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tierods or balljoints and lca bushes first at 120k miles?

2K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  mattman 
#1 ·
Can only afford to do one or the other just at the moment. Can do the other in about 6 months.

Have light clunking over big bumps and very minor feedback through the wheel on the open road.

I am thinking that tie rods and idler bushes will probably get rid of the feedback through the wheel but the clunking is likely the bushes and ball joints.

Just after some feedback on the best improvement for the money at this point.

Cheers
Matt.
 
#3 ·
Ball joint failure on any vehicle is a big drama!

I don't think anything is at failure stage. Its more a case of which will give me the best improvement, they will both eventually be done.

Matt
 
#5 ·
Jack the car up and see what's loose. Ball joints sometimes squeak when they are dry giving you warning.
It could be one tie rod end, or even a loose wheel bearing.
If something is loose and making noise, you should be able to see the problem by jacking the car up one side at a time. If there's play in the wheel, then track it down.
The ball joint squeak is a high pitch chirp that should not be ignored. If you can't see anything wrong, maybe take it to a MB shop for a look over and estimate.
Why rebuild the front end if there's only one thing wrong?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Check the strut mounts too. I had a bad vibration cause by a cracked strut mount. It was much easier than I thought to replace it and they're $40-50 ish on autohausaz.com

For ball joints, you're going to need to remove the lower control arm (source: experience), but tie rods are easy.

My '92 has almost 150k but the vibration has been there since about 135k. I only got time this past weeke to do this stuff, but boy did it make all the difference in ride quality and just the general feel of the car. Feels tight, smooth, more responsive (that's maybe just in my head), but it feels like its new!

Strut mounts are easy
Tie rods are easy
EDIT: Wheel bearings are easy
Ball joints are time consuming and require a spring compressor and a hydraulic press
 
#8 ·
I didn't have that. So, I didn't have much choice. I tried some other rigging to no avail. Also, the workshop manual and the Haynes manual said the same thing :(
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the replies guys.

At 120k miles all the suspensions stuff is worn and will benefit from replacement, even tho it might last a bit longer. I like to enjoy my cars and new suspension makes a big difference.

I have new strut mounts turning up in the next day or so, will be interesting to see what difference they make.

I don't have the correct tool for ball joints so will have to remove the arms and thought I might as well do bushes whilst they were out.

Cheers
Matt
 
#12 ·
honestly i would do them all at once because after taking it apart you are gonna need an alignment so better just to get one alignment then 2. but if u mark the lca bolts u may be able to get away with out it. ball joints and lcas come in an assembly and u are gonna want to get better ones which usually run 200 or so a piece. but u may open yourself to a can of worms where u find out ur struts are bad or mounts are bad and you would need to replace all that too.
 
#14 ·
Do you mean without removing the LCA? Since I'll also be doing my ball joints just before christmas, please enlighten me. Id rather not deal with a spring compressor if I don't need to.
 
#15 ·
you have to remove the LCA to do ball joints so the alignment will change. its easier to press the ball joint out on the bench. its probably cheaper to replace the whole LCA and ball joint as an assembly then it is to press in new bushings and ball joint at least thats what my indy shop said. for a set of lomforder LCA assemblies its about 200 for a side so 400 for the set and it comes with ball joints and bushings.
 
#17 ·
Started to get a squeaking from the drivers side when turning and the passenger side has a torn boot on the balljoint so that made the decision easy for me. Decided to just to the ball joints and will do them in place with a home made press.

Wish me luck - they should be here in a few days.

Cheers
Matt.
 
#18 ·
Both balljoints were dry and had a bit of play in them. Cut the bottom off the joint and hammered the ball through then put the hacksaw inside and cut a wedge out and then hammered the remainder of the joint out.

Took about two hours to do both sides ready for the new joints to go in tomorrow when they arrive.

Matt.
 
#20 ·
Both balljoints were dry and had a bit of play in them. Cut the bottom off the joint and hammered the ball through then put the hacksaw inside and cut a wedge out and then hammered the remainder of the joint out.
Took about two hours to do both sides ready for the new joints to go in tomorrow when they arrive.

Matt.
:bowdown: Where there's a will, there's a way!
 
#19 ·
Hi Jippi. It is possible to remove the ball joints without removal of the LCA. It can be done quickly and easily if you have the right tool as seen in the photo below. Since buying this press I have not had to remove any other suspension components though sometimes partial disassembly is required for access.

Just replaced both ball joints in my car, took less than an hour. That said, you are 100% correct about making sure that you are not better off replacing the entire LCA assembly. By the time the lower ball joints are gone it's likely the bushings have excess play. Even if they don't, they won't last until your ball joints are again gone bad. So for those of you who don't have access to a portable press, my suggestion is to replace the entire LCA. It is certainly cost effective as was stated earlier in another post. If you can remove the bj's on the car, then have a close look at the bushings to ensure you don't have other problems.

Here at my shop we use a "BFB", a big 'friendly' bar, to force the LCA's in one direction and then the other. If the movement is excessive, or the rubber is torn, out they come.
 

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#21 ·
Exactly!

My last car I rebuilt I did LCA's and a full front end rebuild but this W201 just isn't worth it. I am trying to keep to a tight budget and do just what needs to be done.

I only paid $800USD for the whole car so spending half that rebuilding the front end isn't worth it. $60USD for a pair of joints and a number of hours of my labour is a better situation for me.

Would be nice to have the tools to make the job easier as well but again I can't justify the investment in a Mercedes BJ press or spring compressor so will work with what I have. Takes a lot longer and is harder but time and effort are on my side at the moment :)

Matt.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Well both balljoints replaced and overall it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I followed a thread from a UK website which had a couple of pics which I will repost here so it's clear what I did. The passenger side joint had a torn boot but both joints were very dry inside with no grease visible and a reasonable amount of play.

Place a jack just inboard of the balljoint on the arm and apply some upward pressure. Undo steering tierod from hub assembly. Unbolt the balljoint retaining bolt from the hub and discard as new bolts come with the Lemforder joints. Unbolt the three bolts holding the shock to the hub. Lower the jack so the joint comes out of the hub and move the hub assembly out of the way. I sat it on a block of timber to prevent any stress on the brake line. I forced the shock up and cabled tied it against the spring so it was as clear as possible.

I left the sway bar connected and didn't have any issues with lowering the arm all the way down and removing the jack from underneath it. Some people have expressed concern about possible spring ejection but this wasn't an issue for me at all.

Using the angle grinder I cut the bottom off the balljoint and them with the BFH smashed the ball through. I then inserted the hacksaw into the joint and cut a slot in the balljoint to make removal easier. Try not to cut the arm in any way and make sure the cut is even top and bottom. Use cutting paste if you have it as that makes it a lot easier. Using the BFH pound on the top of the joint making sure you don't hit the arm and eventually it will come out. I had to use a small section of pipe to drive it out once it got close to flush with the arm.

I then cleaned up the inner surface of the arm with some emery paper to make sure the new joint would go in okay. I got a large socket about the same size as the bottom of the balljoint and pushed the balljoint up into the arm making sure it went in square. Make sure that the indent on the balljoint is pointing towards the centre of the car.

Using the jack with the socket under the balljoint I jacked up the arm. This is tricky as the arm isn't parallel and the socket and jack will try and slide out. Took a few goes but I got it and after jacking it up a bit it got a lot straighter.

On the arm there are two ears, one on each side. I placed the plastic cover that came with the joint over the top of the joint to protect it in case I missed, didn't want to damage the new boot. Using a large ballpeen hammer I placed that on one of the ears and then with the BFH gave it a strike. Move to the other ear and repeat. Check to ensure the joint is going in straight and the jack isn't moving out at all.

Jack up as necessary and realign the large socket and keep hitting. Took about 8 hits on each side to get the joint fully seated. Reassemble everything using locktite and the new bolts that come with the joint and you are all done.

Took me about 3.5 hours all up but I wasn't busting a gut and did a couple of other little things whilst I was in there.

Hope this helps someone else - shows it isn't hard to do the joints without the special Mercedes spring compressor or the balljoint press.
 

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