w115 Axle Removal-help!

[luketmarx]

1976 w115 240D, yellow.


I had a rear left wheel bearing lock up on me, see my other thread:


W115 strange, loud, intermittent sound


I've removed the wheel, caliper, and center bolt on outside of axle. Using a brass drift and hammer, was able to ALMOST get the axle out, just so the very edge was catching on the hub. Believe me, I tried.


So I thought the next step was removing the differential. I figure if I got that thing down I could move things around enough to get the last couple mm to get the axle free of the hub so I could proceed to work on the wheel bearing.


I got the exhaust out of the way. That sucked.


Then got the driveshaft disconnected and loose enough to allow clearance to drop the diff. I removed all eight bolts securing the diff, it's definitely loose but refuses to drop all the way out. Just for fun I removed the right rear wheel at this point and center axle bolt, and tapped that out. Also wouldn't come out, can't seem to budge that differential out.


I'm extremely frustrated, just trying to gain access to the hub for that wheel bearing replacement, which I'm sure will have it's own joys.


Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Mike D]

Seeking advice on half-shaft replacement on 240D-W115-1976-Auto

[Stretch]

It is often about the angle of the dangle

(Meaning raising the car / lowering the wheel makes the distance between the axle ends as large as possible allowing you to compress the axle and get it out of the wheel carrier side)

[Idle]

Originally Posted by Stretch

It is often about the angle of the dangle

(Meaning raising the car / lowering the wheel makes the distance between the axle ends as large as possible allowing you to compress the axle and get it out of the wheel carrier side)

I was wondering what could be wrong with I was reading this. I have ever had a problem removing the rear end assembly and I have pulled them out of 115, 114, 116 and 123's.

But Stretch is right... I always had the car way up in the air and then I had to sort of wiggle the diff and both axles assembly out in one unit.

As I recall I had to have the rear tire about a foot off the ground for this to work. Yeah, that's getting the rear end way up there, but it does give you a lot of room to work and wiggle.

And even then it is close. But it will come out.

[luketmarx]

Mike, thanks for the link on the other thread. I just removed shafts on my ‘84 300SD, no problem. I’m going to try loosening the shocks on this 240...yaay for me! This thing just changed from my daily to my project.

[280EZRider]

In many cases with the w114/115 cars the rear shocks need to be loosened from the top (behind the back seat). This will allow the trailing arms to lower to their fullest extent. At this point you have the greatest angle, as Stretch mentions. The last thing you want to do is lower the differential - this just reduces the angle needed to remove the axle.

[luketmarx]

Success! Thanks for the advice and tips. I ended up loosening differential in its entirety, removing the top bolt of the left rear shock, and removing the bolt holding the left side of the rear sway bar. Then I jacked up the differential and it finally barely came loose. Now I get to drain the diff, pull out the cir-clip to remove the axle for clearance and inspection, and do my wheel bearing job. I think I'll do the other side too!

[rwd4evr]

Just undoing the shock should have done it wiyh the car fully lifted. I'm curious, what eight bolts are you talking about holding the diff in? A c107 is identical in the rear I thought and it's 4 bolts. Same with w126 w123. I just bought my 1st w115 today but I've never had one apart.

[Stretch]

Four bolts holding the main case onto the rear subframe and four bolts holding the rear mount to the underside of the body frame?

(Ignoring the alternative 2 bolts holding the back of the differential case onto the mount of course - so there's actually ten bolts involved!)

[luketmarx]

Stretch-exactly. I never removed the two large bolts on the back side mounting the diff to the rear mount, but the mount and diff come off together pretty easily..so yes, four bolts diff, four bolts mount, and it all comes apart.