87 300D 124.133 LCA Bushing Orientation

[Turbo300Mercede]

I am right in the middle of front lower control arm bushing replacement. I made notes and marked the old bushings to note orientation of the flats before I removed them.

What is confusing me are the instructions in my Model 124 Service Manual Library on CD. In section “33-0525, Replacing Control Arm Bushings” the instructions for the rear of the control arm state “Install the rubber mounts so that the flats are vertical”. But the picture next to this paragraph show the flats at top and bottom.

My old bushings at this location on the control arm were horizontal, in other words one flat was at the top and the other flat was at the bottom. So the flat places were horizontal. One horizontal flat at the top and the other horizontal flat at the bottom.

I found a picture at www.w124performance.com/images/W124_suspensions/LCA_bush_old3.jpg
and this picture is exactly as my bushings were at the rear of my LCA. The three tits in the picture correspond to the location of the flats.

Also at the front of the control arm my flats were vertical, flat spots on rubber are orientated toward the front of the vehicle and rear of the vehicle and the other picture at www.w124performance.com/images/W124_suspension/LCA_bush_old1.jpg of the front of a control arm look just like mine with the tits corresponding to the flats. My manual is just as confusing about the front of the control arm as the rear telling me to place them horizontally.

I guess with my own observations and the posted pictures, I should just put my flat locations exactly as they previously were.

Is the manual trying to tell me that a line drawn between the two flats would be vertical for the rear and horizontal for the front of the LCA?

[sixto]

Originally Posted by Turbo300Mercede

Is the manual trying to tell me that a line drawn between the two flats would be vertical for the rear and horizontal for the front of the LCA?

That's how I read it. Maybe it's more logical in die Muttersprache

Sixto
87 300D

[Turbo300Mercede]

Thanks. I am proceeding on, putting the new flats in the same orientation as original.