124 front suspension knock/creak
 

I have an 88 300E with some sort of front suspension noise, it started rather suddenly a month ago but would only make a tapping/knocking sound occasionally that seems to come from the front drivers side (US) wheel well. It has become more frequent now to the point where after several minutes of driving it will start doing it constantly when weight shifts fore and aft. It has definitely become louder and more pronounced over time but I have never and still do not feel any difference in handling, the car still tracks straight and remains composed through corners (even on uneven pavement). I have also been unable to duplicate the noise by bouncing the front corner by hand or by tugging on the rotor with the wheel off. Any idea if this is just a bushing that can wait a bit or is my wheel going to fall off next week (:o) Thanks --- John

My guess is a broken sway bar mount.

Check both ends and the large mounts forward of the wheel under the radiator (more or less) that mount it to the body.

Disconnect at both ends, and take it for a drive. If it stops, replace rubber.

Check play with the wheel/tire installed. Lots more leverage.

Jim

Owners bible also mentions sway bar mounts, I'll check it out this weekend if possible. If there are no cracks how hard is it to retap the holes?

It also mentions re tightening the upper strut mounts, what exactly am I supposed to spray on there before doing this?

When this noise was present on my w123, it would creak anytime weight was shifted to and from my front end. Ended up being a ball joint.

front end noise
 

I agree- check the ball joints asap (or have them checked by someone competent). They do wear out, they do not last forever, and a failure at speed is trouble.

I do have the same noise on my E320 Wagon. I was going crazy trying to locate it. It got a lot worst after hitting a pothole. I don't agree with the idea of a ball joint failure because there is no play on the wheel. I just check it few days ago.

I always thought that a ball joint this bad would affect handling. Also I believe they were replaced before I bought the car as the gentleman had a lot of receipts for suspension work done and it really shows, the car handles a lot better than any other 124s I have ever driven. However considering what will happen if it fails at speed I will take a look at that and the sway bar mounts tomorrow if I have a chance. Thanks to everyone that has responded :)

bring it up today and lets try to find it. you can help me pull the engine out of the '89 wreck today too ;)

wish I could have, just moved this weekend so I'm still organizing the new house :) nest weekend I can start helping you clean out your Grav... err garage.

Tis sounds like an issue I had recently. Turned out to be the tie rod end.

The car would have a noticeable clunk when turning at slow speed. Also, a stretch of washboard road would induce a shimmy/wobble oscillation in the steering.

Most of the time the car drove well.

The repair was not overly expensive (about $350 at my local Tire Kingdom), but getting the right part can be tricky.

This is a dangerous issue to be left unresolved. If a tie rod end fails, you will not be able to steer.

Just had a similar noise/problem with W124. Started making a metallic knock on bumps. Started quickly, was not like a slow problem developed. car still handled well.

Sounded like the left front so took a look under and the front inner sway bar mount was gone. Not the metal bracket (that was still there) but the rubber bushing was gone.

On closer examination the bushing had split in two. Most of it was on the bar between the inner and outer mount, the other piece was on the bar on the inboard side of the inner sway bracket.

Easy to replace. The outer is held on with two 13mm nuts - the studs are permanently mounted. The inner is two 13mm nut/bolts. They are self locking nuts so a bit of a pain to undo but no big deal.

Hints - have some channel locks handy to compress the clamp when you are putting the new bushings back on, You can get one end on easy enough but I couldn't compress it by and and used the channel loks on the end of the clamp to bring it close enough together to get the nut on (You'll understand if you do it). On the outer bushing put the lower nut on first - there are two edges you can grab on the upper to do the compressing (nothing on the lower)

Good luck

turns out it was the ball joint, looks like I've been playing Russian roulette with 2 rounds in the chamber!!! Hopefully will be getting it replaced this weekend along with the fairly bad passenger side ball joint. Anything that would have caused this to happen rather suddenly or was the inspection station that did my car not all that long ago just sleeping on the job?

This cannot be overemphasized!!
I'm in the middle of doing one right now.
It actually separated...in a parking lot, instead of 10 miles previous on the highway with my son in the car.