seems like a lot of work not to do the steering parts, you will have them off anyway and unless you are very careful you will bung up the grease caps on them anyway. also you will have to get the front end aligned twice.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

Good point. I priced out the steering components and combined they were all fairly affordable. So I ordered them!

I got the center tie rod assembly, steering damper, and idler arm repair kit. I also ordered two new tie rods, as apparently the Uro parts ones I have on now are of low quality. I haven't had a problem with them yet, but from what I've read they are not the best.

I'm dog paddling my way through.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

I ordered a good chunk of these parts last night, so I should have them by the end of the week. All that's left is to order ball joints, wheel bearings, and guide rod bushings then I will be good to go.

Sounds like fun.

All parts ordered. Look for a bunch of pictures within the next two weeks!

Well the pictures didn't happen, but the front end rebuild did. It all went really smoothly and thanks to Pierre's help it was done in less then 7 hours.

The car drives great now, and after some new tires and an alignment it should finally drive like it was designed to.

It feels good to be one step closer to a mechanically sound car!

Day late and a dollar short, you should have used the 126 LCA bushing....

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Front suspension work has always scared me to my indy also. Colincoon, could you document you progress with pictures? I'm starting to get some clunkiness on left turns on my 83 300D w/ 136K miles. The most complicated thing I have done are rotors/brakes and draining the torque converter when I change out the ATF.

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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

I'm not all that upset that I didn't. Considering the original ones lasted 30 years I don't see why these ones won't. They were the ones that came with it, so that's what I decided to go with.

I really wish I wold have, but I was really pressed for time today. It really needed to be done and was actually postponed a week so getting it done in a timely fashion was a must. 7 hours is a really quick time to rebuild a front end.

However in the resources link up top you can see a DIY on rebuilding a front end, that should help you some.

I was really afraid that the lower ball joints were going to be a PITA, but Pierre was able to hammer them out by hand which I found to be incredibly impressive.

I understand Pierre walks around barefoot in his shop...

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So it's been a week since the rebuild, and I think my front end is too high. From these pictures I'm pretty sure it's obvious.





Also I'm getting more "thunking" coming out of the front end, more specifically the UCA's. It happens when I press up and down on the car, also sometimes when braking and turning the wheel almost to full lock (like pulling in to a parking spot).

Everything was installed correctly and I'm not sure what could be causing this. Guide rods are new, and the sway bar bushings are in good shape.

I'm confused.

This happens to alot of people who do front end rebuilds. I can't remember what part does it though. If I recall, you're supposed to tighten something when its on the ground and not in the air? Dunno.

It took a few weeks for the suspension on my SL to settle. No noises though.


Fresh from the rebuild:


About a week later:

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

As Tyler stated, it happens on a rebuild. Give it a few weeks of driving around. Sometimes you'll need to exercise the suspension pretty good to have it settle down.

Another note is how's the rear suspension of the car. If it is not up to snuff and tired, it can drop with a fresher front end which would make the front seem much higher.


.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

^The rear end is okay, although it does need accumulators. It still raises and lowers like it should though. Rear height was okay when I took the pictures.

Here are what my springs look like when the car is off the ground. Note that the wheels are completely off the ground, should they be a little less compressed? Is it possible I got the wrong springs?





I realize that it's going to be higher after a rebuild, but this is REALLY high up.