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  #1  
Old 08-19-2002, 05:11 PM
Eberhard Weilke's Avatar
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Location: Stuttgart, Germany
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Ball joints at the steering gear...

...I had all the rubber bearings, the kingpin, the brake rotors, the brake pads at my W 123 replaced to get my car going straight again.

Only the ball joints at the steering I thought I can leave them, as I could feel now wear.

Well, just three day after I put the car back on the road and after the car got a perfect wheel alignment I could feel that something is wrong again.

Needless to say, the ball joint on the left side showed about 1/8" play.

What had happened? The ball joint was totally worn out before I started working on the car. When I installed the ball joint hte pin was twisted and blocked itself against the worn out hemisphere. Imagine that it got the shape of an egg which fitted into and egg shaped ball joint. When I twisted this egg against the hemisphere it was a matter of days until it finally got enough play that I could fell it at the steering wheel.

What I want to say is:

When working on the front axle and you are in doubt that the parts are not perfectly right, replace them right away. It is much cheaper and a lot less hazzle.

Kind regards
Eberhard

below see the picture of a good pin and a bad, egg shaped pin. (sorry, somehow the I cannot upload the picture)

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  #2  
Old 08-19-2002, 05:47 PM
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Makes sense.. I'm in the midst of R&Ring many of the same parts on my car. I plan on doing the submounts, engine mounts, control arm bushings, drop links, coil shims and balljoints. Basically and overhaul of the front end. Getting the coil spring sout is the most intimidating to do in comparison to replacing balljoints. What did you use to remove the balljoints?
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Old 08-19-2002, 06:11 PM
Eberhard Weilke's Avatar
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What do I use for tools?

For the ball joints I used this clamp manufactured by Facom. There is also a tool available at Hazet, which I highly recommend.
They look like this:

For the coil springs at the W 123 I used the Klann Spring clamp. It is the ultimate and safest tool.


If someone offers you this tool, run away as fast as you can!


We call it the devils claw

Anyway, here is the picture of the worn out ball joint. I hope you can see what I mean.

Kind regards
Eberhard
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Old 08-19-2002, 06:14 PM
gmask's Avatar
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I got a suimilar looking balljoint tool from jcwhitney.

Do you know if the Klann will work with 114 cars. Curently the technique is to use a jack to lower the comtrol arm let pressure off the spring slowly.
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Old 08-19-2002, 06:23 PM
Eberhard Weilke's Avatar
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I'm not shure about the Klann being available in the US.

btw it is a pretty pricy item. It costs new about $700. You should be able to get a similar tool in the US.

In my opinion the W 114 is much easier to handle, since you can lower the delta-axle easier. At the W 123 the spring is bend like a snake and needs to be compressed to be installed. For that reason, at the W 123 I would work with the Klann and nothing else. Period.

See if you can rent, borrow, steal a professional tool. Everything else is deadly dangerous.

Kind regards
Eberhard
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Old 08-19-2002, 07:11 PM
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Location: Evansville, Indiana
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There are some applications that require either an external spring compressor (the devil's claw) or a press of some sort (McPherson struts). You can't use these on any MB I've seen since you cannot get them around the spring. Good thing, as I have had them slip off before. This is NOT fun, I make sure to never have any body parts (especially head or neck!) over the ends of the spring. Did send the upper strut mount up to the ceiling the the garage, though.

There are several types of internal spring compressors available. They are ALL much safer than the external ones.

Peter

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