Well fellas,

maybe 2000 miles into some new tires, I have a 1" bald band on the outboard edge of the front left tire. I could feel some play there for a while, just had not got around to inspect and repair. At highway speed, a surge in acceleration follwed by pulling my foot off the pedal would produce a slight yawing of the car (to the right on acceleration, the left on deceleration).

Is this problem common to a specific joint, or could it be symptomatic of any or all (joints, bushings, rod ends)?

A front end job is definitely in order. Has anyone replaced the lower ball joints without using the MB tool? I'd rather know before I start tearing things down, as I need to plan down time for this vehicle. And so I can find the tool!

Thanks in advance.

Peter
1985 300TD

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Peter
1985 300TD 4-speed 212K
1992 400E 343K
2001 E320 72K

This is certainly not a common problem. The front ends of these cars are durable and long lived, but things can happen.

You need to get the car up safely with the front wheels suspended and start shaking the front wheels. Believe me, something as bad as you describe will be totally obvious to the casual observer at that point. I would not recommend driving this car very far before you do that, there is something severe doing this.

Best of luck,

You can rent the tool from Performance Products and you DO need it to press the new ball joints in. Replace the lower ball joint and the upper control arm (ball joint is built into the upper). I would recommend taking the spindles and new ball joints to your local independent and pay him/her the $100 to remove the old ones and press in the new ones. You can purchase the parts here. I would also recommend getting new tie rod ends and replacing them while you are in there. Don't know how safe it was but I used the tie rod end separator to break loose the ball joints. It worked.

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Jim