W210 control arm snapped ! Benz quality WOW - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

blk90s13 · #1 05-20-2015, 09:51 PM

I am shocked, wife called on her way to work and said the car got slugish and is making a very loud noise from the front wheel so she pulled over and will call a tow.

anyway I get home from work to diagnose it and I see this ! it turns out to be a common issue !

I did the brakes not too long ago and saw nothing indicating anything out of the ordinary special we got tires and alignment about 6k miles ago shop never mentioned a thing !

Anyway Pelican parts will be hearing from me soon for new replacment parts.

Skid Row Joe · #2 05-20-2015, 10:12 PM

Not sure the failure wasn't because of deferred maintenance from looking at the pics?

What are all the stats on the car? Miles? Front end parts (shocks) etc. replaced? Worn/aged bushings not replaced? Lower ball-joints replaced? Steering parts/bushings aged? Rust issue(s), esp. front spring perches?

jake12tech · #3 05-20-2015, 11:23 PM

Don't blame the car company.

How many miles? Any rust?

Skid Row Joe · #4 05-21-2015, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blk90s13

Car is a NJ car all it life not much rust on body 205k miles

tie rods is only thing was replaces since we owned the car about 60k miles ago drove fine no weird noises or clunks, welds did fail.

How do you maintain a control arm ? you replace it ? I always thought bushing gets changed in and out but not the control arm its self !

Are you able to access the repair and replacement parts history of your car before you bought it? That information may prove valuable to you with the investigation, forensically speaking that is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

In the old days ( pre 80's ) car bodies rusted rapidly, engines / transmissions didn't last very long. Frames sort of lived only due to their thickness.

Now cars last much longer and parts the previously didn't fail are now wearing out. Kind of like since people live longer, all sorts of new illnesses have popped up in old age.

If the lower ball joint is seizing up, it will translate a bending load to the control arm. Since the end of the arm is a great stress riser, it will break there.

Grab the ball joint stem with pliers and give it a flex, it should move with some resistance but not a struggle.

Good input, 97SL320.

I thought there'd be related parts culpabilities to examine, that POSSIBLY could be related to a control-arm failure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

Not sure the failure wasn't because of deferred maintenance from looking at the pics?

What are all the stats on the car? Miles? Front end parts (shocks) etc. replaced? Worn/aged bushings not replaced? Lower ball-joints replaced? Steering parts/bushings aged? Rust issue(s), esp. front spring perches?

..........Qs that may be helpful in forensically finding POSSIBLE causation here........

markg612 · #5 05-20-2015, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blk90s13

Anyway Pelican parts will be hearing from me soon for new replacment parts.

Importec is has way better pricing--the Euro catalogue is South San Fransisco Import Parts, WAY better selection and pricing than WorldPac that drives peach parts.

tjts1 · #6 05-21-2015, 05:02 AM

Your 2 piece spring doesn't look to healthy either. Glad I don't live in the rust belt.

Stretch · #7 05-21-2015, 06:56 AM

That looks like a failure suspiciously near to a weld

As for condition those parts look used but don't seem especially or excessively rusty to me - wow guys if you want to see rusty come and live over here for a few days!

blk90s13 · #8 05-21-2015, 07:01 AM

Car is a NJ car all it life not much rust on body 205k miles

tie rods is only thing was replaces since we owned the car about 60k miles ago drove fine no weird noises or clunks, welds did fail.

How do you maintain a control arm ? you replace it ? I always thought bushing gets changed in and out but not the control arm its self !

Zacharias · #9 05-21-2015, 08:50 AM

I find it odd there is a parts sticker on the arm, that suggests the arm wasn't that old. I blew up the pic but cannot make out what it says.

However, at first glance it doesn't look like a OE parts sticker to me.

Perhaps the OP can take a better pic of it?

vstech · #10 05-21-2015, 08:50 AM

Yup... weld attracts the rust... metal fails at the weld. I wonder if an aluminum alternative exists?

martureo · #11 05-21-2015, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

Yup... weld attracts the rust... metal fails at the weld. I wonder if an aluminum alternative exists?

This doesn't make any sense. Welds are coated just as the rest of the part is, so it isn't an issue of bare metal. And welds are stronger than the material surrounding it.

Metal fails NEAR the weld, as it did in this situation.

vstech · #12 05-21-2015, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martureo

This doesn't make any sense. Welds are coated just as the rest of the part is, so it isn't an issue of bare metal. And welds are stronger than the material surrounding it.

Metal fails NEAR the weld, as it did in this situation.

Agreed, I wasn't saying the weld fails, I was saying the metal near it fails. Apparently im not good with expressing my thoughts.

97 SL320 · #13 05-21-2015, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martureo

This doesn't make any sense. Welds are coated just as the rest of the part is, so it isn't an issue of bare metal. And welds are stronger than the material surrounding it.

Metal fails NEAR the weld, as it did in this situation.

Metal oxidizes when welding starting rust.

Paint usually does not flow so well into the groove between the metal and weld bead.

Welds are often rougher than sheet steel so paint does not cover so well.

17 year old car in a snow / salt area. Don't blame the manufacturer, things wear out.

Graham · #14 05-21-2015, 07:28 PM

The problem IS with the design. But not just the W210, but also other modern cars, have had everything lightened up. On the W210 (we own one) the poor spring perch is a well known fault. Another is the beam that runs across under and near front of the engine. It is very lightweight and formed out of sheet metal. The plastic undercovers trap water and the beam sits in it. I had corrosion on that beam. Under their Goodwill program, MBCanada had the beam replaced for me (Several thousand $$ job)

Those control arms with corrosion on inside, likely look perfectly OK on outside. Ours (and the rest of the car) get annual external rust treatment. But inside, metal may be getting thinner and thinner. Eventually you hit a bump and it fails. When designing mechanical parts, designers should provide metal thickness required by design+safety factor+corrosion allowance. Perhaps they didn't think the metal would corrode from inside where it is not exposed to environment?

We have discussed W123 rear control arms before. I have one that is partly corroded. I drilled a few holes near top and sprayed in Fluid Film and then installed removable plugs in holes. Still OK but always a concern.

Sounds like our E320 control arms may need same internal attention?

On the positive side, after 17 years, we haven't had a failure on W210 suspension. Fingers crossed!

Maxbumpo · #15 05-21-2015, 08:58 AM

If that is an OE part, I'd be fussing at dealer and MBUSA. That sort of failure is totally unacceptable. MB has done recalls for failing control arms in the past (R107 for instance). How does the other side look?

I would never use an aftermarket control arm. I'd take a used OE control arm over aftermarket.

Have you searched online to see if this type of failure is typical for your model car?