[pauley]

I just removed the driveshaft on my 1999 C230 Kompressor with 142,000 highway and city miles. The front flex disk is shot, and the rear has cracks starting so I will replace both while I have the driveshaft out. The U-joints seem tight and the center bearing looks crack free and turns smoothly with no noise.

My question: When do the center bearing and u-joints usually go out on this model given my driving style? Should I replace it now (even though it looks OK) and avoid another full day removing the shaft?

Any advice is most helpful.

 

[Patman1]

I would leave the U-joint the way it is, if I'm not mistaken, it's not serviceable anyway. I would take the time to replace the center support bearing + center support bearing carrier. Their life depends on a lot of variables, and seeing as they are neither expensive nor time-consuming to replace (you already have the driveshaft out), I would just replace them now and have peace of mind.