I can't believe how easy it was! It seems like these cars are designed to be serviced and repaired. The old bushings just fell out in pieces. And now instead of +10 degrees camber and badly wearing tires, the tires look vertical.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

Yes, I recently did this on the SDL as well. The UCA bushings were in satisfactory condition, but the boots on the ball joints were torn and the bushings for the stabilizer bracket were shot.

Now try and do the LCA bushings. You won't be so gleeful after you finish that job.

I have the bushings and new ball joints for the lower control arms, I will put the job off until we get good weather. It's been snowing all day!

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

Rain here all day. Did subframe bushings, differential mount, rear spring spacers on the SDL in the garage. Getting too old for this $hit.

I was. I paid someone else to do it.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I'm tired, sore, and envious.

I did do the UCA bushings myself.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Bet it took a good two hours for both sides.

Actual or book hours?

The actual UCAs were pretty quick fo me.......but since I had the washer reservoir out......might as well clean out all the leaves, swap out the sway bar bushings, clean off the surface rust on the sway bars, repaint the sway bars and battery tray.............

Then I saw the broken bracket when I removed the air cleaner. But that's another thread.

Even simple tasks can add up to eat away clock time.

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Greg Schwall

1983 300SD - 465,000 miles

The UCA's were just part of a long list of things I was doing on the front axles but I think it didn't take 2 hours to just do those.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I don't know if the W123 can be any harder than the W116 for the LCA bushings.....that was an SOB of a job there.............glad I should not have to go through that particular one again with that car.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I basically rebuilt the front end doing the upper and lower control arm bushings, the track rod bushings on the lower firewall, lower ball joints, and upper ball joints.

I learned a few lessons along the way. Autozone and O'reilleys dont have the proper spring compressors to properly fit the smaller spacings b/t the coils. None the less I gave it a try on one side and managed to get one spring out then it sprung and gave me a scare. Next day I called performance products and rented the proper tool.

Had to make a jig to compress the LCA bushing enough to insert the inner sleeve then swedge the ends to fit between the ends of the control arm. That wasnt easy and had to use shade tree engineering to make it work.

Dont drive faster than 10 mph to the front end alignment shop, not goood for the tires.

the old clunk that started this whole mess started to show up again and slowly get worse. Although I tourqued the LCA bushing down, the front end guys adjust it to set the caster or camber. They didnt tighten it down properly. I thought all my work was for not. Took me and another front end man 2 hours by jiggling every component with a jack, a few test drives and some luck till we pin pointed the source of the sound.

Its been 5K since then and everything is still in good shape. I look at the front end and notice the the UCA bushings are dry cracking but they're still solid.

Good luck from shade tree 1.http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/images/icons/icon7.gif