I have a couple of questions

1) why do you need to worry about saving the bearings? not only are they cheap, but I would think that a major part of this is to replace the wear parts which are the bearings. But with a bearing puller the bearing comes right off and is not harmed at all.

2) from another post, I actually had considered replacing the whole trailing arm. I have no idea where you can get one for only $42, but that is something to really consider. One from a low mileage car is a real possibility. The only thing is you have to remove the shafts, the shock and springs, etc Pretty big job. In the end, I was putting a lot of time into this and I decided I should put fresh (non 20 year old) bearings and grease in the hub.

Still, I would not hesitate to go the new arm route.


Sorry - forgot to mention - yes the hubs (flanges) are different. The Mercedes book says that they have different oiling patterns. I can't see the difference but probably some lube holes set up for the direction of rotation. They are marked L and R also, so easy to tell apart.