I packed mine with grease and my fingers. If the old grease looks normal, just add some more. If it is hard, get all the old out and put the new in. One could buy one of the bearing greasers available at any auto store for ten bucks. MBs have an "infinite" adjustment on the bearing play as opposed to the rinky dink cotter pin method on most American cars. Just snug it up until there is no play, though not too tight. Then finish the six pack. Dont see how you could screw it up.
In my lifetime 48 (years) I have never had or known of anyone else having a front wheel bearing failure.

So Brrrrs, how many beers should you drink before you start and during the proceedure?

Ken Fuller
1990 300E
145K miles

Drink one before beginning. Then one during. Then send the wife for more, enough to make you think that 240 is really a 300SD.

The instruments I use to measure the "play" are called hands. They are ridgedly attached to arms and shoulders and electrically connected to a computer sometimes called a brain.
Do you really think that with all the brake jobs and repacking done at Midas, Monroe, Pep Boys, etcetera any mechanic there uses or even knows what a dial indicator is.
P E H

Brothers of The Benz
We aren't packing the front wheel bearings of a 1966 Corvair, by anyone with grease under their fingernails!
The front wheel bearings of a Mercedes are a complex very accurate assembly.
They are assembled using very precise preloading of the bearings and to do otherwise would negate the design.
You who do otherwise do as you please.
It was asked if this would be a DIY job.
YES!
Slap it together as you see fit.
There are those of us who attempted to inform the question asking member how to do it as M/B manuals instruct.
Use your Haynes and Clymer Manuals and follow their instructions or the mechanic with grease under his fingernails.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman in Houston!!!

Spiderman,
Though the front bearing is no doubt a very precisely made assembly, I say it is built in such a manner that if there is sufficient grease present, the bearing could be either slightly loose or tight and still perform without failure for tens of thousands of miles. Is there something I am missing? There are torque settings for spark plugs, which I suspect 99 of 100 mechanics ignore, resulting only in some cussing at a later date when trying to remove them. I will now defer to your greater knowledge. DB

Brother of the Benz, brrrrrs
Yes there is somethng missing and that's knowing the M/Bs function of a wheel bearing assembley.
A little too tight or a little too loss will function for 10,000 miles.
Agreed!
How about 250,000 miles for bearing properly assembled?
A bearing too tight loads the races and wear occurs.
Too loose and the balls skid across the races not rolling as their name implies.
If you have looked at a modern M/B front wheel bearing you would not find a cotter pin that is inserted into the most convient hole.
You would see a clamping collar that has infinent clamping postions.
After the axial movement is measured, using a dial indicator and then the preload adjusted, you test for movement of the collar spacer to bearing race.
Then you tighten the collar retaining screw.
Don't forget to get the bearing grease from M/B parts department.
It is of the proper weight and comes pre-measured for filling the hub and filling the cap.
Not quite like a Ford or Chevy, now is it?
You do yours your way and replace the bearings every 10,000 miles and others will do it the M/B way.
This is in the M/B Chassis Manual Number I.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman in Houston!!!

[Edited by dlswnfrd on 07-03-2001 at 12:39 AM]

Do the newer mercedes have a keyed oversized washer before the spindle nut? On most makes the amount of force it takes to slide the washer was my guide. Can you still drive the races out with a punch and flip them over to drive in the new races?

__________________
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Darryl, Hill
2005 SL55 AMG Kleemanized
1984 500 SEC
1967 W113 California Coupe
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Brothers of The Benz
For me, this has gone far enough.
The joy of owning and servicing your Mercedes Benz doesn't come from a little of this and a little more of that but exactly this and precisely that.
You can remove anything with a punch that fits and a hammer as well.
Enjoy your automobile as I know I do mine.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman in Houston!!!

P.S. I must admit the Bearing Seals have been renewed.

Wow, this thread was fun to read + good technical information.




Have a great day.

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Yes, fun to read, but seriously if you're the dial indicator kind of person use it and be happy...if you're not you can surely do the job just fine without it. I've packed bearings for 25 years on MB's and others never used a dial indicator and never had a problem. The MB tolerance is very tight but, like many things this is optimal and not realistic of real world conditions.

It reminds me of a show on the discovery channel last night about the construction of a new football stadium in Houston. One of the engineering specs for the "trueness" of the crain rail which supports the sliding roof was +/- 1 degree or 1/16". After they installed it it was off by 0.6 degrees or 1/27". They spent three weeks tweeking the roof structure and after 3 weeks it was still off by 0.6 degrees. The engineers finally accepted it and said it was OK. Yes, it is OK to be off by the thickness of a credit card when building a rail to support the roof of a football stadium. Do you really need an engineer to tell you that? Well, yes, because it was the engineer who specified 1 degree in the first place. How did they come up with that? Well, "it's small and a nice round number" is probably how. 5 Degrees is probably too much so they went with 1...can't hurt to try and build it like that but in reality they wasted 3 weeks labor trying to resolve something that was not a problem.

Just like the .0002" tolerance on wheel bearing end play...not a problem and in reality it will be fine to a much wider range, but engineers try for perfection. It's the mechanics that live in the real world that is far from perfect.

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2013 C300 4Matic
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