I need to get my front lower ball joints replaced on my 1983 300d. Can anyone recommend an auto shop/mechanic that is highly respectable that can do the work for me in the SF Bay Area?????

Thanks!!!!

You could buy the Lemforder Ball Joints to be sure you get good quality joints and have the shop do the rest.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Sorry, i am in Houston and would recommend British European Motors on Hwy 90 in Richmond, Tx. I know it does not help you, but putting it out there for someone else.

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Grey '91 350SDL 214k Dad's car
Beige '81 240D 4 Speed 254k SOLD
Blue '82 300D 225k SOLD
White '95 E300D 46k SOLD
Blue '87 190D 2.5 Turbo 315k SOLD
Brown '80 240D 4 Speed 716k SOLD
Beige '80 300D N/A 119k SOLD
Blue '85 300D Model 186k T-Boned

Its not terribly difficult... but a rental c clamp press and a hammer and a floor jack are required. ..

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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!

Are you only going to do ball joints or will you include LCA bushings and guide rod mount and the other stuff that is shot after 33 years?

Parts cost on the whole thing is ~$600 + the cost of a spring compressor. Labor - ouch!!

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I agree with this.

The rest of the front end is going to be clapped out almost always on these cars. BTDT doing part now and part later, waste of time.

Removing the ball joints I just use an old 3/4" drive socket (26mm?) and a 5lb sledge. Let them soak where they press in with good penetrating oil for a while first, helps quite a bit.



Do not forget to replace the idler arm bushing.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

I have decided to do the work myself but I decided to do the entire front end and buy lemfoerder parts. Does anyone know where I can find lemfoerder lower control arm bushings???Is the w126 lower control arm bushing more difficult to install than the w123 bushings???

Thanks

You can purchase the lower Control Arm Lemforder inner bushing for a W126 here on this site.
Part# 126-330-00-75 $31.75 I have seen them for $25 on my searches.
These are a beefier bushing than the one for the W123, which is
Part# 123-330-13-75 but didn`t see them in Lemforder.

I have a set of these for the 240, but have not installed them yet.
You can make a home made bushing press or just buy the after market tool.

https://shop.ktcautotools.com/products/mercedes-w124-w126-lower-control-arm-bushing-press-tool

Here is a good thread Bodyart27 did several years ago.

Write up - Ball Joints & Lower Control Arm Bushings & Tool Review (PICS!)

The outer Lower Control Arm bushing is Part# 123-330-13-75.
If you find this one in a Lemforder, you are lucky. seems to be NLA.
I did find a guy on E-bay that had 10 of them, I ordered 2, then thought about buying the rest.
Some inconsiderate %&$@# bought the rest.

You can get it from MB as listed on this site for $54.00, or buy the Chicom one`s listed everywhere.


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I had no luck trying to install the w126 bushings, ended up going back to w123 ones. I could not get them to go in evenly, even with a homemade press. I think I ended up drilling one out because the metal piece was wedged in so tight.
YMMV though

So are the w126 bushings even worth trying to install? I would hate to spend $64 on bushings that are almost impossible to install due to damaging them. Would getting the w123 bushings be a better option then???

Can you press in w126 bushings on a bench vise with the control arm???

Thanks!

So I fubared the w126 bushings, actually the end caps. It is almost impossible to seat the outermost metal ring with finding a cup tool to fit perfectly without distorting everything. I bought another pair of w126 bushing and bought the specific bushing press tool for it too. Best to do it right since it will probably won't be done again for the next 20 years.

Is this the tool you bought and used?

https://shop.ktcautotools.com/products/mercedes-w124-w126-lower-control-arm-bushing-press-tool

Here it is for you visualities that don`t click on links.



Comes in a nice blow molded case


Showed this to my Indy when I was in Santa Cruz last Tues, and said this is the tool he uses and Works Great.

I picked up mine for $110, new, never used. Sure is a heavy dang thing.
Need tool when ya live miles out in the Boonies.


Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

I just got quotes from 2 reputable places and they were both $600-700 dollars for parts and labor just for 2 lower ball joints. Sucks, because that is a lot of money. I have a 7month old kid at home and it is difficult to work on the car other than oil changes. I can do the work and save a bunch of money, because I already have the special klann spring compressor. I don't have the special ball joint remover or ball joint installer. I figure if I buy some lowered H&R springs or cut some coils on the stockers, buy everything for the front end rebuild, and do the work myself in stages due to childcare, it would be cheaper but it might take a couple of weeks. The hardest part would be removing and installing the ball joints....would you guys trust a machine shop to press the old/new ones or are they special/different where you should do the ball joint install yourself????

I removed my old ones with a large hammer and a few minutes of frustration-releasing time. Pressing them in yourself with a normal c type press is entirely possible, but you may need to make your own die out of some appropriate sized tubing. I have also seen a neat tool made from a long piece of pipe with a section cut out that would let you use a shop press. Might be worth getting a quote from a specialist on pressing them in for you, I doubt most machine shops will have the right tooling to do it the easy way. I hate to say it, since this often feels condescending, but you might want to search these forums a bit. There are a lot of threads on this topic, although they can get confusing.

Not just any machine shop will have the tools required for this. Maybe an independent shop that works on the older Benzes would have them. If you have the tools, and not dealing with rust issues, they aren't that difficult. Most shops will quote you a worst-case scenario for this type of work.

The special tools are available in the Tool Rental section of the forum.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )