1982 300D Turbo Ball Joint

[dieselbeagel]

I am in the process rebuilding my front end.

Went ahead and bought new UCLs and bushings for torsion bar, all 3 steering arms, ball joints.

Do not have acccess to a spring compressor and so I did not change the lower arm bushings or rebuilt the guide mount.

I have already replaced the steering arms and left the ends off the steering knuckles.

I have started with the driver side. Have replaced the UCL and bushings for the torsion bar and am in the process of replacing the lower ball joint.

The darn ball joint does not budge !. I bought one of those ball joint tools where loosen the nut on the ball joint, place the tool into position and tighten the bolt on the tool.

Worked great on the steering arms, but the ball joint does not budge.

Any suggestions ? Should I revert back to a fork ???

Thanks, in advance , for ur input.

[dieselbeagel]

I have loosened the ball joint nut but cannot get it off the lower control arm ???

[Cateaux]

Are you trying to get the ball joint out of the lower control arm, or trying to get the steering knuckle and the lower ball joint apart? The latter is a bit easier. With the tool in place and tightened as much as possible, smack the steering knuckle with a hammer in the spot where the ball joint inserts. You could also try heating this area up. Penetrating oil might help, but may not be able to seep into such a tiny space.

[dannym]

is this the tool you can't get to work?


wish I had this baby when I did mine.

Danny

[dieselbeagel]

Can't seem to paste a pic of it.

It looks like a salad fork. Same concept as above, grip on the Lower steering arm and pust on the bolt of the ball joint.

Looks like I would have to heat the lower control arm just to push out the steering knuckle.

[dannym]

This must be the one your talkin about:



Sometimes they take a lot of pressure. More than you would think to be safe. Wear eye protection!
They take a lot of force and when they pop they POP!

Also, hitting the side of the arm will help. Don't hit the arm though, place a block of wood over it and hit that.

Also, make sure you screw the nut up to the top and press on that. You don't want to crush the top of the bolt. You'll need to get the allen key in there to torque it back down.

Danny

[dieselbeagel]

Yes that is the tool I am talking about.

I finally managed to get both ball joints off. I found that the size of the opening for the tool was smaller than the shaft of the ball joint. This is a generic tool not specific for MB.

I only discovered that after I struggled to get the first ball joint off. I filed the opening about 1 mm on each side. The second ball joint came off in 20 minutes.

I hammered out the old ball joint. I found that the C clamp press that I had would not have done an adequate job seating the new ball joint. I paid a local shop $30 to press in the new ball joints.

Looking at the tool the MB shop used, the MB specific press is important for this job. I would say it was the best $30 I spent on this project!

I have an appointment with the MB dealership on Tuesday for an alignment.

Thanks for all ur help.