W126 Front End Rebuild - 89 420SEL
 

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd share some pictures. I'm in the middle of a front end rebuild on our 420SEL.

I've gutted the front end save for steering parts. I am everything but the upper control arms to my shop for bushing and ball joint replacement.

Feel free to comment and if you see something worry-some or potentially problematic in the pics let me know!

Album!
420SEL Front End Rebuild - Imgur

Pictures are not loading for me Kris.

I have done four front ends on W126s now. Biggest PITA is the installation of the LCA bushing. Next is getting the alignment close enough to drive to a shop.

Best is to just rip it all out and do at once as all of the jobs overlap.

Hmm odd they aren't loading for me either..

Might just be a problem with imgur at the moment..

The only issues with alignment that I think I'll have is the LCA and the guide rod...unless the shop reinstalls the guide rod to the same location..Then it'll just be the LCA.

I took the steering arms off so I would have to dick with the tie rod adjustments.

Here is an pile of parts
http://i.imgur.com/ZTQKP9el.jpg


EDIT: Pics seem to be working now!

Alrighty! Got all my parts back from the shop.. New bushings and joints installed...

Album Updated: 420SEL Front End Rebuild - Imgur

I've got the driver's side partially done. I need to order new bolts and nuts for the bearing support bracket. I was only able to get one bolt/nut pair to thread successfully. I ended up breaking one of the nut clip things. So an order will need to be placed, no big deal.

I also ran into a problem with re-attaching the spindle to the lower control arm at the ball joint.. My ball joints do not have a spot for an allen key to keep the joint from rotating.....

http://i.imgur.com/F3z6yIVl.jpg

Any advice?

If you put some pressure on them they should not spin.

Rob

Yup. Or a couple light taps with a hammer. Rubber being best. Once there is a little bite it will not spin and then pressure from tightening will prevent any more spin.

By the way, for alignments I do the string method. Its amazing what a string wrapped around all four tires can tell you. It does not help with camber though.

I did a similar job August a hear ago, am doing pictoral on it
 

I had the lower ball joints replaced by someone who had the special tool.

Here is an interesting one I ran into: For the guide rod mounts, I used the Lemsförder OEM parts. When I torqued down the bolts going into the slide-in nut (the one that is in a bracket that slides into the body), the bolt would get stuck with a gap by the bushing. I then tried to tap the sliding nut, and in one case succeeded with great difficulty, while in another case I broke the vise holding the nut to the bench. I installed the nut with the bolt that was good, only to realize to my horror that when torquing down I was crushing the metal in the big rubber bushing holding the elbow in place.

So I got genuine real Mercedes parts, the gold colored ones. Tried the whole assembly again, and it worked correctly on the first try.

Be careful about what parts you use, especially with the guide rod mounts!

Got the lower ball joint in..I used a c-clamp to apply pressure. Got it torqued down to 80 Nm per spec.

I also cleaned and painted up some of the suspension bits on that side of the car...

http://i.imgur.com/QiIaLdfl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/irRFvVjl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/meH6HY2l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JBeAZPJl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mF6CK1Dl.jpg

Use a large hose clamp to compress the guide rod bushing during installation into the bracket. Also, note which way it goes in. There is a drain slot which should be located at the bottom of the bracket.

I posted a few pics here many years ago that will explain it better.

Here we go...

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/145762-w126-guide-rod-bushing-replacement.html