Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (RTAB) Replacement

TOMGREEN413 · Post by **TOMGREEN413** » Wed May 24, 2023 6:38 pm

Brilliant, well d

one

Matty_Z4 · Post by **Matty_Z4** » Thu May 25, 2023 8:11 am

Awesome write up and great pictures, would be good to drop in the how-to section for peeps to find later.

Jembo · Post by **Jembo** » Thu May 25, 2023 6:05 pm

From memory you need a special tool to line up the bush on tightening so it isn't stressed.

Yantekin made a homemade one... see pickie

I also went for both poly RTAB's & RTAL's just in case.

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Fri May 26, 2023 12:20 am

Cheers all

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Fri May 26, 2023 12:22 am

ashley544 wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 5:36 pm Chengy

Great detailed write up

Id be interested in buying the tool

Whereabouts are you

Hey Ashley,

Sorry for late reply. I’m in Warwickshire, if that works send me a PM. Could meet you somewhere too. I’ve just got to check the tool is still working fine as may have damaged the threads slightly..

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Fri May 26, 2023 12:22 am

Matty_Z4 wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 8:11 am Awesome write up and great pictures, would be good to drop in the how-to section for peeps to find later.

Cheers Matty. Is this something the mods would do?

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Fri May 26, 2023 12:25 am

Jembo wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 6:05 pm From memory you need a special tool to line up the bush on tightening so it isn't stressed.

Yantekin made a homemade one... see pickie

I also went for both poly RTAB's & RTAL's just in case.

Yeah the pretensioning requirements for OEM replacements worried me as I was new to all this, so went with the polys. No regrets so far, they’ve been great.

smorris_12 · Post by **smorris_12** » Fri May 26, 2023 10:35 am

The pretensioning bit is easy: only properly tighten the bolts when the car is sat squarely on its wheels rather than when they're dangling with the car on a trolley jack.

TOMGREEN413 · Post by **TOMGREEN413** » Sun May 28, 2023 12:26 am

Great to remember.

Matty_Z4 · Post by **Matty_Z4** » Thu Jun 01, 2023 9:17 am

Chengy wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 12:22 am
Matty_Z4 wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 8:11 am Awesome write up and great pictures, would be good to drop in the how-to section for peeps to find later.
Cheers Matty. Is this something the mods would do?

I think you submit your post in this section for a how-to and then the mods move it into the correct how to section.

viewforum.php?f=34

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Sun Jun 04, 2023 4:11 pm

Matty_Z4 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2023 9:17 am
Chengy wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 12:22 am
Matty_Z4 wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 8:11 am Awesome write up and great pictures, would be good to drop in the how-to section for peeps to find later.
Cheers Matty. Is this something the mods would do?
I think you submit your post in this section for a how-to and then the mods move it into the correct how to section.

viewforum.php?f=34

Thanks Matty, done.

ryushe · Post by **ryushe** » Wed Aug 09, 2023 9:36 am

@chengy, great write up. It’s another one for the “things to do” list

How long approximately did this take you?

Chengy · Post by **Chengy** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 11:59 am

ryushe wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2023 9:36 am @chengy, great write up. It’s another one for the “things to do” list
How long approximately did this take you?

Sorry for the delay and thank you

First go was probably around 4-5 hours including set up time as I didn’t have a step by step guide, so had to figure things and ask people. Second go on the other side was a lot faster, probably 1-2 hours.

Hope this helps, any questions let me know.

jetrep · Post by **jetrep** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 5:03 pm

smorris_12 wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 10:35 am The pretensioning bit is easy: only properly tighten the bolts when the car is sat squarely on its wheels rather than when they're dangling with the car on a trolley jack.

Easier said than done considering you cannot access the bolt for this bushing once the bracket is in position and the tire is on the ground

jetrep · Post by **jetrep** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 5:06 pm

Nice write up! I really disliked performing this job and even had a skilled helper. Having a better tool designed solely for dealing with these bushings would have helped. The tool I bought off amazon is designed for this purpose but also other BMW bushings so it was a bit less specialized for this task. Installing the new OEM style bushings was not easy so going with these poly bushings is probably the way to go. It's a much bigger job but I must admit I'd rather do my oil pan again that deal with these bushings.

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