[evanr614]

Today I got the MIS RTAB tool, made the install of my bushing quite a breeze, however after looking into needing an alignment, I am seeing all of this about preloading the bushings! I thought everything went smoothly but after dropping the car to the floor and there was a pop. I am guessing this was the bushing twisting inside the arm...Did I just ruin my new bushings?

Also when I go to get an alignment (assuming my bushings aren't ruined already) will they be moving the console that the bushing sits in to the correct spot, or do they align the rear wheels another way? I am quite unknowledgeable of a lot as I am just now starting to work on my car myself with the assistance of my dad who used to know a Chevelle like the back of his hand. We tried to get it as close as possible to how we took it apart.

All help appreciated. Thanks

 

[evanr614]

I should also add that this is my daily driver and rely on it for school & work and I am worried that I could cause damage.

 

[markusmarkus]

You need to have a 4 wheel alignment performed on the car. Did you use a Bentley manual during the r&r of the rtabs?

 

[evanr614]

I did not use the manual however i used this guys DIY as a reference, except OEM bushings with ECS limiters.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=678004

I used the proper torque specs as well.

My main concern is the popping noise when I got the car completely on the ground. I need to know if they are ruined and/or if I should not drive the car until I get new bushings in.

 

[Mango]

I did not use the manual however i used this guys DIY as a reference, except OEM bushings with ECS limiters.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=678004

I used the proper torque specs as well.

My main concern is the popping noise when I got the car completely on the ground. I need to know if they are ruined and/or if I should not drive the car until I get new bushings in.

who knows, dude. popping sound could be anything. maybe spring settling/rubbing on the control arm. the main thing is that the carrier should be at the same angle it came out. i wrote about this several times on the forum. if you search, you should see it. forget about the preloading special tool for now. as long as you torqued the carrier to arm down @ 81 ft-lbs or so and put the carrier back at the same angle, and have the bushing correctly positioned in the arm, you should be fine. get an alignment and enjoy your car.

 

[evanr614]

It seems that the popping had to be the bushing twisting inside the arm when i dropped it down. What exactly do you mean by the bushing being correctly positioned in the arm? Getting the arm and console back into its place was kind of a struggle but we tried to get it as close as possible. Maybe I should just tweak the angle of the console?

 

[Phoenix330ci]

When I did mine, with the limiters, I noticed that the bearing/arm could still rotate in the console to some sort of degree even after tightening up the bolt through the arm and the console. (the bushing was not twisting at all, just between the console and the limiters. The limiters stayed put.) I had no problem getting them lined up. The bushing in the arm, I marked the location of the old bushing before I took them out of the arm and when I pressed the new one in I made sure it lined up exactly where the old bushing was. I tried to mark the positions of the bolts on the console to the car, but even then I was off.

Took my car to a rep. alignment shop and they re-adjusted them (console to car bolts) to give me a perfect alignment. They even ran a tape measure on front side and back side of the tire to make sure they were correct. So an alignment is a must. Let them know what you did so they can pay attention to everything and know what to look for. The rear tires wore perfectly even after the adjustment as well.

 

[evanr614]

You guys have been very helpful, thank you! I think I've decided to just get te car into tire discounters and have then align the car as well as getting that center console exactly where it needs to be. should be good after that. Might have to just throw on some polys are winter!