Yea, a little POR 15 goes a long way. And, it WILL NOT come off your hands... or nose.

The bottoms of the trailing arms were nicked up a little from rocks so, I figured now is the time to touch it up.

I'm wondering about painting the rubber bushings... wonder if it will protect them any.
I have replaced many a rubber hydraulic hoses on my tractor at the ranch. Last time, I noticed there is one hose that got painted years ago when I painted the tractor. That hose has lasted over twice as long as the others.
Of course these suspension bushings will not be exposed to the sun like the tractor hoses.

Looks good Dan. that POR is some mean stuff, once it dryies on your skin, it just has to wear off.

Did you just paint over the old paint, or strip the frame down?
POR has that one product, Marine Clean, that is one heck of a degreaser.

Iam going to do the bushings next summer, 355,000 on the originals.

Charlie

SNOW! :eek: No wagon progress today.

Looking great Dan, good work.

Does the w123 have two large rear subframe bushings like the w126 does? I ask because I'm going to rebuild the rear suspension on my 300SD early next year, and i'm wondering how hard they were to remove.

I'm also going to do the trailing arm bushings, springs and shocks, and was planning on doing it without completely removing the rear subframe like you did. I am however planning on completely removing the trailing arms.

I am also going to make a bushing puller/pusher for the trailing arm bushings (as you showed, one tool can do both), as well as a pair of tools for the rear subframe bushings. I've made the subframe bushing installer, and have drawings made and the aluminum stock for the other two. That's the main thing holding me up, I haven't had spare time in the machine shop lately...


If you had to do it again would you still completely remove the rear subframe?

Brian, Yes, the W126 and W123 rear subframes are the same layout. Trailing arms are even same part number on the later W123 as the 1st gen W126.

On the W123 I could not get access the the outer trailing arm bolts without dropping the subframe. The driveshaft has to come out due to flex disc interference with the inner bolt. (see pic below)

It may be possible but, I figured it would be easier just to pull the entire ass'y than working the bushings under the car. Also, You'll find the bushing bolts so tight it is difficult to break them loose. I had to use a long breaker bar. I don't think I could have loosened them under the vehicle.

The non-SLS W126 and W123s should be much easier. More room, no hydraulic lines/fluid to deal with.

A prime nugget of info. I know that people (for example, see whunter's 2005 thread) have replaced W126 rear subframe bushings and only needed to drop the subframe a few inches, one side at a time. It had not occured to me that this might not provide sufficient access to the trailing arm bushings. Perhaps the greater girth of the W126 will work for me here- since the trailing arms are the same on both cars, but mine is wider, that means i'll have some extra space near the driveshaft where you describe. Definitely something I need to figure out before I dive in.



I've heard this as well... guess I should start lifting weights :)


Hooray, no SLS for me!!!

Thanks for the informative reply.

Should have searched before I spoke... a closer inspection of these two threads answers my question...

W126 trailing arm bushing R&R
W123 wagon trailing rear suspension R&R

It looks like for both chassis types, to get to the inner trailing arm bushing you need to either disconnect the flex disc that connects the driveshaft to the diff at the very least. Considering that I am going to be replacing all bushings, shocks, and the springs I'm starting to think that I might go your route and just drop the whole subframe.


How much would you say the subframe/trailing arms/diff assembly weighs? How did you lower it to the ground, and about how high would you say you had the rear jacked up?


Thanks again for documenting this.

Brian, Plan on replacing the driveshaft carrier bearing and both flex disc while you're at it. On the W126 you will have a heat shield that must be removed.

I'd estimate the entire ass'y at 250lbs. It was a struggle for my arthritic body solo. With two fit people it should be easy. Or you could remove it a piece at a time. The axles and differential installed will just about double the weight. I used a single floor jack under the differential and kinda balanced it coming down. :eek:

I used the factory jack to lift the car as high as it would go and supported the body on jackstands with thin strips of wood on top to protect the undercoating. The stands are placed just in front of the subframe bushing bracket. The W126 may require a different placement for safety.
Make sure to chock both front and rear of the front tires.

If the weather was better (or if I had a shop) I'd be back on the road by now.

Also, make note I am working on a rough gravel driveway. JimmyL's favorite... although, he has a small bit of pavement behind his wifes vehicle. :)

Slow progress
 

:( Today I removed the fill and drain plugs in the 2.88 differential that will go back in the wagon. Sprayed some more PB on the driveshaft carrier bearing.
Then I had to go move cows and deal with starting the old Massey Ferguson in near freezing weather. The old Perkins diesel has no glow plugs. I used a heat plate (paint stripper) on the air intake and got it going.
I hate the cold.

Ahhh, the life of a cattle rancher....... :P

Jimmy, crawl under China and look at the trailing arm part number. It's located on the inner part the casting near the sway bar link.

At some point in time they changed from a 115... to a 126... part number and may have slightly changed the shape. It was a rear end alignment change. Both will bolt up but, the alignment will be off.
The one off of Silver is a 115 but I have a 126 here also. You'll need to swap the brake cable.

Yep, I hauled hay yesterday. This afternoon there's is a big bright round thing in the sky I haven't seen in a while.
I'm taking advantage of the weather and got a little TD work done. All four bushings installed and the trailing arms mounted to the sub frame.

When tightening the bushing bolts you need to make sure the trailing arms are in the correct position. The differential and axles need to be straight so, I had to temporarily install the axles and old differential to make sure the bushings do not get twisted when the car is back on the ground.

I need to replace the boots on the old axles before they go back in. More parts to order.

The 2.88 diff I am installing has a little more play than the "tight" 3.07 that came out. Now I'm beginning to reconsider using it and just going back with the 3.07. It was very clean inside, the 2.88 smells horrible and is nasty. Maybe some heavy synthetic gear lub is needed... who knows.

I have axle boots,

Three of the Astoria 3000 flexi boots.

And two OE style boots from Febi.

Wow... finally got the rear subframe installed solo using two pieces of threaded rod placed in the shock holes. Pulled it up into place, bolted up the mounts then removed the rods.
Driveshaft installed with new center support bearing.

The axles have been rebooted using Astoria 3001s with the help of RichC. Where's that fancy (scary) tool JimmyL has when you need it???

I spent a large part of this afternoon ginding/honing axle spacer shims for proper fitment of the original axles to the new 2.88 diff.

Hopefully I'll get her all back together tomorrow.

SLS, brakes, exhaust...

It was right here where it always is, available for you anytime. You were just scared of taking another wailing on the head!!! :D

So, did you take pics of this very ingenious method of securing your rear subframe?