'72 w108 suspension question - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Tomguy · #16 04-07-2011, 02:32 PM

Time to chime in with my two cents:

TRUST THE ADVICE HERE! Remove the lower control arm assembly in its entirety. My 108 had BOTH LCA's snap in its lifetime due to failure of these pivots. These are getting harder to source as more 111s and 108s bite the dust, and more costly. The time and money spent now refurbishing this will prevent a failure of the LCA. This can happen at slow or high speed and, when it does, your wheel will begin rubbing the fenderwell, you won't be able to drive; you could even lose control of the vehicle at highway speeds.

jgranzier · #17 04-08-2011, 08:14 AM

Well FINALLY , after three tries , and a new part ( $14.00) I was able to eliminate my oil leak !! It was a issue , not only for the mess out front , driveway stains , but the odor was obnoxious -oil dripped onto the exhaust pipe and filtered up into the cabin. not acceptable

So after 3 tries and a homemade gasket I was able to get the remote cover plate on the v-8 block and reroute hoses upto fender wall .

Thanks again for all your valuable insight , I 'll be sure to keep my eye on those parts underneath .

jgranzier · #18 06-18-2011, 02:45 PM

Gentlemen, more concerns today when changing out the rims on my 72 - w108
I recently got the car back from a long time mechanic ( grade school friend )
he did some great work on this chevy small block.

However - he missed the lubrication fittings on the front end - after I printed
out a diagram ...... I totally missed the 2 on the top of the control arm,and a
3rd on the I'm showing in this picture ( thanks twinockchef).

This component cause`s me some concern for 2 reasons .
1. the zirk fittings have failed and I could not for the life of me get grease to flow- changed fitting on one side and got grease in there.
Drivers side - no such luck - changed fitting , raised and lowered car - no go
I COULD NOT GET THE GREASE TO FLOW !

2.The nut on both drivers side and passenger side was way way loose . 17mm nut - turned it at least 2-3 times to get tight
What gives with these INDE mechanics I'm using ?

MY QUESTION - THAT BOLT HOLDING KINGPIN NEEDS TO BE TIGHT CORRECT ?
ANY REF HERE AS TO WHAT TORQUE SPEC?
Thanks guys

I know some people love the hubcaps and want everything model correct , but thats not this car - chevy small block - changed all that.
I wanted to see feel the difference in the 15 " tires .
Also wanted to help offset 4.08 differential with taller tire.

RESULTS - What a difference a softer tire makes - substantial difference
I'm completely surprised with the difference in ride

I took off goodyear 205 7014 viva 2
harsh harsh ride

installed cooper lifeliner 205 65r15 touring sle
WOW - it must be a soft tire (?) quiet and smooth
very nice

mercmad6.3 · #19 06-19-2011, 04:28 AM

If you cannot get grease into the top joint, there are two things that will fix it. First,remove the grease nipple(zerk ) and poke a piece of wire in there and wriggle the end around a bit ,then try it again. If that doesn't work,the only option left is to strip that bolt out and remove the threaded tube and clean the dirt and hardened grease out of it . Actually the same goes for all of the joints .
These cars drive so much nicer when they are greased regularly.
I am interested in your Cooper tires ( I have a cooper dealer next door

) I want to fit a set of 15" Borbet Type A's to my W109 and am undecided on the type of tyre . At present i am on Bridgestone steelcats. Mostly used on Police cars ,they are a great tyre but really noisy on the open road.

Tomguy · #20 06-19-2011, 07:30 AM

If you cannot get grease into the eccentric bolt that holds the kingpin's top into the upper control arm, you need a new one. I can tell by looking at it in your first pic that it's shot. The bolt itself is supposed to control the camber of the wheel by adjusting the kingpin's angle and, clearly, yours is not. This also means if you paid for a wheel alignment recently you got hosed, because this is a key component to alignment (camber)!
http://catalog.peachparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=&yearid=1972@@1972&makeid=63@@MERCEDES+BENZ@@X&modelid=16108%3AEB|1596%3AED|10000064%3AMBC|10000010@@280SEL&catid=241464@@Suspension&subcatid=241505@@Control+Arm+Bushing+Kit&applicationid=W0133-1624231@@Control%20Arm%20Bushing%20Kit%20-%20Upper%20Outer&mode=PA

jgranzier · #21 06-19-2011, 07:52 AM

Thanks Tom
I'm learning ,with the help from folks like yourself .

They attempted to get it right -and with some improvement . The wheels were sitting at a awful angle at first and they did do some adjusting, but forgot (?)
to tighten back up on back side ?

If I disassemble this I'm assuming I'll need a alignment - correct?

Any other precautions ? any of these components under spring tension ?

Thanks again

Tomguy · #22 06-19-2011, 10:22 AM

The bolt is under tension from your front coil spring, yes. And you should most surely get an alignment after it's replaced, since it is what controls camber on the wheel. Mine was so bad that I had to replace the kingpin as well because the threaded tube was literally frozen inside the kingpin and I tried my best with a torch, Dremel etc to get it out - to no avail.