Replacing Lower Control Arm Bushings On '80 300TD? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

forrest80300td · #1 03-21-2010, 07:26 PM

Hi I own a 1980 300TD Wagon, recently I took the car to get aligned and had major issues:

I took it in they aligned it, seemed fine, next day camber is totally off tires squeal, take it back they fix it, car seems fine, 1000 miles later i notice when doing a brake job that the inner edge of both my front tires is down to the steel wire. go back to the alignment place they try to align again! the tech aligns it again still no dice, he tried one final time and notices both of my lower control arm bushings are completely rotted, my drivers is 75% gone and the passenger side is 50% gone, the tech told me the car used a press fit type bushing and that there shop cant do it, I called Mercedes and they want $2,100 to replace the bushings and align the car.

So can this job be done in like a weekend?
what tools would be needed? spring compressor? pickel fork?
what parts are needed?

Thanks

Forrest

leathermang · #2 03-21-2010, 08:49 PM

That was way too high an estimate..
You can do it with some care depending on what tools you have..
there are threads and pictures in the archives...

Here is the main point... the original alignment and toe in should have found that kind of ball joint wear.. that did not happen in the last thousand miles..

Unless you pretty much put in everything new... about the best a front end alignment shop can do is set the toe in. If you do it correctly though it will probably be good the next two decades...

I was just reading in the FSM the other day... and I think you need to find a copy of that and follow it... they give very specific directions... and without it you can mess up.. not like in the old days of American cars with unequal length A arm suspensions...
Things like needing to have the weight on the wheels before some things are tightened... those things are important on these cars....
( For you old timers who are about to hit the keyboard.. it WAS important for the upper A arm bushings to be unloaded when tightened because that was part of the springing action..but not as important as the warnings on these suspensions gotten wrong).

toomany MBZ · #3 03-22-2010, 12:45 PM

I agree, too high.
You will need special tools, a couple anyway.
The repair part # is 1233301375 (item #14). #1233330343 for item #8.
Depending on your mechanical skills, the time will vary.
You may be able leave the lower ball joint connected, meaning you won't need a special tool for that.

Diesel911 · #4 03-22-2010, 01:13 PM

There is a lot not being said.
This is one of the jobs on the Front end that you need to compress the front Spring. YOu can either compress it and pull it completely of or compress it up into the Spring Pearch and leave it there (doing one wheel at a time).

Compressing the Spring is a problem because it must easily be 3 times stronger than a comparable Gas car spring. The Generic free Rental or cheap ones are simply dangerous to use.
I tried the cheapy one and bent up the threaded rods. I went out and bought thicker threaded rods and twisted those also. I ended up making a tool with 1 inch diameter threaded rod an a thick lower plate that compressed the spring up intot he Spring Pearch. There is a thread in the DIY section where one of th Members made his own really nice one also.
The other options are to rent a spring compressor from our tool Rental program; also in the DIY section or buy one of the copies on Ebay at around $180-$200. But, at least it will work on front and rear.
The next issue is that sometimes the Bolt that goes through the LCA is rusted in. I had a terrible time with mine. Consicerable beating and heating with a Propane Tourch. However, most do not have that much trouble. But, I would plan to have some back up transportation just incase.
Next, I believe you are way better off removing the LCA from the Steering Knuckle; as some members have also had a problem getting the Old Bushings out of the LCA. The tool tool to separate the LCA from the Sterring Knuckle is also a rental item however others have used generic tools for that.
I do not know if we have a single DIY that goes through the complete job but there is one decussing tools in the suspension section.

DIY Repair Links
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/forumdisplay.php?f=82

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/DoItYourSelf

forrest80300td · #5 03-25-2010, 08:00 AM

Thanks for the great infomation, when i have some time off i'll have to look at doing it.

Ara T. · #6 03-25-2010, 08:20 AM

Estimate should be around 1200-1500 depending on what mechanics charge in your area. Still not chump change. I would avoid that alignment shop in the future. They should have noticed right away that their alignment was off... are they using string or something??? They should be using sensors that hook onto your wheels and feed info to their computers.

JHZR2 · #7 03-25-2010, 08:57 AM

Just doing the LCA bushing is costing me around $500/side from an indy... Not sure if this is good or bad, but seems good based upon this thread.

vstech · #8 03-25-2010, 09:31 AM

OP, what spacers are you using on those wheels in your car?
I have a set of them, and they JUST touch the tie rod up front, supposed to have come from an 84 SEC... but they didn't fit.