I am asking for advice/cautions/warnings in referance to R/R front suspension on my '89 740 GL. I am planning on R/R the following over Easter holiday: 1. balljoints; 2. tie rod ends; 3. control arm to radius arm bushings; 4. strut inserts(replacing with Blisteins touring). I only have a few hundred $ to spend so I can't go crazy, but I would like to improve my present suspension. I would appreciate any advice fellow bricksters can offer so that I will not run into serious problems. My brick is my primary/only commuting device so I have to get it together and running by the end of the holiday. Thanks for the advice in advance;)
Rob Mac

If you live in an area where there is a Murray's Auto Parts store, they will "loan" you the tools you need. You put the tools' full value on a credit card and when finished they give you the full value back. If you're talking a few hundred bucks, that leaves the shocks out..Personally, Polyurthane bushings are not that necessary or worth the additional investment unless all the other upgrades are in place and are part of a total suspension package. Lots of info in the 700-900 FAQs

Keep in mind, you'll need a spring compressor to actually replace the strut cartridges. That's not usually cheap, though you *may* be able to get one inside your budget--- I kind of doubt it. If you're not familiar with the danger involved in removing a spring, get some help with this or leave it to the pros. The rest you can do yourself- remember you will need a pickle fork (balljoint/tie rod tool) to separate the ball joints from the control arm. Mine was impossible without it, and very easy with it.
I think for a one-day project I'd stick to new urethane cone bushings (aka strut rod bushings), and new ball joints and tie rod ends.
You'll need an alignment after replacing tie rod ends to set the toe-in. If you just do ball joints, you don't necessarily need an alignment.
And grease the strut rod bushings to prevent squeaks if you get urethane.
P/N 6819057 and you need four.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: "Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!"

Rob,

You're probably already planning on this, but you'll need a front-end allignment when you're done.

And on the tapered joints of the ball joint and tie rod end, I recommend using a thin coat of anti-seize. That way, if you need to disassemble them in the future, you won't have to destroy the rubber boot by using a pickle fork.

Jeff Pierce
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'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

Just replacing the bushings and wear parts such as tie ends and ball joints with new will make a huge difference in handling. Even if you have to hold off on purchasing the Bilsteins due to lack of funds it will be well worth the wait.

Check your bump stops and boots before you pull the shocks, on some cars they tend to rot away, best to find that out before you pull them apart because that's the only time you will be able to put in new ones.

You can get universial bump stops (often with a boot kit) in polly compounds for cheaper than factory kits too, so it's worth checking that out.
Use polly bushes for the control arm to radius arm bushings too, they last longer, improve handling, and are often cheaper.
And a cheap way to increase roll stiffness in the frond end is polly swaybar D bushes, cheap and will make the front end feel tighter.

For an idea of pricing, here in Australia the 3 items I just mentioned cost $55 for both bumpstop boot kits, another $50 for the radius bushes, and only $26 for the D bushes on the swaybar. (And that's Australian dollars)

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My 85 760Ti, and her name is Veronica...