Torn upper ball joint boots..how hard to replace them?
 

I noticed both of my upper ball joint boots were torn in my '88 560SL, the damage is fresh and the BJs seem OK. I know the boots are available from MB so my question is...how hard is it to replace them? Do I need to remove the entire upper control arm or can I just remove the nut, remove the BJ from the spindle using a pickle fork and repack and replace the boot that way with no further disassembly? Anyone done this? I'd rather not wait until the joints go bad and then have to spend $300-$400 each for new control arms with the new joints if I can save these.

Yes you can do this except I wouldent use a pickel fork. If you look on e-bay you will find plenty of venders that sell a tool that will do this for < $50.00. It is a tool that uses a driving bolt to leaver it out.

John Roncallo

Thanks...now I seen that tool. It is MB 115 589 02 33 00. It looks like it uses a bolt to push the ball joint out. Do you know if you have to disconnect the brake hose to replace the boot or will the knuckle drop far enough to allow the end of the ball joint to be free without pulling on it? I see the procedure for replacing the upper control arm calls for the removal of the brake hose but I didn't know if I had to do it to just get the boot off.

I have this same problem with my 560SL. One option is to pack a lot of grease around the cracked boot to prevent moisture from entering in....this is a quick fix. Every couple of months I clean off the old grease and apply new.....so far so good! At some point, I will just give in and replace the upper control arm. I have funded both my Mercedes by selling vintage cameras....I may have to give in and sell some more to finish off everything I want to do!

I ordered the boots yesterday and will do the replacement and report back next week on how hard or easy it was. The ball joints are OK and I don't see the point in spending $700+ for new control arms to replace $25 worth of rubber bits, so I decided to simply replace the boots and repack the ball joints with fresh grease while I am at it.

Funny you mention vintage cameras...check out my website: www.minoxdoc.com

Interesting Marty! My 250SL was purchased selling 4 Linhofs, 2 Leicas, 1 Rolleiflex and several Zeiss lenses (including two Superachromats). I sometimes miss the equipment but still kept my one Linhof (plus I have the extremely rare Technika-Flex attachment), five Hasselblads and two Leicas (plus several Graflex cameras). Sadly, I don't take photos and get into the darkroom like I used to...but it is all still there for my return someday!

Leicas, Hasselblads and Nikon RFs are all in my collection as well...though My interest in Hasselblad only extends to the 1600F at this point.

Anywho...like I said, I will tackle the boots sometime in the next week or so and will report back.

I have a mint 1600F that I owned since 1985 with original boxes, etc. Currently, it is at David Knapman's shop in Sweden, as the low shutter speed mechanism quit (again!). Rick Nordin, author of Hasselblad System Compendium, is a personal friend of mine. I also have two 1000F's and an early Superwide from 1956. These cameras I would never sell!

Small world!

I replaced my torn boots today. Not a bad job, much easier than the book says. You do NOT have to disconnect the steering arm or brake lines. I simply tied the steering arm to the shock using some bailing wire, turned the wheel to give as much slack as possible in the lines and they were not even close to being strained.

I used a lift but you could do it with a floor jack too. Lift the car and remove the wheel, then place a jackstand under the lower control arm and just load it with enough weight to keep it put. Then tie a piece of bailing wire around the steering arm and shock to hold it. Remove the 19mm nut on the upper ball joint (using an impact wrench is great) and separate it from the steering arm using a pickle fork or the pressing tool MB recommends. I used a pickle fork and it worked fine.

Then you can swing the upper control arm up and out of the way to remove the old boot, clean out the old grease, repack it with new and replace the boot. There's also a nylon sleeve in there that goes into the bottom hole of the boot so you need to re-use this as MB doesn't give you a new one. The hardest part of the whole job is getting those &*^&^(%%$# spring rings around the top and bottom of the boot. There must be a tool to spread them. If I was doing it again I'd simply use nylon wire ties instead of the spring rings, but I did finally get them all on right, it was just a PITA to do.

Then, you just replace the 19mm bolt (again with an impact wrench which helps as the ball joint shaft tends to turn as you tighten the nut) and remove the bailing wire and replace the wheel and you're on your way. If your boots are torn this is an excellent way to prevent premature failure of the ball joints. Considering the ball joints are only sold as part of the upper control arm ($300 to $400 each) it's a very worthwhile job and my old joints seemed fine, nice and smooth with no free play, so they should last another 100K miles! The boots cost me $15 each from the dealer, so for $30 and a couple of hours work it was rewarding to get it done.

After doing this I can see that doing the upper control arms is a snap...it would probably take even less time than replacing the boots did. All you need to do is remove two more bolts at the control arm bushings and the arms come straight out..then the new ones go right in. You could probably do both sides in 1-1.5 hours. It took me over 2 to do both boots but the most time consuming part was getting those spring rings around the boots.

UCA repair boots
 

Where did you get your repair boots?
My 240D boots are intact but waiting to go. I am waiting on the uca complete for next year when I do the suspension

Sounds like he got them from the dealer.

Through incredible luck, I actually obtained a genuine 115 589 02 33 00 tool at a good price. Unfortunately, in order to use it, you have to do things "by the book" - remove the steering knuckle (because it gets in the way of the bolt), the brake hose, and (possibly) the wires. You have to remove BOTH the upper and lower ball joint nuts. Because I'm not really a very good mechanic, but good at following instructions, I plan on doing this by the book, which also involves replacing the mount for the brake hose guide, which is folded up to lock the bolts for the steering knuckle. On safety stuff, I'd rather spend the money and not worry. My ball joints and boots seem OK on this car, but all the suspension stuff seems to have gone to h#$@ in one summer - I have to replace among other things the upper control arm bushings.