As long as you are under there doing the front end rebuild, I would suggest that you also replace the steering parts beyond the gear box. It is not that expensive (parts are like $120, drag link, steering damper, tie rods [2]) and will give you nice tight steereing and all new rubber. Just a suggestion since your car is 17 years old. It made a world of difference on my '86

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1996 SL320 97K miles
1996 C220 130k miles
1992 500SEL 170k miles <---sold
1986 300E 216k miles <---sold