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OK. I looked this up a bit after you mentioned if. Can you kind of explain to us what this does more, why and the end result/affect?
Thanks for the tip. I am much better at many other car things than I am with body work/parts and suspension. lol!
Control arm bushings are bonded to the metal collar that the bolt threads through. When you torque down the bolt, that sleeve is fixed in place and the bushing twists as the arm articulates.
When you lower your car, the control arm angles change, putting those bushings in tension (preload). The resistance of the bushing increases the further you twist it, which acts as a progressive spring. The net result is additional spring rate, additional wear/softening on your control arm bushings, and often a suspension that will not completely settle.
After you lower the car, loosen the control arm bolts to free all the bushing collars, allowing the control arms to swing freely. Then load the suspension (put a jack under the control arm) so the control arms are at correct angle for the new lower height and retorque the control arm bolts, locking the bushing collar in place at the new height with no preload.
This is why I am doing my own spring install. I don't trust a shop to do this for me. Either they'll just not do it, or they'll skip it to save time and still charge me for the labor.
OK. I looked this up a bit after you mentioned if. Can you kind of explain to us what this does more, why and the end result/affect?
Thanks for the tip. I am much better at many other car things than I am with body work/parts and suspension. lol!
I learnt that the expensive way when i sent my previous BMW E90 to a shop to install coilovers. They just slapped the thing in and called it a day and the next day the front lower arms on both side gave up. The rubber was torn outright....so unless you are running Monoball or spherical bearings in your suspension arms, you need to 'unload' the tension if there is a change in height. Just a sensible procedure.
03-12-23, 05:07 PM
