I looked at a 82 300SD today. When I drove it over a short dirt road
it sounded like the whole front end was shakeing around. It was not bad
on the street, but on a bumpy road it not good... I had a quick look at
the tire rods and the ball joints, they look good. Could it be the guide rods.
If so how much of a pain anr they to replace. Thanks. Jay

If the front end has never been rebuilt it may be about time. By the time you go in there and replace the upper/lower ball joints you will want to rebuild the front suspension (replace all the worn parts). Can you get it somewhere where you can put it on a lift and inspect it underneath good? A front suspension rebuild is a pretty straight forward job.

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Jim

I bet its the guide rod mounts.

They have a clunk sound when braking or going over potholes at slow speed. I would check the tie rods with the side to side play on each wheel & the wheel bearing/ ball joint test by checking play at 12 o clock & 6 o clock. I would replace the guide mounts only if those were the only front end parts that were bad. You may be able to get away without a alingment if you count threads before you remove but if it pulls after the repair get it aligned. Now its almost better to replace the tie rods, drag link & shock also if your already coughing up for an alignment. I wouldnt mess with upper or lower ball joints if they are good.

almost sounds like balljoints and maybe guide rod mounts..

kirby: counting threads isnt very accurate when replacing worn parts. if replacing all that you list why wouldnt you replace the ball joints? they will soon wear out too. not only that but they are easy enough to replace

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I understand that, but if you just need guide mounts and count threads. If it dosnt pull afterwards & seems good upfront leave it alone just make sure you monitor tire wear really close. Now if you were to replace the tie rods etc then I would say in all cases get an alignment.

The upper ball joints last the longest I do believe. I guess Im maybe a little gun shy to bring my car to the alignment shop or get someone to press in lower ball joints due to the long distance I am from a dealship (the only place that seems to know how to align these cars.)

You will need some tools to check the front suspension. You use this to remove the steering knuckle from the upper control arm. That joint should move but be firm in the socket.
If these are original they are more than likely bad. I just replaced mine and the improvement is huge. I replaced my shocks and that got rid of a little of the clunk but the UCA's made the biggest difference.

Actually you use that on every ball joint except the lower one when you don't want to do damage with a pickle fork.
If yoo replace the UCA's replace the sway bar bushings too.

If your guide rod bearing looks like this, replace them. You can see the boot is torn. When removed they were vere loose and had a grinding feel when they were moved around.:

I just did both of mine and they are a PITA.

If you can get an accurate measurement with a caliper on the tie rods then you can probably get away without an alignment. Personaly I wouldn't risk ruining my tires. I would just do a rebuild and get it aligned.

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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It was the guide rods...It was not hard to replace eather. It rides nice and
soft now. I was told it was a real pain, but I did both in about 3 hours. Two
of witch were spent cleaning out the rusty from mount bore. Thanks guys.
Jay

81 300SD Black 142,K
81 300SD Dimond Blue 136,K
81 300SD Dimond Blue 247,K
82 300SD White 195,K