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Old 07-14-2010, 04:16 AM
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Stretch Stretch is offline
...like a shield of steel
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Somewhere in the Netherlands
Posts: 14,461
Virtually every one here on this forum says not to weld these parts. I think for the cost of a good second hand one it is not worth the risk... it is a pretty critical part of the car.

The main problem with these parts is that they are hollow - the only way to spray them inside with anti rust stuff is to undo the lug that supports the parking brake (at the bottom) where one of these holes is drilled through into the cavity. The rust you can see on the outside is quite likely to be just as bad on the inside anyway...

Furthermore even if you could get it welded the chances of making it true are slim - you'd need an accurate jig to make sure that the rear suspension alignment was correctly set. Take a look at the FSM for accident damaged sub frame and trailing arms... Mercedes say you need to have the whole sub frame and trailing arms set up on a special surface plate - I bet you couldn't find a dealer who has that kind of kit!
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!
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