My 1979 240d keeps on moving, slowly.

I have been neglecting a bad left rear wheel bearing and today is the day I actually checked it and wow, I think one more mile and I would have had some pretty bad trouble.

My question is, given the expense of bearing replacement, what would be the collective opinion of getting a used control arm with hub and bearings ready to go and swapping it out. I put the car in the air in the garage and my axle comes loose from the hub and it looks like there isn't too much to it.

What should I look for in a bearing/hub assembly in a control arm without an axle. How much play is too much? How smooth should it feel?

I can get a complete assembly locally for about a 100 bucks.

I appreciate your input.

Love,
Mattmotor

Its worth a shot...............$100 isn't outrageous.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I thought that was pretty fair.

Should the bearings be tight and smooth when the assembly is off of the car?

I know on some cars, the axle actually tensions the bearings, but I don't think it does on these.

I ordered a used one last November for the 83 and was surprised when it came complete with bearing assembly. All I needed was the arm itself as my old one was rusted. The bearing on the new used one was smooth so I installed the whole arm assembly as it was. I say go for it for a hundred bucks.

__________________
1983 300-D turbo
1985 300-D turbo
1959 Harley Panhead chopper
1929 Ford coupe restored
I hang out with Boneheaddoctor at Schuman Automotive OBK#5
All liberals are mattoids but not all mattoids are liberal.

If you put the new one on.... replace your brake pads on both sides...
brake work is always done ' per axle'... either both front or both rear...

Good advise for sure.
I guess you could take brakes and rotor from old one and install on new one, but brakes aren't that much.

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John