I've paid a garage to remove a lower ball joint 2 years ago. This was the right front on my 83 300D which was squeaking. 2 guys wearing goggles, with the knuckle in a big vise, one guy held a brass hammer against the ball joint, the other swung a sledge hammer (in a chopping wood swing) on the brass hammer. It took a few blows and the ball joint popped out.

Since my left front has been squeaking for some time and it was wearing the tires unevenly I decided to replace the ball joint since I just put new tires on.

I always wanted to try this method which I had in my head for quite some time.


Since I do not have a big vise nor did I have a helper, I dug a hole in the ground with a pipe about 6 inches deep, placed a 3" square plate of steel 1/8" thick in the hole for support, wrapped the knuckle in old jeans cloth and buried it in the hole and tamped the earth around it to hold it upright and solidly supported by the earth. All tools used are in the pic.




I moved the socket out of the way to show progress. This is after about 4 strikes with the hammer, the ball joint moved a little bit.




After about 15 strikes with the hammer, the ball joint is out! This was really easy. It took less than 10 minutes from start to finish. Now I have to borrow the Autozone ball joint press to install the new Lemforder ball joint.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

How are you getting the new one in?

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1987 300SDL #1, 1987 300SDL #2, 1980 240D, 1982 300SD, 1994 S350, 1990 350SDL, 1991 350SD, 1985 300D, 2005 E320CDI

Gone, but not forgotten: 1981 300SD, 1982 300SD, 1987 300SDL, 1983 300TD, 1980 300CD, 1981 300SD #2, 1987 300D, 1987 300TDT, 1980 300D

What you got against rednecks?

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

BFH or press?

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Nothing! Proud to be one.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

Thought so. Just chekin.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

You red neck too bro?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I am gonna borrow the Autozone ball joint press tool and evaluate if I can make it work. If after inspection and I determine that it will not do a good job, I will try to come up with some red neck self made tools.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I also did it with the C-press what I found is I should have taken the time to put a flat Washer between the Joint and the Press because the Press does not want to stay positioned on the joint as easily.

The OD of the Washer that fits will have too small of an ID that will need to be enlarged.

When I removed my Old Ball Joints I could see marks were someone else had previously used a C-press to install them. You can see from the marks how the press did not want to stay in place due to the rounded edges.
If you put a Flat Washer over that area the Press has a flat surface to press on.

The Old Ball Joints appear to be Lemfoerders.

Attached Thumbnails

       

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Is there such a thing as an Urban Redneck?

I have a lot of different patterns of Camouflage Clothing, a bunch of Knives and Guns and my 2nd Vehicle is was a Pick-up Truck that I still have (43 years now); all got more used when I was younger.
I also don't throw away anything I can fix even if it looks poorly or needs to be fooled with to get it to work.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I used the Autozone C clamp without issue on my 300SD. Free is good when it comes to special tools. I don't recall having made any marks doing it.

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http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...aman/Fleet.jpg

Peach Parts W124.128 User Group.

80 280SL
85 300SD
87 300TD
92 300D 2.5 Turbo
92 300TE 4Matic

ill usually prop it up and smack it with a socket and 5 pound sledgehammer. A framing hammer usually bounces off. BUT man, I wouldn't take my car to that shop again. I did one of these in the shop I worked at and 1 man with an air hammer can zip it out in ten seconds. Seriosuly, what shop doesnt have an air hammer.

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

They do come out easy with a hammer don't they. You'd have got a bonus point if you'd kept the nut on the end , saving the thread from any possiblity of damage...

That's pretty resourceful!

FYI the New England version of a red neck is a Swamp Yankee.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Nice one funola - come and try that here...

...it is all sand. You'd probably reach layback40 from here before getting a ball joint out.

May be I'll modify your approach and set it in concrete first...

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!