PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

rwthomas1 · #12 03-15-2003, 02:48 PM

1. Jack up car on subframe just behind front wheel, support with jackstand.
2. Remove wheel
3. Remove caliper, two bolts, place on milk crate or hang by coat hanger to support it.
4. Use "import car pitman arm puller" to separate outer tie-rod from spindle.
5. Place jack under lower control arm and jack up to preload the front spring. Jack up only enough to take the suspension out of the "full drop" position. Support lower control arm with jackstand at this point.
6. Take off retaining nut on top ball joint and separate it with the "pitman arm puller" used above.
7. The spindle/rotor assembly will now tilt out enough for you to remove the lower ball joint retaining nut and separate the ball joint from the spindle using the "pitman arm puller"
8. The spindle/rotor assembly will now be completely removeable, place it carefully in a safe place.
9. Clean out old balljoint and remove remnants of the old boot including the boot retaining springs.
10. Pack the area around the ball joint with a high-quality suspension grease, not white lithium and the like, they are too light. Mobil1 works well. Work balljoint stud around to get grease down into the pocket and get debris out.
11. Pack some grease in the new replacement balljoint boot and install. Wipe off excess grease.
12. Reassemble the reverse of disassembly.

Doing this will allow the joint to last quite a bit longer than it will if you leave it exposed. This is a easy job to do and should take about 45 minutes a side if you don't have any problems. I am not responsible for injury following these instructions. I trust you will be prudent in the use of jacks, stands and use good judgement when messing with things like coilsprings. I highly recommend the above repair. It will allow you to get by for months even years before the balljoints actually need to be replaced. Hope this helps. RT
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