Done for Now. Tomorrow: Front SHocks - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tobybul · #1 04-18-2009, 07:17 PM

How's this for a 5-day job?? All in all it probably took 6 hours combined as I was just leisurely doing it. In addition to the axles, I also replaced the rear shocks and the rear brake pads. I ended up using the GSP axles I got a while back. I'll be fixing the axles that came out of the car later (at my leisure).

Tomorrow, I'll put the front shocks. I replaced the Carquest KYB's with Bilstein Comforts

Notice anything with the differential cover bolts (besides the paint job

)?

Pic 1

Pic2

Pic 3

Pic 4

Pic 5

Pic 6

snookwhaler · #2 04-18-2009, 07:43 PM

Good job! Looks good.

That looks a lot like my car underneath. I recently did all that crap too.

I thought about polishing the diff. cover, but I was over it.

Do you have any clunking?

#3 04-18-2009, 08:19 PM

I know your pain man, I HATE suspension work, hours of getting up, down, up, down.... to get tools, parts, and what not. This is why that when I get an old car, the first order of business is a full work over of the suspension, because I want to get it out of the way, I just hate it. Then I can move on to fun stuff, that can be fixed while standing. LOL Hang in there man, its all worth it.

tobybul · #4 04-18-2009, 08:32 PM

No sweat, Fellas. I love doing this work - so far anyway. No chore at all.

Yeah, I pressure washed the cover inside and out, dried and painted it with a metallic texture. Used (high temp) rtv for the sealant (only one I had).

Don't know what you mean by clunking but I have not driven it yet. I'll put the front shocks first and take it out for a spin.

snookwhaler · #5 04-18-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobybul

Don't know what you mean by clunking .

Must be nice....

I like the internal wrenching bolts. Where did you pick those up?

How do you have the rear of the car supported in those pics? I don't see any jackstands.

tobybul · #6 04-18-2009, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snookwhaler

Must be nice....

I like the internal wrenching bolts. Where did you pick those up?

How do you have the rear of the car supported in those pics? I don't see any jackstands.

I'm with the Jedi Club and I levitated the car

But enough with the jokes. Used 6 ton Jack stands placed near jack points. If you look closely on the 4th pic towards the right you will see one of them (its red).

Yeah, those are high grade allen bolts from a local hardware store. The hex bolts were still fine but I like these better.

I also replaced the 4 differential mount bolts that bolt to the chassis.

stcbenz83 · #7 04-19-2009, 09:29 AM

How difficult would you say the rear shock were to do? Thats one of my top things now to do on my 240D... Just been waiting/putting it off

Any tips? pointers?? Looks nice man, really solid car underneath. CLEAAANNNN

#8 04-19-2009, 09:38 AM

The rear shocks need rear seat removed to access upper shock mounts. The rear of the car has to be jacked up pretty good to give room for the shock to come out the bottom. Be careful on the lower shock bolts, they tend to get jammed up upon removal, and break off, leaving the shank of the bolt in the hole. I dont know if its common or not, but this did infact, happen to me. I had to drill out the old bolt. So just be carerful I guess.

tobybul · #9 04-19-2009, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stcbenz83

How difficult would you say the rear shock were to do? Thats one of my top things now to do on my 240D... Just been waiting/putting it off

Any tips? pointers?? Looks nice man, really solid car underneath. CLEAAANNNN

As 83240D said, its pretty easy. The most time conusming part is the exercise of removing the rear seat because that is how you access the top bolt. Just took the pics below since I have not put back the seats yet.

Yes, the bottom 17 mm bolts tend to get rusty and fuses to the plate. Mine had already been replaced once by the PO so I had no problems. When I did my 85D way back, I broke a bolt. I brought it to my Indy who either melted off the broken bolt or drilled it and completed the work for me.

My advise is to generously spray the top part of the bottom bolts with liquid wrench or similar lube several days before you plan to do the work. This may help prevent this from happening. New shocks come with their own bolts. However, KYB bolts maybe SAE and may not match. So be ready to have the correct ones. Bilsteins come with the the correct bolts.

When I was done with the work, I sprayed the threads with undercoating spray to help keep it from rusting.

tobybul · #10 04-19-2009, 10:46 PM

After putting in the new front shocks, I test drove the car and everything was fine. Took me about 2 hours, a little longer than I wanted to cuz I couldn't find my 10mm 12 pt socket (I gotta get me 2 of those tomorrow). I had to use my closed-end box wrench to do the botton 10mm bolts of the front shocks.

AZ does not carry the 12 pt 10mm anymore. They just have the hex (6 pt). They were the only ones open when I started the job this evening.

ClearDark · #11 04-19-2009, 11:14 PM

I have to tackle the drive/cv shafts on mine at some point. How much of a PITA would you say it was to replace them?

pawoSD · #12 04-19-2009, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClearDark

I have to tackle the drive/cv shafts on mine at some point. How much of a PITA would you say it was to replace them?

Its not as hard as it sounds....I pulled the whole rear diff and axles out of a 500SEL at the junk yard a couple days ago, took less than 2.5 hours and I was taking my time. Add a few more hours for putting everything back in....not bad at all. Plus its a good time to go through the whole drive line....flex discs....bearing.....carrier.....seals....so everything is ready for another 150k. I'll be doing this soon to my dad's '83 SD....its getting a 2.47 diff swap + new axles, flex discs, center carrier and bearing, and diff seals. Should be fun!

tobybul · #13 04-20-2009, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClearDark

I have to tackle the drive/cv shafts on mine at some point. How much of a PITA would you say it was to replace them?

As pawsd said, its very doable. There are plenty of How-To's in this forum that are very helpful to read b4 you start.

Just make sure you support the car properly and practice safety whenever you jack up the car and work underneath. I ended up getting me 6-ton jack stands instead of using the 3 ton ones I have just for added measure. Never take any chances on properly supporting the car.

Read the first part of this thread abput how I pulled out the C clip. Putting it back is a bit more tricky.

tobybul · #14 04-20-2009, 08:54 PM

Well, it looks like I spoke too soon on the GSP axles. When I drove around today, I could hear a low clunking sound from the rear. I don't think these axles are any good and I will have to remove them. Good thing they are lifetime warranty. I think I'll just get a refund. I don't want to try anothe GSP.

Maybe the Cardone's?

Looks like I'll be proceeding with the Flexx boot job on the original axles.

Such a shame. The GSP axles appeared to be very well made with heavy duty boots. They must not have good gears or something.

Well. at least it gives me something to do on week nights this week which will probably trickle over to the weekend.