mtb5020
Car RamRod
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2015
- Threads
- 21
- Messages
- 158
- Reaction score
- 38
- Location
- Mean Streets of Philly
- First Name
- Mike
- Vehicle(s)
- 2015 Mustang GT PP
- Thread starter
- #1
Took the time this weekend to install a pair of BMR LCA Bearings. And it was a significant amount of time. Here is a link to the items described http://www.bmrsuspension.com/?page=products&productid=1574.
Let me just start by saying, for a 13 step project, this install took me longer than the MGW shifter install, which had an hour long install video instructional. By the time I was done, I was beat, hands like swiss cheese, and totally satisfied. Great hobby to have.
Rather than a conventional DIY, here is a play by play using the instructions from BMR's website.
BK055 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
INSTALLATION:
1. Lift vehicle and safely support with jack stands
under the rear cradle.
-Done, no problem at all. cake.
2. Remove the wheels/tires to gain access to the work
area.
-Again, no problem. This is easy.
3. Remove the lower shock bolts using a 15mm
socket.
-Not bad, easy access. This will be a breeze!
4. Remove the bottom bolt on the vertical link using
an 18mm socket.
-Remember doing this to install the BMR vert links, only twice as easy because only one bolt comes out! Man, I'll have this done by lunch.
5. Remove the lower sway bar end link nut using a
15mm socket.
-Bit of an issue, the nut is ny-locked and spins the bolt. Nothing a set of vicegrips can fix, be gentle tho, I clamped down on the gasket and liberated a bunch of grease from inside. This will probably squeak sooner rather than later. Plus I now have grease to lube the LCA for inserting the BMR bearing, bonus!
6. Remove the outer bolt on the lower control arm
using a 21mm socket.
-This thing is torqued down pretty good. Nothing my "motivator" can't handle. The "motivator" is the steel shaft from the jack, very handy for extra leverage.
7. Remove both inner bolts on the lower control arm
using a 24mm socket,
-The first snags have been hit, and it came in spades. The rearmost bolt could not be reached with the exhaust on, removed exhaust. From there no problem. If that was the biggest issues, this install was looking pretty. Just after that relief, the front most bolt was inaccessible. Had to remove the spring and shock to gain access. After that, the LCA was holding on for dear life, had to pull down on the LCA while going full "motivation" on this bolt. I don't know what this bolt is torqued to, but I felt like I was on my last set of deadlifts at the gym. Pretty sure the car was going to flip over before the bolt let loose. Finally, the bolt began turning. Much to my surprise, this bolt is quite long, and requires great effort to remove the rest of the way. These two bolts cost me an hour and about 3 pints of sweat. Great success after as the LCA came out just after! Success! Can only get easier from here, I thought...
BK055 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
8. Lower the arm out of the mounts and set the
spring aside.
-Easy, basically fell out because I had already removed the spring.
9. Using either a hydraulic press or the BMR tool
BRT001, press out the factory bushing. If using the
BMR tool, please follow the directions that come
with the tool.
-This was the holy grail of challenges. Getting the stock bushing out was a task set for the Hulk. And maybe Thor. Or both. I wrenched on a manual bearing press for an hour trying to get it to budge. Clamped everything down, "motivated" the wrench, and nothing. Took everything outside, put the LCA on the grass, stood on the LCA while my friend pulled on the motivator. Nothing, not a budge. Decided it would be a good time for lunch. After lunch I remembered directions for installing the FRPP IRS bushings and how to remove the factory ones. Remove rubber portion, cut bushing sleeve, remove. Attempted to sawzall the rubber out to no avail, just kept burning and grabbing the blade. Decided to take the bearing press to force out the rubber portion. After significant effort, the rubber portion popped out. With additional effort, the sawzall was able to score the outer bushing sleeve. With an old, now defunct, flat head screwdriver, I pounded on the sleeve until it separated and pushed it out. Success! one factory bushing removed and "no" (in my opinion) damage to the LCA. How is it 70* F in Philadelphia in December? Oh yeah, because I removed the AC unit from the garage and the weather just knew I would be tackling this install. Less 5 pints of sweat. For those of you keeping track, that's a total of 8 pints from one LCA.
10. Once the factory bushing has been removed, smear
some oil onto the inside of the bore then press the
BMR bearing assembly into the control arm.
-Once the factory bushing was removed, I took the liberty of sanding the inside contact surface with some fine grit sandpaper. This removed the rust and what appeared to be factory red locktite. No wonder that beast was not to be lodged from its home. Used the grease from the sway bar link gasket squeeze and some WD-40 to lube this up. Grabbed the BMR bearing from the freezer and popped it in with the bearing press. No issue, very satisfying. And then, the snap ring.
11. Once the BK055 is pressed into place, put the
provided external snap ring onto the groove of the
bearing assembly.
-Why so big snap ring? Don't have large enough snap ring pliers. After messing with this, spent another 45 minutes dropping by Harbour freight for a cheap, quick solution.
12. Repeat steps 3-11 for the other side.
13. Re-assemble the suspension.
-Steps 12 and 13, f*ck you.
After 8 hours of some serious wrenching, the BMR bearings are in. Now this process and my struggles are largely related to the available tools on hand. I'm sure a hydraulic press and proper supply of sockets would have cut install time down by 50-75%. All in all, it was a great time and these bearings seem to do the most for front end lift of all the installs so far. Highly recommended and worth the challenges of install. Thanks again to BMR (@BMR Tech) for a solid product that installed and fit perfectly. Perfectly. Now on to the FRPP toe link bearings...
Pictures:
1. Factory LCA bearing in
2. LCA removed
3. LCA removed
4. LCA out
5. LCA and BMR Bearing
6. LCA and BMR up close
7. LCA and factory bearing
8. LCA and manual press
9. Press set up with "motivator"
10. Rubber removed
11. Outer factory bearing sleeve bent
12. Sawzall scored outer bushing sleeve
13. Naked LCA bearing housing
14. Lubed up and ready to go
15. BMR bearing in
16. BMR bearing installed and LCA back in
17. Other side BMR bearing in
Plenty of pictures, needed breaks.
Let me just start by saying, for a 13 step project, this install took me longer than the MGW shifter install, which had an hour long install video instructional. By the time I was done, I was beat, hands like swiss cheese, and totally satisfied. Great hobby to have.
Rather than a conventional DIY, here is a play by play using the instructions from BMR's website.
BK055 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
INSTALLATION:
1. Lift vehicle and safely support with jack stands
under the rear cradle.
-Done, no problem at all. cake.
2. Remove the wheels/tires to gain access to the work
area.
-Again, no problem. This is easy.
3. Remove the lower shock bolts using a 15mm
socket.
-Not bad, easy access. This will be a breeze!
4. Remove the bottom bolt on the vertical link using
an 18mm socket.
-Remember doing this to install the BMR vert links, only twice as easy because only one bolt comes out! Man, I'll have this done by lunch.
5. Remove the lower sway bar end link nut using a
15mm socket.
-Bit of an issue, the nut is ny-locked and spins the bolt. Nothing a set of vicegrips can fix, be gentle tho, I clamped down on the gasket and liberated a bunch of grease from inside. This will probably squeak sooner rather than later. Plus I now have grease to lube the LCA for inserting the BMR bearing, bonus!
6. Remove the outer bolt on the lower control arm
using a 21mm socket.
-This thing is torqued down pretty good. Nothing my "motivator" can't handle. The "motivator" is the steel shaft from the jack, very handy for extra leverage.
7. Remove both inner bolts on the lower control arm
using a 24mm socket,
-The first snags have been hit, and it came in spades. The rearmost bolt could not be reached with the exhaust on, removed exhaust. From there no problem. If that was the biggest issues, this install was looking pretty. Just after that relief, the front most bolt was inaccessible. Had to remove the spring and shock to gain access. After that, the LCA was holding on for dear life, had to pull down on the LCA while going full "motivation" on this bolt. I don't know what this bolt is torqued to, but I felt like I was on my last set of deadlifts at the gym. Pretty sure the car was going to flip over before the bolt let loose. Finally, the bolt began turning. Much to my surprise, this bolt is quite long, and requires great effort to remove the rest of the way. These two bolts cost me an hour and about 3 pints of sweat. Great success after as the LCA came out just after! Success! Can only get easier from here, I thought...
BK055 INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
8. Lower the arm out of the mounts and set the
spring aside.
-Easy, basically fell out because I had already removed the spring.
9. Using either a hydraulic press or the BMR tool
BRT001, press out the factory bushing. If using the
BMR tool, please follow the directions that come
with the tool.
-This was the holy grail of challenges. Getting the stock bushing out was a task set for the Hulk. And maybe Thor. Or both. I wrenched on a manual bearing press for an hour trying to get it to budge. Clamped everything down, "motivated" the wrench, and nothing. Took everything outside, put the LCA on the grass, stood on the LCA while my friend pulled on the motivator. Nothing, not a budge. Decided it would be a good time for lunch. After lunch I remembered directions for installing the FRPP IRS bushings and how to remove the factory ones. Remove rubber portion, cut bushing sleeve, remove. Attempted to sawzall the rubber out to no avail, just kept burning and grabbing the blade. Decided to take the bearing press to force out the rubber portion. After significant effort, the rubber portion popped out. With additional effort, the sawzall was able to score the outer bushing sleeve. With an old, now defunct, flat head screwdriver, I pounded on the sleeve until it separated and pushed it out. Success! one factory bushing removed and "no" (in my opinion) damage to the LCA. How is it 70* F in Philadelphia in December? Oh yeah, because I removed the AC unit from the garage and the weather just knew I would be tackling this install. Less 5 pints of sweat. For those of you keeping track, that's a total of 8 pints from one LCA.
10. Once the factory bushing has been removed, smear
some oil onto the inside of the bore then press the
BMR bearing assembly into the control arm.
-Once the factory bushing was removed, I took the liberty of sanding the inside contact surface with some fine grit sandpaper. This removed the rust and what appeared to be factory red locktite. No wonder that beast was not to be lodged from its home. Used the grease from the sway bar link gasket squeeze and some WD-40 to lube this up. Grabbed the BMR bearing from the freezer and popped it in with the bearing press. No issue, very satisfying. And then, the snap ring.
11. Once the BK055 is pressed into place, put the
provided external snap ring onto the groove of the
bearing assembly.
-Why so big snap ring? Don't have large enough snap ring pliers. After messing with this, spent another 45 minutes dropping by Harbour freight for a cheap, quick solution.
12. Repeat steps 3-11 for the other side.
13. Re-assemble the suspension.
-Steps 12 and 13, f*ck you.
After 8 hours of some serious wrenching, the BMR bearings are in. Now this process and my struggles are largely related to the available tools on hand. I'm sure a hydraulic press and proper supply of sockets would have cut install time down by 50-75%. All in all, it was a great time and these bearings seem to do the most for front end lift of all the installs so far. Highly recommended and worth the challenges of install. Thanks again to BMR (@BMR Tech) for a solid product that installed and fit perfectly. Perfectly. Now on to the FRPP toe link bearings...
Pictures:
1. Factory LCA bearing in
2. LCA removed
3. LCA removed
4. LCA out
5. LCA and BMR Bearing
6. LCA and BMR up close
7. LCA and factory bearing
8. LCA and manual press
9. Press set up with "motivator"
10. Rubber removed
11. Outer factory bearing sleeve bent
12. Sawzall scored outer bushing sleeve
13. Naked LCA bearing housing
14. Lubed up and ready to go
15. BMR bearing in
16. BMR bearing installed and LCA back in
17. Other side BMR bearing in
Plenty of pictures, needed breaks.
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