W210 Spring Perch Failure...Looks Like My Number is UP! - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BigBen · #31 04-08-2008, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Jim

Yes, I removed the old perches and did as you describe. I will try to post pics now. the pics of the new perches are kind of dark because of the waxoyl I applied. Jim

Thanks for those pics. I see how much rust you had, will have a look at mine sometime in April when I remove the winter tires.

Bye now,

nhdoc · #32 04-09-2008, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBen

Thanks for those pics. I see how much rust you had, will have a look at mine sometime in April when I remove the winter tires.

Bye now,

If yours show signs of failing you should be aware that M-B Canada has been much more pro-active in paying for the replacement of the perches. They actually issued some form of recall notice which was mailed out to owners a couple of years ago inviting them to bring their cars in for a free inspection and if the perches were suspect they were replaced free of charge. Much better than the way MBUSA is handling it in my opinion.

nhdoc · #33 04-09-2008, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Jim

I had a pipefitter buddy of mine weld the perches on for me and he wasnt too comfortable with the finished product. It looked to me like they were welded from the backside before the car was assembled. there is no way to weld the replacement perches on the way the factory did it IMHO. Anyway, I used some !/4 grip steel Q rivets for peace of mind. 4 or 5 in each. There is about an inch and a half of good meaty steel at the bottom of the rib part of where the perches mount to and i am quite confident in my install. Jim

The rivet and weld combination looks excellent. In the M-B procedure there are 4 rivets in each "ear" and 3 within the spring housing (countersunk for clearance). I think if you weld it and use the 8 rivets in the ears you would be good for the lifetime of the car most likely.

I wonder why M-B in their wisdom prescribes a procedure which calls for the shop to drill the holes in the new perches? If, in fact, the proper way to replace them is to rivet them they should pre-drill them with the 11 holes and then the techs would know they are supposed to rivet them and not weld them.

DieselAddict · #34 04-09-2008, 01:10 PM

I'm surprised the failure isn't as dramatic as I believed it to be. I always thought when the perch rips off the affected wheel jams and you essentially lose control of the vehicle. Is there something in the suspension that prevents the wheel from getting jammed?

Toyota sure takes better care of its customers with problems like these. MB has a long way to go.

Here's my old post from 3 years ago with pictures of my old and new perch.
W210 Diesel owners: Spring Perch Failure - Please read
I believe my bodyshop did both rivets and welding. They certainly did at least rivets as those can be seen clearly. I did the initial peeling myself and that's how I discovered the problem in the first place. The bodyshop didn't apply any sealant after the repair, only paint and grease (which I should probably reapply). I don't know what's MB's official word on that if there is one, but I was against applying sealant after the repair (and the bodyshop was fine with that) as I still believe the sealant does more harm than good in an area like this because the sealant eventually cracks or loses adhesion and starts trapping moisture. By the way, my dealer wasn't as nice and friendly and I had to pay 50% of the repair cost after some negotiation.

nhdoc · #35 04-14-2008, 03:28 PM

Got my car back today and the perch has been replaced, free of charge as promised. They only did the driver's side, claimed the other side was fine...time will tell. Good to have the car back home...hopefully I won't have any trouble with the other side and won't go through this again.

lietuviai · #36 04-14-2008, 04:57 PM

That's really impressive that you got a free repair on a 10 year old car. It appears that not everyone gets your favorable treatment as noted by DA. This indeed appears to be a serious failure that could cause injury and why MBUSA would not issue a recall as done in Canada is pure negligence.

xp190 · #37 07-01-2008, 12:06 AM

Would anyone happen to have the details of the spring perch recall in Canada?

I happen to be in Canada, and I had a spring perch fail on me, the spring broke and the car bottomed out, it happened while on a sharp turn on a highway, nothing happened fortunately, but the car needs some TLC

I had it welded, and the springs replaced, but the springs are the wrong type and the car drives horribly. I have no confidence in the weld the guy did when he fixed the perch. I want to put in proper springs, but I'm afraid that the perch will fail again.

I want to take the car to a dealer and get them to put a new perch/es on, and at the same time replace the springs at the front.

If it's possible to get them to do the perch for free due to this being a safety issue, swapping the springs would be a part of the deal.

But will they do it on a 25 y/o car?

xp

DieselAddict · #38 07-01-2008, 12:20 AM

Why don't you ask your dealer? There was some recall campaign for the W210's but I don't know about your model.

nhdoc · #39 07-01-2008, 12:51 PM

I'd guess you are out of luck. The reason the W210 was recalled is they started to fail within a couple of years of being new and the oldest ones now are only about 12-13 years old. I'd guess at some point they will stop honoring the goodwill warranty on the W210 too when they get to the point that a "normal" car would start to see these kinds of failures.

Once a car gets to be 25 years old there's really nothing the manufacturer can be held to account for. I mean that's pretty good life from a car and if they rust away after a quarter of a century you really can't blame Mercedes for that.

willy2004 · #40 07-01-2008, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Jim

Yes, I removed the old perches and did as you describe. I will try to post pics now. the pics of the new perches are kind of dark because of the waxoyl I applied. Jim

yikes, you are apparently not concerned about the strength of a weld to a rusty surface.

TMAllison · #41 07-01-2008, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willy2004

yikes, you are apparently not concerned about the strength of a weld to a rusty surface.

You didn't read carefully enough.....he installed new welded perches AND rivets.

willy2004 · #42 07-02-2008, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMAllison

You didn't read carefully enough.....he installed new welded perches AND rivets.

Riveted and welded to the rusty surface of the frame rail?

Sounds suspect to me, though I am no expert.

TMAllison · #43 07-02-2008, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willy2004

Riveted and welded to the rusty surface of the frame rail?

Sounds suspect to me, though I am no expert.

Once again, no.

Paraphrasing post 29, Bob_85sr5's question was, "Did you clean the rust , weld and then rivet the new perch"?

Big Jim responds "Yes, I removed the old perches and did as you describe."

Hatterasguy · #44 07-02-2008, 01:41 PM

I'm sure whoever welded on the new perches took 15 minutes to grind the rust off the frame rail's. Thats like welding 101.

xp190 · #45 07-02-2008, 10:01 PM

I'm not blaming anyone for the failure of the spring perch on a 25 y/o car, however, my dealer feels indifferent to the age of any car.

I had this conversation with them when getting parts for my transmission, as long as it's MB, it doesn't matter how old it is.

In either case, I was thinking about getting the one perch repaired properly, and getting the dealer to do it. As old as this car is, there is too much life in it for it to be dead.

xp