I want to begin rebuilding my front end on my 83 300d turbo. I have read all kinds of posts on both replacing the upper control arm and only the bushings. My question is this: Should I replace the whole arm only if the BJ is shot? What would be the consequences of only replacing the bushings? Thanks in advance.

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1989 300E 144K

I believe the 123 is similar to the 126 and the entire arm must be replaced if the ball joint is shot. The joint is not removable.

Why would you go through the effort of removing the arm, just to replace the bushings? A pair of arms can be had for about $100.

The BJ seems to be intact (no rips/tears, boot looks good). So I'm assuming I should just replace the bushings.

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1989 300E 144K

i would just replace it. more than likely you will rip the boot when you remove it.

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

OK, but, it's no fun trying to separate the ball joint. That delicate boot can easily be damaged in the process. In my case, I pulled out the torch to heat the eye on the spindle and the boot quickly becomes a casualty of this.

Okay, I'll just replace the whole arm. Other than the arm and new sway bar bushings, is there anything else that I should replace? I do plan on rebuilding everything piece by piece, but with the control arm out, anything else? By the way, thanks guys, this site is great!

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1989 300E 144K

By the way, besides a couple of jacks, hand tools, and a fork puller, do I need any other special tools?

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1989 300E 144K

That's it. The stabilizer bar bushings, UCA bushings, and the arm will do it.

You can do it all with simple hand tools. If you heat the spindle, the ball joint probably won't need the pickle fork, if you haven't already purchased one. Put the nut back on the end of the ball joint thread and smack it with a hammer.

Make sure the new arms have new nuts, with the anti-rotation nylon insert. Do NOT reuse the old nuts.

The higher you jack the front end, the more comfortable the job will be.

Thanks!

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1989 300E 144K