I took the air filter housing off along with the battery this morning to get to the problem area. With the battery out, the sqeek is still most intense in this area (borrowing the picture) - but on the passenger side.

Noticed that this bushing is split so it looks like installing it should involve just taking off the bracket that holds it in place and 'wrapping' the bushing around the torsion bar?! hopefully no surprises there especially with the tension on the bar... not sure how that will playout but I'm sure I'll find out... Any other tips would be appreciated.

I guess, how do I take the tension off that bar - I'm assuming it's under tension while the wheels are on the ground... if I were to jack up both sides of the car and have the wheels just 'hanging' - would that relieve the tension or no?!

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

This is from the FSM.
First three...

Attached Thumbnails

     

__________________
83 SD

84 CD

Dieselgiant has a writeup on replacing the UCAs. I did mine last weekend and the one thing to remember is definitely jack up BOTH front wheels, as DGuy says. The job was nearly (if not totally) impossible with the sway bar under load. I couldn't see a way to get the main holding bolt off the passenger's side without removing the battery tray, but maybe there was a trick that I missed. Also, I didn't see a way to remove the sway bar bolt without taking out the shock. DON'T DO IT! If your jack gives way from under the LCA, the whole assembly will shoot to the ground under the load of the spring. That will, at best, just break your brake wear sensor wire like it did mine. You can remove this bolt by just prying up on the sway bar with the shocks in place. I didn't have a problem removing the ball joint from the spindle. I was able to just give it a few smacks from below with a hammer and it freed itself up. All in all, it's definitely a DIY job.

__________________
1981 300CD 260k w 60k on new motor
1983 240D 4spd Manual

Is there a diagram that would illustrate the differnet parts of the suspenion (sway bars, control arms, bushings, etc) - I have a FSM but it doesnt have a diagram of the suspension parts... Any help would be appreciated here.

__________________
1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

I stand corrected as far as being able to replace the lower ball joint without a spring compressor. Tangofox07 did state however, that spring compression is not required for a W123, that is also incorrect. A person could not replace LCA bushings without spring compression. I own spring compressors, and even though you can do a lower ball joint without spring compression, I do anyways. To be safe I guess, I hate to think about my jack slipping, a spring flys out, breaks my jaw, and mangles my face for life. I just play it safe I guess.

Look up my post
Easy upper control arm re & re
A how to with pictures

__________________
1984 300SD turbo 126
"My true love"

God made me an atheist and who am I to question His wisdom

Is there any reason to replace both sides at once? My right-side UCA bushings are absolutely obliterated, but the left side bushings look just fine. Both upper ball joints look fine. I was going to replace the right-side UCA bushings and swaybar bushings. I don't particularly want to spend the money and time replacing the left side when it looks perfect, unless there's any benefit to that.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

No problem replacing just one side.
When I did mine, the bushing was destroyed, ball joint was fine.

MercFan, keep searching the FSM, diagrams are in there.

__________________
83 SD

84 CD

Shipmate, if you are going to correct me, could you please do it within the context of the discussion? You were specifically talking about the lower ball joint, which has absolutely nothing to do with an LCA bushing.

To wit:

If you're going to replace the old UCA with a new assembly, it has a new ball joint installed. So using a pickle fork is fine, but the separator I bout was cheaper. Got both from NAPA.I can not find just an upper ball joint by itself, but didn't look that hard. Said UCA for a 123 is less than $50.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
83 SD

84 CD

The pickle fork has a tendency to gouge the top of the steering knuckle, which sentences the new grease boot to a short life. Same concept applies to the lower ball joint and tire rod ends. Pickle forks are best avoided altogether; there are much better options available.

Just finished replacing the UCAs on both sides of the car. Purchased brand new FEBI replacement parts with new rubber bushings (4) all around. Had no major problems - one of the ball joints was a little hard to separate, but the pickle fork and a sledge hammer soon convinced it to let go...

The rest was real simple. Re-assembled everything putting a dab of anti-seize on every nut and bolt along the way. In the process I've also cleaned out the rusty battery tray, cleaned out the plugged up drain, and rotated the tires. Hopefully they won't wear as much (inside wear) now with the new UCAs in place.

Thanks to all for all the comments, advice and pictorials - all very, very helpful. Much appreciated - a very rewarding experience.

Good motoring -
James

__________________
1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

I guess your UCA bolts were friendler than mine. I'm almost done my bushing replacement ... after a major bolt-extraction detour.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Unlike the others I hope you're snapping pics along the way.......
We're all ready to see this "new" 240 become daily driver worthy.

__________________
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

I posted some pics in my other thread about the bolt ... if they are of any interest ... take a look at the first few to see what a REALLY BAD BUSHING looks like: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/249774-uca-bolt-my-latest-impasse-post2178047.html#post2178047

Also, here's my ball joint ... dusty but no cracks at all and moves cleanly (but not overly loose) ... going to try to install the new bushings today.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)