm already tracking the correct p/n's for the strongflex bushing.

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by Kaoshan

Ive read through the majority of this thread. Is there a way to replace the ball joint on the opposite end of the arm without replacing the entire arm? I'm already tracking the correct p/n's for the strongflex bushing.

The "traction strut" (31126768983, 31126768984) that takes the bushing that people are discussing does not have a balljoint. It mounts to the balljoint (31126768988) that is in the bottom of the "wheel carrier" (31216768995, 31216768996) .

Are you talking about the wishbone (31126768989) ?

[Ark10bimmer]

Which are better the red or yellow bushings. I want it stiffer and no more shaking under braking

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by Ark10bimmer

Which are better the red or yellow bushings. I want it stiffer and no more shaking under braking

If you put new OEMs in, it'll get rid of the shaking, you don't need poly bushings for that.

[JETmn]

Originally Posted by Ark10bimmer

Which are better the red or yellow bushings. I want it stiffer and no more shaking under braking

Yellow are stiffer than red.

[Greyfox]

Front bushings have been shipped from Poland.

Will let ya'll know what happens after putting them on.

[Kaoshan]

Received my yellow bushings from strong flex. Will I be able to use a standard bench press to remove the old bushings (3.0 inch hole saw recommended above( and press the new yellow bushings in? Or is this more of a pain?

I’d get my car on jacks and look myself, but I’m waiting for a garage roof repair to be finished before I can do the relacement.

[JETmn]

Originally Posted by Kaoshan

Received my yellow bushings from strong flex. Will I be able to use a standard bench press to remove the old bushings (3.0 inch hole saw recommended above( and press the new yellow bushings in? Or is this more of a pain?

I’d get my car on jacks and look myself, but I’m waiting for a garage roof repair to be finished before I can do the relacement.

Is it hydraulic or an arbor press? You definitely need a hydraulic press for it. And be sure to have the bushing on the bottom and press the arm on to it, 100x easier than the other way.

[Kaoshan]

Originally Posted by JETmn

Is it hydraulic or an arbor press? You definitely need a hydraulic press for it. And be sure to have the bushing on the bottom and press the arm on to it, 100x easier than the other way.

It’s a hydraulic press. Thanks for the info! I’ll hit you up if I have any questions if you don’t mind!

[Kaoshan]

I got my 12 ton press and everything set up. Got the drivers side arm off and used the recommended 3 inch hole saw and also tried 3” stainless exhaust pipe. Neither worked..... the stock bushings are seized pretty well. I actually bent the exhaust pipe and damaged the hole saw trying to budge it. Any ideas?

[PhaseP]

Originally Posted by Kaoshan

I got my 12 ton press and everything set up. Got the drivers side arm off and used the recommended 3 inch hole saw and also tried 3” stainless exhaust pipe. Neither worked..... the stock bushings are seized pretty well. I actually bent the exhaust pipe and damaged the hole saw trying to budge it. Any ideas?

I had looked at the hole saw at the time I replaced my bushings (with OEM though). Then I had found 2 inch electrical conduit at Home Depot which is a perfect fit for driving those bushings, see my post here

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1114977

I had not used a receiver, instead very carefully placed the arbor plates on the triangle cut sections under the arm. When driving old one out, this is easier since old one is sticking out, I just pushed the arbor plates triangle sections until they touched the sticking out bushing.
When driving the new one in, it is more difficult to place them exactly so that they will hold the arm but not be in the way of the bushing that will come out.
But I had it worked for me. This is how I did it, do it or not at your own risk.
The arbor plates free ends may come up and plates may slide out forciably under force, so again there are risks and I am only conveying how I did it.
I would try to use exhaust section as receiver, or something else like that would be better.

You can try tree jaw puller also
http://www.beisansystems.com/procedu..._procedure.htm

The 2" conduit piece matches perfectly though for any of these techiniques as a driver.

[JETmn]

Originally Posted by Kaoshan

I got my 12 ton press and everything set up. Got the drivers side arm off and used the recommended 3 inch hole saw and also tried 3” stainless exhaust pipe. Neither worked..... the stock bushings are seized pretty well. I actually bent the exhaust pipe and damaged the hole saw trying to budge it. Any ideas?

Should have read post #166. Push the rubber part out, then use a sawzall to slit the outer sleeve. Once that is slit you can easily bend the sleeve inwards and it will come right out.

[Kaoshan]

I appreciate everyone’s posts and assistance. I tried the sawzall method before I ran out to get the pipe for the other method.

Sawzall method worked great and had both stock bushings out within 20 minutes. Very easy.

Greased the strong flex bushings up and pressed then into the arms using a vise. Worked great and learned that they will most certainly “suck” right into the arms even if they aren’t perfectly straight. Test drive the car about 30 minutes later and am very surprised at how much of a difference they make in tightness and steering feel.

Absolutely worth the small amount of money and medium amount of work involved. Again, thanks everyone!

[NiNeTyOne]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

How do the red powerflex bushings ride and handle potholes and such?

I know normal bushings are fairly brutal when you hit the occasional hole to hell.

That's bad shocks, not bushings. Not sure why people are so enamored with the red Strongflex, I have replaced everything with yellow and there's no difference in noise or vibration and the handling is dramatically better.

The only thing I'm not doing with the stiffer poly is the rear subframe, which I'm doing with billet aluminum. All the new M cars have solid bushings and I have not noticed any NVH change in cars with solid rear subframe bushings, and the handling is night and day better.

The only bushing that I can tell has any contribution to NVH is the rear diff carrier bushing, and the yellow is fine there too.

[NiNeTyOne]

Originally Posted by JETmn

Should have read post #166. Push the rubber part out, then use a sawzall to slit the outer sleeve. Once that is slit you can easily bend the sleeve inwards and it will come right out.

Exactly how we do cutlass bearings. Works a treat!