Lately I have been addressing some maintenance issues with my 1987 124.133 300D.

The latest is replacement of rear inner control arm bushings. Initially I thought I would just press them out with some sockets / hydraulic press. But once I removed the lower control arm and inspected the thin outer sleeve of the bushing I realized this might be somewhat of a challenge to press them out without proper removal tools / very tight fitting round stock.

So I used my hand held drill and a couple of drill bits to drill out the rubber and remove the inner thicker sleeve. Once the inner sleeve was removed, I used sharp ground punches to peel away the thin sleeve.

The press worked great to install the new bushings. I did clean up the housing bore in the LCA and applied some grease to help installation. I was very surprised at how tight the bushings fit in the LCA. Normally I don't have to use so much pressure to install replacement bushings or wheel bearings, but these were extremely tight.


I took pictures to document the removal.

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