tie rods? say what??
 

I am thourougly confused on what parts of the tie-rod system i need for my 83 300SD. ON fastlane, they have tie rod ends, center tie rods, left tie rods, right tie rods, left hand turn tie rods, right hand turn tie rods....which ones do i need to buy to replace all of them? i'm doing ball joints, idler arm, and tie rods on the front end here shortly, and would like to order the parts tonight/tomarrow. Thanks
Ryan

If I recall correctly, you have a 116 Chasis. Disregard the rest if I am wrong.
I have always replaced the tie rod assembly. It comes complete with both tie-rods attached to the center adjustment rod. They are usually diferent colors. One side is black the other is very light green. Don't ask me which is which but check the color BEFORE you remove them.
Tie Rod Assmbly left 126-330-05-03
Tie Rod Assembly Right 126-330-06-03
Control Arm Upper Left 123-330-46-07
Control Arm Upper Right 123-330-47-07
Control Arm Lower Left 116-330-90-07
Control arm Lower Right 116-330-91-07
Ball Joint Lower Front suspension 116-333-09-27 You need 2

These arepart numbers and not recommendations. You need to determine what needs to be replaced. You might need bushings and other stuff. You should call and talk to someone that can confirm all this information. Good luck.

Henry

the 81 on up 300SD's are the W126 chassis. mine is the W126, thanks anyways though :D
Ryan

Disregard my previous info. You have a 126 chasis the following should be correct. Some numbers are the same.

Tie Rod Assmbly left 126-330-05-03
Tie Rod Assembly Right 126-330-06-03

Control Arm Upper (You do not have any)

Control Arm Lower Left 126-330-18-07
Control arm Lower Right 126-330-19-07

Ball Joint Lower Front suspension 116-333-09-27 You need 2

Check these numbers. How do you plan on compressing the springs? They are a PITA.

Henry

nope, there will be no spring compressing action going on..... I really only plan on doing ball joints, idler arm and tie rod assembly..
thanks a bunch!
Ryan

There's also the center tie rod and idler arm bushings to consider. I don't know why you'd need a new idler arm unless yours is bent or otherwise broken.

Check the archives on ball joints. It might be the case that your only option is to bring the control arms to a shop to have the new ball joints pressed in if you don't want to take a second mortgage to buy the tools to do it in situ. If the control arms have to come off, I believe the springs have to come off first.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
81 300SD

i'm renting the ball joint press tool, and from looking at it i dont beleive the control arm will have to come off. I'll figure out exactly how the parts are goign in once i get them, right now i just need to figure out what to order. I Want to replace the center tie rod, end tie rods, idler arm bushings, and ball joints. What parts do i need? thanks
Ryan

You will need a drag link and I would also replace the steering dampner. I can gt the parts numbers tomorrow if you need them.

that would be great, so heres what i'm looking at, correct me if i'm wrong
2 lower ball joints
2 tie rod ENDS
drag link
idler arm repair kit
steering damper

thanks!
Ryan

The numbers I gave for the ball joints are good. You need two tie rod ends each side. Do you want the tie rod assemblies or just the tie rods? I will post the part numbers in the AM.

Henry

to be honest i'm not sure which ones i want. What is the differane? which way is easier to replace? which way is the better way to do it? BTW, do you think i can handle the lower ball joints myself with the rented tool from autozone? thanks
Ryan

If I haven't confused you yet, I will. In this ocntext, center link = drag link = center tie rod. The center link ends are not removable or adjustable per the manual.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
81 300SD

I like replacing the tie rod assembly. If you have done many front end alignments, the mechanics use channel locks to turn the tie rods leaving gouges and grooves. No big deal unless they also round the bolt heads on the tie rod locking nuts. Take a look after you take of the road grime off. I would get the tie rod assembly. Make sure you pay attention to the color coding. One is black and one is light green. A pain when you have them both removed and you forget which goes where. I have done that and luckly I have two 124 Wagons.
In refernce to the ball joint issue, I would replace the lower control arm assembly. In my experience, the control arm bushings wear out before the ball joint does. Of course you would have to remove the spring, which you have to deal with anyway when you replace the ball joint. You will not have much room to use the tool while the control arm is in place. How do you plan on keeping the spring in place? I prefer to replace componenets instead of parts.

Henry

Is the tool you are renting from AutoZoo made for MB ball joints? Performance products rents out the proper MB tool, but I have heard that sometimes they send out a worn out tool. If it is just the regular ball joint tool, it may not work. I borrowed a regular ball joint tool from a buddy who is a mechanic at a Ford dealership. I had to make an adapter to be able to use it at all. The shape of the MB steering knuckle is such that you can't really get the regular tool in to grab the ball joint. I was replacing bad lower ball joint on '83 300D and the job was such a pain and made me so mad I have not gone back to replace the other side after I got the first one installed. I did go ahead and remove the spring and replace the bushings and all rubber pieces on that side while I was in there. Really need to do the other side now as daughter is complaining (with good reason) about the sloppy steering. BTW, I have found the ball joint on the upper control arm to need replacing as much as the lower joint. They are not too expensive and are fairly esasy to replace. Plus they are easy to spot. Just jack up the car and grab the top of wheel and try to move it in and out. Then try to move it up and down. try again with a jack under the lower control arm. It will scare you when you see a bad one.

well, after reading up in the archives, i think i have a new plan of attack. If i rent the spring compress tool, i can take out the control arm and have the new joints pressed in fairly cheaply right? say around 40 bucks or so? if i did that, i would have to rent the spring compress tool, but i wouldn't have to rent the ball joint tool. THis way, i could replace the other cheap bushings at the same time, right? thanks
Ryan