Now that the spring is near, I'm thinking of starting few of those projects on the car that have been accumulating. One of them are the upper control arms (left and right) which have been squeeking like the devil. The left one in particular has a torn rubber boot around the ball joint, leaking grease.

I figured, I'll bite the bullet and just plan on replacing the whole assembly along with the rubber grommets, etc. hoping to eliminate those squeeks when I go over over bumps...

If one is fairly mechanically inclined, is this an easy/difficult job to do?! Looking under there it makes me think that I may need to deal with compressing the spring?! Is there a DYI on that topic? Any pointers would be appreciated.

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

OR "Advanced Search" function

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

this is definitely DIY... with the right tools. Your biggest challenge is removing the balljoint end of the UCA from the spindle arm.

Search for BGKast 's thread on the front end rebuild and ask him.

the rest is plug and play


I might mention that the squeaking is not from the UCA (perhaps) ?

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You can use a pickle fork in removing the old ball joint IF you get a new assembly, as it has a new ball joint already installed. Might as well, as the price difference is very little.
Support the vehicle on the lower control arm. No need to remove the spring.
There should be plenty of info using the search function. If not, PM me.

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83 SD

84 CD

ditto, thanks for clarifying

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Squeaking sounds like a lower ball joint. Replacing the lower one requires spring compression. But the upper control arm isnt too bad of a job at all. Here are some steps that are better if followed in order, being that the car is supported with jack positioned under lower control arm.

1. Release UCA from Spindle arm using pickle fork.

2. Remove bolt from wheel well mount.

3. Remove sway bar bolt.

4. Tilt UCA with ball joint end downwards, swiveling on sway bar.

5. Then slide UCA off of sway bar and remove all the bushings.

6. Check sway bar end for serious rust issues.

If all is well, the process is reversed.

I suppose that depends on how one defines "spring compression." A "spring compressor" is absolutely not required on a W123.

Where do I get this pickle fork tool?!

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

What price difference?

It's been a few years, but I looked it up just now, a new complete UCA is $47, just what I paid. {Firestone quoted me over $250 for the same part} So it's okay to destroy the ball joint removing it. Did NOT find just an upper ball joint.

To replace a lower (supporting) ball joint you do not need to compress the spring, as tf007 mentions. A mechanic did one for me in car, [squeaking horribly!] the FSM mentions to remove the spindle, requiring re-loading the outer bearing. And if you're going to do THAT, you might as well install new rotors, IMO.

To replace the LCA/bushing, you do need to compress the spring.

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83 SD

84 CD

Jack the front end up until both front wheels clear the ground, this helps unload the sway bar and makes reassembly much easier.

I also found a 2X4 (about 20 inches?) long placed on end on a floor jack placed under the sway bar during reassembly lets you move it up/down alot easier when trying to get the upper bushings to go back together.

Also many times a good couple of smacks with a small sledge will pop the ball joint easier then the pickle fork.

I took this clue and got under the car (passenger side) while a helper bounced the car up and down to reproduce the squeek. I located it in the sway bar bushing that fits in the body (barely visible from the wheel well). The noise is ONLY on the passenger side. For starters, I may shoot some WD40 in there to quiet it down. Thing that amazes me is that this rubber bushing looks really new to me... so question 1 is: is this bushing something pretty easy to replace? I'm guessing that if I take out the battery and its tray that it may be accessible under then?! Question 2: what's the part number and where do I but a replacement bushing - could not find anything on Fastlane that resembled that.. Thx in advance.

PS - I may replace the UCA anyway even though they aren't the source of the squeek, just because the outer bushings appear dry-rotted... it just means this project got quite a bit bigger...

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

Confirm the squeaky area in the pics, if you would.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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83 SD

84 CD

Well, I'm pretty sure it's the first pic with the red highlights around it (except on passenger side)... Since I did not have access to the other parts yet I can't confirm or deny...

I need to see if I can get under the battery before I can be sure - right now I'm betting it's the first picture and thanks for helping.

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

Here is a diagram I got from EPC and labeled ... the swaybar isn't on it, but it goes through the round hole on the UCA, surrounded by #77 bushings. The vertical piece in this picture is the steering knuckle .. it did not have a # on it. Let me know if you can't read it and I can try to make it bigger.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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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)