gonna replace the UCAs on my 300D. looked at the DIY faq but it goes off on a tangent about brake rotors or something.

is the safest way to work around the spring to keep a jackstand under the LCA, and then jack up the knuckle when bolting to the balljoint?

am i correct in understanding that the torsion bar bolt and the ball joint can be torqued to spec with the car in the air, and that the UCA to body bolt is the one that must be torqued with the wheels on the ground?

TIA

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

I removed the spring when I rebuilt my front end.

wish I could, but i dont have a spring compressor and I'm only doing the UCA, not the lowers.

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

If is best when you torque the Bolt that Goes through the Fender Well if the Wheels are on the Ground. That clamps the Rubber Bushing in sort of a neutral position with no flexing of the Bushing. (The same with the Lower Control Arm Bushings.)

Next best would be if you put it on Jack Stands keep both sides at the same level and not raised any higher needed to get the Wheels off.

What do you plan to use to detach the Upper Ball Joint on the UCA from the Knuckle?

The tips of the Sway Bar are often rusted thin to the extent they sometimes break off. If the Tip breaks off there is 2 possible repairs for that.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

the upper control arm is not under spring tension. you can safely remove them without doing anything to the spring. assemble everything tight except the inner bolt, just leave it loose, until the car is sitting back on it's tires, then tighten it up.
get a good ratchet strap to assist moving the spindle around to get the torsion bar connected.

be sure the shock absorber stays connected, but the guide rod is keeping everything stable.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

UCA Install

See post #4.

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83 SD

84 CD

PeachPartsWiki: Upper Ball Joint Replacement

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

thanks all

i've examined the sway bar visually and it looks OK with no rust (california car since 1981) but of course something could be hidden when i get it apart. the current UCAs were installed about 70k and 7 years ago.

oh and i have a ball joint separator. going to do the tie rods after the UCAs.

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

Are you sure the uca are bad? 70k and 7 years use seems kinda young for replacements unless they were uro quality.....I have the original uca's on my car with 35 years on them....they look fine....

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both sides make all kinds of bad noises and the ball joint boots are completely torn. not sure what they are. the shop the PO took the car to usually did OK work, although they did put A1 Cardone calipers on.

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

They are probably uro then, do yourself a really big favor....install lemforder parts....this way they won't need changing again in 5000 or less miles...

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I just did my uppers and lowers and tie rods yesterday. No issues with the spring, just left it there.

I did completely pull LCA and then spindle, and let the indy press the old ones out I used the autozone rental tool to press in the new ones. Easy peasy.

$25 each to press out the old lowers. Still better than me futzing around with it, and wife ran them out to the shop while I did the uppers.

Probably one of the more rewarding and fun jobs on the W123. Used a simple pickle fork on both upper and lower BJs and tie rods (I have a 3 pickle fork set).

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Eric, CPO, Submarines, retired.
Here's a sig line...
Mine: '68 Corvette LS1/4L65E, 83 240D, 2000 GMC 4x4, 08 FLSTC Anniv
Hers: '72 Corvette 454/4spd, '99 MB SLK, '93 Metro vert, 78 240D, '92 Silverado, '65 Fjord Rustang, '59 Fjord Fairlane, '17 Slingshot.

Please explain "just left it there"...

the 123 has an enormous spring that must be safely compressed if you are removing the LCA...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Well, I quite misspoke myself there didn't I!! I didn't remove the LCA, I popped the BJ out of it an then removed disc, etc, and sent the spindle assembly out to get the BJ pressed out.

Sorry, I'm not always quite here.

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Eric, CPO, Submarines, retired.
Here's a sig line...
Mine: '68 Corvette LS1/4L65E, 83 240D, 2000 GMC 4x4, 08 FLSTC Anniv
Hers: '72 Corvette 454/4spd, '99 MB SLK, '93 Metro vert, 78 240D, '92 Silverado, '65 Fjord Rustang, '59 Fjord Fairlane, '17 Slingshot.

Actually the URO Boots are Plastic just like the Lemfoerders are. I did not use the URO Ball Joints that came in the Complete Front end Kit; but I did use one of the URO plastic Boots to replace the Boot I melted on the old Lower Ball Joint that is still good.

However, I bought that kit at least 4 Years ago. It could be URO uses Rubber Boots not.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel