I am attempting to install new lower ball joints in my 1985 300D. I am using a standard ball joint tool that looks like the one on the DIY page. (link)

I got the ball joint to go almost all the way home, but it looks like the "back" of the ball joint (the side of the ball joint to the inside of the steering knuckle) is sticking up just a hair.

Is there some trick to getting the ball joint started right so that it goes in straight and flush?

How critical is it that it be perfectly flush?

Thanks.

Anybody?

It's not critical that it's "perfectly" flush because it's a spherical joint. It should go in until the force you are applying keeps going up without moving it anymore, and the flange has bottomed out along most of it. If the flange is up by more than 0.020" on one side, I'd rap it with a punch and handsledge along the rim to move it and/or make sure it's really tight.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Yeah,
I noticed the same thing when I did mine but I didn't worry about it because it was very close anyway.

A couple of things you may want to try is putting the joint in the freezer overnight and applying a little light oil when you press it in.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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Unless u have the correct MB specific tool, it is pretty difficult to seat the ball joint.

I just finished doing that job on my 82 300D last week. Due to the tight space, I am not sure how to seat the ball joint in unless u have rigged a tool just like the MB tool.

I took both sides to a local MB shop (not dealership) and they pressed it in for me for $30. The bloke who owns the shop told me that unless u have the MB specific tool, it is almost impossible to seat the ball joint flush.

Check around the area u live and see if u can get an independent MB shop to do the job. Should cost u in the ball park of $30.

Good Luck!

The easiest way to get the ball joint to seat is to wait until the car is back together and on it's wheels.

You'll need either an air hammer or a 3/4 or so diameter drift and hammer.

With the weight of the car on the wheels tap the high spot of the ball joint or the side of the control arm nearest the high spot and it should seat in nicely.

The weight of the car is on the interface of the joint and control arm and is trying to seat the ball joint so it doesn't take a real big bang to get things to settle.

I like that. Let me ask a stupid question to make sure I understand. The high spot on my ball joint is on the inside of the knuckle where a drift won't fit. So, do I want to tap down on the very end of the control arm so that I get that side of the ball joint to seat in?

If that would be right on top of the high spot, you're all set.

If you can't get it to seat this way, don't worry 'cause it'll never move.

I need to do lower control arm bushings in my 240D. Can I just drop the control arm with a floor jack, or do I absolutly need a spring compressor?

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1984 280SEL, 62,000 miles
Euro model in the USA
1983 300D (Totaled out 10/2004)
New Factory Mint Green paint
Palomino int
1982 240D (Steak dinner for two)

There are plenty of people on this forum who will tell you that trying to mess with the control arms without a Klann-type spring compressor is an automatic death sentence. Do a search on this forum and you will find some heated exchanges about the dangers of the springs on these cars. I bought the El Paso spring compressor on eBay. It is a less expensive version of the Klann compressor. So far, I have removed both front springs and the compressor worked fine. It is just a hair too big to fit through the holes in the fenders, so I enlarged the holes with a Dremel tool. (What a great tool to have, by the way.)

Don't try using one of those spring compressors that hook on the outside of the coils. They don't work on the Mercedes springs.

Do some searching on this forum before proceeding. Suspension work on these cars is easy if you have the right tools. Without the right tools, I think it is very dangerous.

im gonna have to dissagree with you on that one. i just pressed both ball joints in with the rental ball joint press at work(autozone) and it pressed flush every time.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it