S550 Rear Lower Control Are Removal & Replacement WRITE-UP

I would like to share this process to those of you who may be looking to remove your RLCAs for any modifications (primarily the RLCA Bearing Upgrades) and are hesitant due to the work involved.

We have been working with Chuck at C&D Autotech for quite a while, and he has come up with a great offering for those who would like to receive the S550 RLCAs already modified with the BMR-BK055 Bearings. You buy them, install, and send him your stockers back for a nice refund.

Anyhow, due to his offerings gaining in popularity, he made a VERY nice write up for people to use when R&Ring their RLCAs.

Check it out:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Etqwna_ACqjlXTERkW4nMrJm2lbJ8plDO6iQ1viLjwQ/edit

Hope that helps anyone who is curious about the removal and installation of their RLCAs!

:cheers:

Thanks! This is an awesome guide. I will be doing mine next weekend, this should help a lot.

1QwkEcoBoost and myself used this guide to install a pre loaded set of control arms on my car. Overall this is a great guide, just needs a bit of clarification in the removal of the inner rear control arm bolts. We didn't remove the exhaust at first and tried to work around it, but the swivel was at a bad angle and we could not exert enough force on the bolt to get it out. I recommend removing the exhaust, and putting the swivel and extension in next to the half shaft (pic below). Also, I recommend removing the strut entirely and jacking up the hub as high as it will go to gain some more clearance when reinstalling the arms.

GTPP said:

1QwkEcoBoost and myself used this guide to install a pre loaded set of control arms on my car. Overall this is a great guide, just needs a bit of clarification in the removal of the inner rear control arm bolts. We didn't remove the exhaust at first and tried to work around it, but the swivel was at a bad angle and we could not exert enough force on the bolt to get it out. I recommend removing the exhaust, and putting the swivel and extension in next to the half shaft (pic below). Also, I recommend removing the strut entirely and jacking up the hub as high as it will go to gain some more clearance when reinstalling the arms.

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[MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION]

This is what I was telling you about having to bring the knuckle and half shalf to their upmost position to gain tool clearance.

Rebellion said:

[MENTION=10281]BmacIL[/MENTION]

This is what I was telling you about having to bring the knuckle and half shalf to their upmost position to gain tool clearance.

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My face looking at this picture:

Haha it will make more sense once you see it in person, there is more than one way to reach that bolt. We were able to get the tool in around the half shaft without jacking up the hub, but raising the hub does increase the clearance.

That was a nice write up, great of you to post it up. I'm glad to see it mentioned the torquing of which bushing/bolts with the weight of the vehicle at ride height. I take it that non of these bolts have adjustment for alignment, rear camber or toe? I see the one cam washer, guess that's for toe and you just set it where it was before with the weight of the vehicle on the spring?

Thanks Kelly! Very much appreciated!

so guys, is it worth the money and work to do it?? Noticeable difference?? Any issues with longevity or nvw for a street car?

Just wanted to say THANK YOU very much for this guide! All the pics and detailed explanation really helped me understand how this is done. :cheers:

Not sure if LCA bearings are worth doing for street driving, How much ride quality or NVH are sacrificed?

Surprisingly little. You will notice it, but I'd say similar amount of NVH as BMR cb005. It mostly transmits more road noise into the cabin. I don't feel like I sacrificed any ride quality. I have had mine on the car for about 2 months and 1000ish miles, and currently no squeaks, creaks, rattles or other odd noises after installation.

Doing this job right now for a forum member's car, just finished installing both lowers with the BMR bearing and am about to start on the toe link bearings on the knuckle here in a minute. Both guides were very helpful for the job. I used a combination of wobble extensions for the LCA front bolt while jacking up the unbolted knuckle with axle shaft to gain clearance. The extensions went through the subframe opening for the axle and was a fairly straight shot. It helps that I have a lift and pair of screw jacks at my disposal. I would definitely not do this job at home without a qualified extra pair of hands. I started about 9:30am and it's a bit after 3pm now minus about an hour for lunch and various interruptions.


The factory bushings were super tight! It took about 12 tons on my 20 ton press to get them out. The hand bushing tools we have didn't stand a chance. If you don't have a press I would definitely suggest buying complete control arms with the bearings installed.

Mine was the car Grimace427 just installed these on. Peter and his shop did an awesome job. They also installed my FRP suspension package. If you are in the greater DC or NoVA area, I highly recommend him.

My wheel hop is completely gone, but I also got new wheels/tires at the same time so I can't confirm if it is 100% due to the LCA and toe link bearings.

NVH is dramatically increased, but it is all at the shifter, so I think it is a combination of the bearings and the MGW. My MGW always had a rattle at RPMs over about 3500. Now that rattle is present almost any time I am in gear.

However, if I put pressure on the shifter handle (pull up, push down, or pull/push toward the gear I'm in) the rattle completely goes away. The shifter rattle is pretty dramatic and I may look at swapping out my MGW unless I can figure out another solution.

I have noticed no other NVH other than at the shifter, so your mileage may vary.

Grimace427 said:

The factory bushings were super tight! It took about 12 tons on my 20 ton press to get them out. The hand bushing tools we have didn't stand a chance. If you don't have a press I would definitely suggest buying complete control arms with the bearings installed.

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Well, this isn't encouraging news. :tsk: My C-frame manual ball joint press just showed up yesterday and I was marveling at how heavy and sturdy it appears to be...and how "That bearing doesn't stand a chance with this thing!"

Reality it seems, has reared it's ugly head. Good to know, though. I may not try this now, even though the bearings will be here next week.