I was discussing this in another post but I thought I'd bring it up for it's own go around.

I have an 82 300SD. It has a new center tie rod, outter tie rods, steering stabilizer, sub fram bushings, appears to have a new steering box, doesn't have much play in the wheel (only a little), and basically feels "tight".

The problem is this clunking I hear and also feel under my feet. I believe it is coming from the driver's side, or so that's what it seems. I noticed there are some bushings in the subframe itself(not the large round ones) that seem to support front/rear motion. Could they bit it? If so, how can I tell? What about the lower contron arm bushings? Seems unlikely, but are there any tell tale signs I can look for?

My cousin has the same car but with the V8 and has had the front end totally gone through, he still describes a clunking noise like mine that the dealer just can't seem to nail. (he lives on the east coast so I can't actually hear his noise) I'm starting to wonder if there is some broken weld in the unibody or something. (I can re-weld if necessary, just need to know where to start hunting). I guess I'm trying to avoid the whole replace it until it goes away approach as I just don't have the dough right now(in college, broke) and would love to take a more educated angle and find the real problem.

Frank.

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'82 300SD

Sounds like track rod mounts. Try a search on "track rod" or "guide rod".

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Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Definitely either track rod mounts or the body bushing for the track rod. Pull the rubber cover back on the body end of the track rod and see if there evidence of a gap between the bushing are rod end. Fairly easy to repalce (better than the bearings in the control arm, anyway!). Will cause a clunking when going over bumps, also, and a rattle or squeak on dips.

Other things to look at are loose brake pads or loose caliper mounting bolts and loose wheel bearings. A bad shock mount or loose shock will sometimes do the same thing.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Thanks for the advice. Just to be sure, are you talking about these? http://catalog.eautopartscatalog.com/mercedesshop/wizard.jsp?partner=mercedesshop&year=1982&make=MB&model=300-SD-002&category=L&part=Guide+Rod+Repair+Kit

Frank.

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'82 300SD

After reading a bunch of posts I whent ahead and ordered the new guide/track/thrust/bob/john/larry mounts. We'll see what that does.

Should be fun getting 'em in and out.

Frank.

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'82 300SD