# E39 Traction strut bushing replacement blue



## liquidgroove (Oct 20, 2003)

I ordered the bushings on the traction strut hoping to cure the shimmy on my 97 540i and tried to replace it during the holidays. 

Everything was pretty straight forward till I tried to pop the ball joint. I spray load of PB blaster and tried to hammer the housing (didn't use sledge hammer though), but nothing could get it even move a bit.

After trying for 3 hrs, I decided I should try to take off the tie rod ball joint and just bring the entire assembly (traction strut, strut housing and front control arm) to a machine shop. Tie rod ball joint seen like a easier one to deal with. Unfortunately, it was still beyond my reach. After 2 hrs of hammering, pb blaster, it was still well attached. What worse is, I teared the rubber seal in the progress  After i teared the seal, I decided I should let the Pros with the proper tools to handle this.

Now I have to think twice about working anything related to ball joint. I don't know about others, but ball joint is no fun to mess with.


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## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

liquidgroove said:


> I ordered the bushings on the traction strut hoping to cure the shimmy on my 97 540i and tried to replace it during the holidays.
> 
> Everything was pretty straight forward till I tried to pop the ball joint. I spray load of PB blaster and tried to hammer the housing (didn't use sledge hammer though), but nothing could get it even move a bit.


You need to use *two* small sledgehammers and hit the outer part of the arm from both sides while applying strong downward force with a ball joint separater tool. This causes a pressure wave that frees the ball joint with much less force than is required using a single sledge hammer. This is one of those jobs for a guy with 3 hands. Or enlist the help of a friend.

This article may give you some inspiration: http://www.ultimategarage.com/tech-new.html


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