Front Suspension and Steering Parts Wear

[Brian]

Hello Group:

We see that the 2002 has a number of “ball-and-socket” joints in its steering linkage and suspensión:

Inner tie rod ends

Outer tie rod ends

Center tie rod or “drag link”, and the

Ball joints mounted on the control arm

In your collective wisdom/experience, which of these tend to exhibit the greatest wear and are most frequently changed? Similarly, which appear to be “indestructible”, if any, and hardly ever wear out or last a long. long time?

Also, the rubber mountings up front….the inner and outer control arm bushings and the front rubber mounting for the tension strut: Which of those seem to wear out any faster than the others?

Thanks in advance for your answers and input.

[c.d.iesel]

people here who finally replace All of the above

cannot believe the improvement and wish they

had done it first before other 'improvements'

that said

the lower ball joints are probably the longest lived

and only get replaced when you remove the front

strut housings for shock replacement

all the other parts are needed after 30 years

and generally removing one includes disconnecting

neighboring parts - so they are all done at one time

all are available from many sources including

any BMW dealer - prices are very reasonable

cheep actually

include to your list idler arm bushings

motor mounts - and inspection of the front subframe

mounting arm for the left motor mount which cracks

welcome aboard

[SteveJ]

Many people will also change all of the old, worn out suspension rubber parts with polyurethane. Doing so will make the car feel much more firm, but maybe too much.

A well sorted 2002 with all fresh rubber bits feels great on the road. Be sure of what you want your end product to be. If you are building a race car just for the track that is one thing. A car that will be driven on real, and sometimes rough, roads may not need all those race parts.

The upper strut bearings are usually overlooked. The upper part of the rubber should be concave and have no cracks. Many 02 owners have neglected these and had to repaint their hoods when the strut poked up and dented it.

[TobyB]

Only the drag link joint (in my experience) seems to have

a finite life-

everything else lasts almost forever.

As in, it's not uncommon today to still find original

everything in a 2002's front end.

Except for the center link.

Tie rods go forever (until the rubber rots)

Lower ball joints go a long time.

The rubber bushings do eventually wear out.

t

[lilmo]

Only the drag link joint (in my experience) seems to have

a finite life-

everything else lasts almost forever.

As in, it's not uncommon today to still find original

everything in a 2002's front end.

Except for the center link.

Tie rods go forever (until the rubber rots)

Lower ball joints go a long time.

The rubber bushings do eventually wear out.

t

Forever must be a bit less than 250K miles, because that's when I drilled out the rivets and replaced my dry, naked, ball joints. And rod ends. And drag link. Now I only need one finger on the wheel . . .