Turner Monoball FCAB FAULTY? (creaking and knocking)

[Obioban]

I've installed 5 sets (very small sample size as I always recommend OEM Lemforder when replacing FCAB's as the majority of cars I work on are street cars) and noticed the same creaking/knocking sound on 3 of the sets. Two of those customer cars we switched to OEM Lemforder and the sound completely went away and the other car the sound didn't bother him as it was a dedicated track car so he left the Turner FCAB's installed. All were pressed in to Genuine OE BMW housings, there was no binding once the bushing was pressed in to the housing, they were greased using Redline CV-2 (contains moly), etc. All of the cars did have original front control arms. I did notice that there is a tolerance issue as some bushings slid on to the control arms with little to no resistance where others required force/pressing of the bushing for it to fit on the control arm. This tolerance issue (and possibly some wear over time on the bushing mounting area) is on the control arm itself. The Lemforder bushing is rubber and does not require a precision machined control arm for it to fit properly. I am not a fan of these and do not recommend them to my customers as the tolerances between the Turner monoball FCAB bushing and front control arm vary too much.

You have me feeling lucky to have a silent running TMS FCAB setup

[Tbonem3]

Mine didn't make a peep, but I still removed them quickly after install due to how they ruined the steering feel for me.

[DanAvoN7]

The cars that experienced the creaking/knocking had tolerance issues where the fitment was too tight (required pressing/force) or fitment was too loose? Or both?

Fitment of the bearing insert was loose on the control arm itself. As in it slid on by hand without any force required.

[usdmej]

No, that is not correct.

Edited the original post so it's clear.

thanks for clarifying. yours, and other's anecdotal experiences is more than enough to give this product a second thought

[exextatic]

Had installed these on new Lemforder arms, and as with others, had a very tight fit and creaking noise after installation; ended up swapping back to new OEM FCABs.

[clawhamm3r]

Mine didn't make a peep, but I still removed them quickly after install due to how they ruined the steering feel for me.

Orly? Tell me more.

[Tbonem3]

Maybe exextatic or others could chime in, but for me, the monoballs are lifeless, there's no character feel left, because the monoball is free to move wherever and not want to return to center (of its own will). Stiff (for performance) rubber bushings are my favorite because of that tension, that elasticity. I like how the bushing claws back (to center) the control arm, that little bit of "fight" the wheel gives you (rubber tires do a similar thing).

I don't know how else to explain it. I just love the classic BW steering feel that my e36 had in spades, the e46 has, even my e82 has, but it was gone when I tried the monoball fcabs. As soon as I put OE ones on, it was back.

This is for a street car where I care about feel. If i'm a pro and chasing every last 1/10th, then give me whatever's faster. We're at the point where performance is surpassing fun/feel/engagement.

[Syrarch04]

Mine were creaky for a few days, then went away and has been silent since (about a year now). My car is fairly dart-y, but I had these installed the same time I did an aggressive alignment to stuff bigger track tires on, and I think most of that is due to the alignment, not the FCABs. No slop in the steering, that's for sure.

[Obioban]

Maybe exextatic or others could chime in, but for me, the monoballs are lifeless, there's no character feel left, because the monoball is free to move wherever and not want to return to center (of its own will). Stiff (for performance) rubber bushings are my favorite because of that tension, that elasticity. I like how the bushing claws back (to center) the control arm, that little bit of "fight" the wheel gives you (rubber tires do a similar thing).

I don't know how else to explain it. I just love the classic BW steering feel that my e36 had in spades, the e46 has, even my e82 has, but it was gone when I tried the monoball fcabs. As soon as I put OE ones on, it was back.

This is for a street car where I care about feel. If i'm a pro and chasing every last 1/10th, then give me whatever's faster. We're at the point where performance is surpassing fun/feel/engagement.

The elasticity of the rubber bushing would just cause the car to want to get back to neutral ride height. Not sure how that would be something you could feel...

[Tbonem3]

Not sure how that would be something you could feel...

That's exactly why I trust my senses. We can't explain things sometimes or the math says one thing, but we feel something else. The TMS fcabs felt like shit, so I went back to rubber, and the car felt amazing again. End of story.

[mcfreid]

Hey guys, quick update as it's been awhile. Matt Coyne has gone through all the troubleshooting steps mentioned earlier and so far the creaking/popping/knocking remains. We've reached out to TMS and they are shipping us their recommended grease. Will update here once the bearings are regreased with the TMS grease with the latest results.

[Jake.s54]

I believe I know what your issue is. I bought these awhile back and had difficulty installing them due to the control arms, on the control arms there are casting marks and its different for each control arm, In my case i had to Dremel the casting marks down a lot. Before I dremeled, i installed them and they were very tight, I spun the bushing in a loop and it would get caught and wasn't smooth (it wasn't a free spin). I guarantee that this is your issue. after i dremeled the control arms, i spun them and they didn't bind at all and spun freely. They feel great IMO and haven't had any issues other than that. i would check if yours spin freely without it mounted. if they spin freely with NO little hiccups and super smoothly, I do not think the bushings are the issue.

[jbfrancis3]

I believe I know what your issue is. I bought these awhile back and had difficulty installing them due to the control arms, on the control arms there are casting marks and its different for each control arm, In my case i had to Dremel the casting marks down a lot. Before I dremeled, i installed them and they were very tight, I spun the bushing in a loop and it would get caught and wasn't smooth (it wasn't a free spin). I guarantee that this is your issue. after i dremeled the control arms, i spun them and they didn't bind at all and spun freely. They feel great IMO and haven't had any issues other than that. i would check if yours spin freely without it mounted. if they spin freely with NO little hiccups and super smoothly, I do not think the bushings are the issue.

Are you saying forcing them over the rough casting deforms the inner race?

Also, I installed mine about 1,200 miles ago and they have been silent.

[eacmen]

I believe I know what your issue is. I bought these awhile back and had difficulty installing them due to the control arms, on the control arms there are casting marks and its different for each control arm, In my case i had to Dremel the casting marks down a lot. Before I dremeled, i installed them and they were very tight, I spun the bushing in a loop and it would get caught and wasn't smooth (it wasn't a free spin). I guarantee that this is your issue. after i dremeled the control arms, i spun them and they didn't bind at all and spun freely. They feel great IMO and haven't had any issues other than that. i would check if yours spin freely without it mounted. if they spin freely with NO little hiccups and super smoothly, I do not think the bushings are the issue.

I can mirror this experience. I didn't have the confidence to dremel down the control arms since they were brand new, but the FCAB would rotate freely on the bench, as soon as it was installed onto the control arm (had to be pressed on using a tool no amount of leg force was getting that thing on there) it would bind. By that point I just wanted the car on the ground so I grabbed a set of new OEM FCABs and called it a day. The troubleshooting steps Turner sent didn't include filing down the control arm. Maybe they need to update their guidance.

[SandeepM3]

I think I remember reading in the instructions you may have to dremel the control arm to get them to fit. I never thought it would cause this issue you are having. I just figured they would be hard to press on. But once they are on, I figured the section connected to the control arm rotates in sinc with the control arm so this wouldnt be an issue. :clueless: