Anyone in the Houston area have a spring compressor that I could borrow? The ball joint on my LCA is bad, and since it's a 95 it looks like I have to replace the whole control arm.

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RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

IIRC only V8s came with integral ball joints. Did someone retrofit LCAs with integral ball joints?

Sixto
87 300D

Both my E300D and my E320 have welded-in ball joints, and my research leads me to believe that all MY95 cars had them, regardless of engine.

__________________
RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

Could be a build date thing. I know folks with '95 E300s that came with replaceable ball joints. I don't know anyone with a '95 E320

Sixto
87 300D

I have a 95 E300D with factory control arms etc - replaced the ball joints in it which were also factory items with 1994 build dates stamped on them.

w124 ball joint press

After reading the FSM The only 3 W124 cars in 1995 with factory cast in ball joint housings were the E320, E420 and E500.

This was due to using larger brakes upfront causing clearance issues so MB lowered the ball joint to make up for the lost space.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

I can't imagine why someone would have replaced the old-style control arms with the new, more expensive, non-replaceable-balljoint ones. This is an E300D Special Edition, whih I've been led to believe means it was one of the last chassis produced and sold. Possibly the very late 124's all got the new-style control arms to streamline production.

__________________
RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

it has nothing to do with production dates, or builds... it's a simple result of the 12" rotors, and 4 piston calipers not being able to clear the standard control arm, so specific ones were built for the high performance 124's the E300 was NOT a high performance variety...

FYI... there is an E420 in my local yard, and I plan to pull the MASSIVE subframe, and driveshaft to upgrade my car to take limited slip 2.24 ... and I'll pull the front brake hardware and LCA's while Im at it.

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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 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

If it turns out your car has the replaceable ball joints the heavy duty tool that Advance auto parts loans out(with a deposit) works perfectly,Took me longer to get the tool at the store than to install the new joints.Just did it today was no strain at all with that tool, only had to use a 1/2" ratchet and i am not strong at all!

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Red Green "This is only temporary,Unless it works!"

97 E300D 157000 miles
87 300TD ?141k? miles

If EPC is to be believed, A '95 E300 came with 124-330-30/31-07 control arms that take replaceable 124-333-03-27 ball joints. A '95 E320 came with 124-330-34/5-07 control arms that have integral ball joints. Does your E300 have pads you can replace without pulling the caliper; i.e., the same as your E320? If so, maybe a PO upgraded the brakes, or that the SE comes with big brakes is a well kept secret.

Sixto
87 300D

I'm in The Woodlands & have two spring compressors. Also a 95 E320 wagon & I can confirm integrated BJs. I did my LCAs a few years ago & had to bend over for factory MB LCAs.

Cheers,
Gerry


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