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My car has been getting so much attention and TLC lately. All new arnotts, all new bushings completed up front. Just need to do rears including sway bar and suspension is all new! Feels good to take care of the car, yea it's not cheap. But, the car isn't cheap. It has been so good to me for so many years. It worth it.
I'm going to guess more road noise with those. I don't really understand what they are trying to fix, do you? Nearly all the flex in the rear is in the toe links.
I'm going to guess more road noise with those. I don't really understand what they are trying to fix, do you? Nearly all the flex in the rear is in the toe links.
Im debating it. Getting rid of some un necessary slop in the rear end? We'll see. The car rides so smooth and numb, maybe a little stiffness wont hurt. I dunno.
So, nobody has changed their subframe bushings before? that's kind of a scary thought. It's no wonder why these types of cars go to crap and sell for peanuts. Not many actually maintain them like they are suppose to. Yikes.
Burn the rubber out and cut the ring that's left in the subframe, I'm sure there is a special tool but that's how I've done it on other cars works fine. Then hammer the new one in.
Im debating it. Getting rid of some un necessary slop in the rear end? We'll see. The car rides so smooth and numb, maybe a little stiffness wont hurt. I dunno.
Most cars subframe bushings last to 180,000 miles or 20 years roughly, this all depends on roads, driving habits, etc
I'm going to guess more road noise with those. I don't really understand what they are trying to fix, do you? Nearly all the flex in the rear is in the toe links.
Absolutely correct. Check with Shardul for replacement toe-links.
My car has been getting so much attention and TLC lately. All new arnotts, all new bushings completed up front. Just need to do rears including sway bar and suspension is all new! Feels good to take care of the car, yea it's not cheap. But, the car isn't cheap. It has been so good to me for so many years. It worth it.
I replaced some rear subframe bushings with my brother after his subframe bolts both completely snapped. I wish I would have documented it all, but I didn't since I thought there already was a DIY on this. It's not the easiest job, but with the right tools it can be done. I'm pretty sure they have some special tool at the dealer for pressing the bushings in and out of the subframe, but I was able to make my own press after a quick trip down to home depot. I'll see if I can take some pics of the tool I made and used to press the old bearings out and the new ones in. Once the bushings are swapped out it's just a matter of jacking the subframe back up close enough to the frame to get the NEW bolts and washers in.
Post #2 Shardul gives some good advice. Completely removing the subframe to replace the bushings will definitely give you much better access and working room, but I personally did it without removing the entire subframe from the car.
Post #3 Blackbenzz gives some advice that might help you out a little as well
I got some pics of that tool I made. It uses the same idea as a wheel bearing press. I bought a piece of flat 1/4" steel and cut it down to 7 1/2" long and drilled a hole through the center of it.
You need to also pick up a large sized bolt or all-thread, at least 1/2" in diameter, along with a few washers and 2 nuts that you'll screw onto this large bolt.
The last thing you need on your trip to Home Depot is a 4" PVC coupling. If they're out of couplings for whatever reason you can also use a 4" PVC connector.
Now that your flat steel is cut to length and has a hole drilled in it, you can cut the head of your bolt off like the one seen in the pic. The total length of the cut off bolt is 9 1/2".
Next using whatever cutting tool you have available (sawzall, cut-off wheel, angle grinder) cut a vertical slit in the 4" PVC coupling wide enough for your cut off bolt to slide in and out of. The "slot" cut into my PVC coupling was done in a rush at 1am so its UGLY but it got the job done. You're essentially creating a slot that will allow you to install or remove the PVC when you're ready to get to pressing.
Here's the final picture of the "tool" and how you put it all together. Like I said it's kind of the same concept used when pressing wheel bearings in or out.
Changed out all the bushings in the subframe and replaced the subframe bolts with the camber bolts and nuts from the front control arm, mid last year. Basically sandwiched the rear subframe connection to the body as described in other threads here. The flat steel with the hole through it combined with the threaded rod and nuts worked perfectly on my car and was far more cost effective than the oem tool for this job. Some pb blaster and a propane torch while the bolts are tightened and each of them popped out easily after thermal expansion. Focus the heat from the torch on the outer lip of the bushings where they make contact with the subframe else, the metal centers will separate from the outer edge and leave that stuck in the subframe. If that happens, you'll have to make a slit along the metal piece and hammer it in to reduce its diameter and then you can pop it out.
Also, don't forget to put some lubrication on the threaded rod so you are not wasting torque / effort on the rod itself. Some trans lube or bearing grease will work great here.
Pressing them in, i painted the bushing slots in the subframe to cover up any scoring from tooling and prevent rust. Then dressed the holes the bushings slide into with some silicon lube. Froze the bushings overnight, heated the subframe with a heat gun and they went in with much less effort/torque on the threaded rod than required to remove the old ones.
The front 2 bushings go in upside down from the rear 2 bushings but the same tool will work. Just requires different arrangement of the nuts and steel plate on the threaded rod.
Originally Posted by AMG_Doctor
I got some pics of that tool I made. It uses the same idea as a wheel bearing press. I bought a piece of flat 1/4" steel and cut it down to 7 1/2" long and drilled a hole through the center of it.
You need to also pick up a large sized bolt or all-thread, at least 1/2" in diameter, along with a few washers and 2 nuts that you'll screw onto this large bolt.
The last thing you need on your trip to Home Depot is a 4" PVC coupling. If they're out of couplings for whatever reason you can also use a 4" PVC connector.
Now that your flat steel is cut to length and has a hole drilled in it, you can cut the head of your bolt off like the one seen in the pic. The total length of the cut off bolt is 9 1/2".
Next using whatever cutting tool you have available (sawzall, cut-off wheel, angle grinder) cut a vertical slit in the 4" PVC coupling wide enough for your cut off bolt to slide in and out of. The "slot" cut into my PVC coupling was done in a rush at 1am so its UGLY but it got the job done. You're essentially creating a slot that will allow you to install or remove the PVC when you're ready to get to pressing.
Here's the final picture of the "tool" and how you put it all together. Like I said it's kind of the same concept used when pressing wheel bearings in or out.
Last edited by nanayaw6; Mar 1, 2017 at 10:28 PM.
Reason: More tips
Changed out all the bushings in the subframe and replaced the subframe bolts with the camber bolts and nuts from the front control arm, mid last year. Basically sandwiched the rear subframe connection to the body as described in other threads here. The flat steel with the hole through it combined with the threaded rod and nuts worked perfectly on my car and was far more cost effective than the oem tool for this job. Some pb blaster and a propane torch while the bolts are tightened and each of them popped out easily after thermal expansion. Focus the heat from the torch on the outer lip of the bushings where they make contact with the subframe else, the metal centers will separate from the outer edge and leave that stuck in the subframe. If that happens, you'll have to make a slit along the metal piece and hammer it in to reduce its diameter and then you can pop it out.
Also, don't forget to put some lubrication on the threaded rod so you are not wasting torque / effort on the rod itself. Some trans lube or bearing grease will work great here.
Pressing them in, i painted the bushing slots in the subframe to cover up any scoring from tooling and prevent rust. Then dressed the holes the bushings slide into with some silicon lube. Froze the bushings overnight, heated the subframe with a heat gun and they went in with much less effort/torque on the threaded rod than required to remove the old ones.
The front 2 bushings go in upside down from the rear 2 bushings but the same tool will work. Just requires different arrangement of the nuts and steel plate on the threaded rod.
Niice, I was thinking there had to be a way to do it without dropping the entire subframe. It looks like it can drop down enough to remove the bushings.
If anyone has had the dead body in the trunk sound when you go over a speed bump. I read that it's from worn rear subframe bushings. Which makes sense, indy shop told me its from the rear shocks. I swapped those out already with the new arnotts. So yea not it. I'm sure a lot of people here have that sound. If that's the case then you most certainly have excessive wheel hop too. Which is also no bueno.
This is a must do. No way they can last 180k miles, that's nuts. Ive heard people say they had the sound as early as 50k. You do not want the rear subframe dancing around in a 500 hp car.
You can replace the rear subframe rear bushing without dropping the whole subframe. Based on what others have said who have done the rear fronts, you have to drop the subframe. Search the E55 AMG Place or AMG Enthusiasts Facebook groups. There are a few guys who have done the fronts as well if you have more questions.
I had the dead body trunk. It was not the subframe bushings, it was one of the struts.
BTW notice you're in San Diego, check the AMG Socal Lounge group.
You should definitely go ahead and replace the subframe bushings and bolts if they're worn, but I'd go OEM. I think you'll very seriously regret doing a solid mount - that's racecar territory stuff. You don't want solid mounts for much of anything on your daily driver, they will turn the car into a rattletrap. Even polyurethane bushings will increase NVH substantially.
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