Hey everyone,

My new 240D failed inspection today for, among other things, a bad drag link. The steering is definitely a bit loose, so I was thinking of, in addition to replacing the drag link, also replacing the tie rods and idler arm bushings. I have two questions:

1) Do you guys think that it makes sense to replace all these parts? I'm partly doing it on principle, since they are all old parts.

2) Should I buy new tie rods or new tie rod ends? The price difference is about $33... I don't feel like spending $33 if I don't have to.

3) Is there anything else you would do?

Cheers!

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Tie rod ends are just fine so long as the rod itself is not bent.

the tie rods often get so siezed on the ends that it is futile to try to remove them. I recommend buying the entire rod with ends attached. I have a couple good used steering boxes I'd sell reasonably.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Steering shock may tighten things up.

Buy mb or lemforder

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

The steering shock just keeps the driver's wheel from vibrating excessively while you are moving down the road. In general, it will not tighten anything.

I recommend buying the whole tie rod as well with OEM or proper German parts. Consider you will need an alignment after the work is done as well.

The power steering gearbox is a real gambit. The vast majority of boxes on the market (used and rebuilt) are well worn out. AFIK, you can buy new from MB but they are shockingly expensive as well as many of the internal parts. There seems to be some difference of opinion on why so many of them are worn out which you can find here with the search button. I would only buy a used gearbox unless it came from a verified low mileage car or yours is leaking and you don't want to or can't rebuild it.

Generally when someone says this, various members will come out of the woodwork to mention that the OEM gearbox did not come with tight steering and had a large variance in "spec" usability, but my experience with having a few low mileage W123s is that there is a big difference.

Dkr.

If it were mine... I would replace anything that is worn and not replace that which is not worn. If any parts are replaced, use quality replacement parts.

If the tie rods are being replaced, the suggestion to replace the entire rod is excellent advice. If the tie rods ends are OK and are replaced just for the sake of having new, remember it will need an alignment.

Also agree with the suggestion that the steering shock may tighten things up. If replacing the center/drag link I would change the shock/damper, it makes a difference.

Consider asking the shop if they checked all of the steering linkage and suspension parts and saw anything marginal.

Replace what is worn and use good stuff!!! Good luck!!!

the steering box has a tightness adjustment on top which you may also want to touch, not that it will help you pass inspection.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

^Agreed, turn the allen screw countercheck wise to "tighten" the steering. If you go too far in, you won't get lock to lock steering ability.

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83 SD

84 CD

The gearboxes I have have been sitting in my garage for at least 10 years and come from cars which had many less miles than most cars that are still on the road. Adjusted properly they often work with well over 300K miles on them....and I mean they will adjust to proper tolerances.

Being recirculating ball designs they will never feel as crisp as a rack and pinion, but they still work fine. Ferraris back in the day had the same design and they felt fine too.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I was told by a former parts counter guy at the dealer that C&M Hydraulics does the rebuilds that Mercedes sells in the US. This is when I bought a rebuilt box he had for $100 that was one he bought from the dealer when he worked there.

Thanks everyone for your input! I crawled underneath the car this morning, and while one of the boots on the drag link is blown, the tie rod boots are nice and supple, don't budge no matter how hard I shake them, and show no signs of damage otherwise. The idler arm parts also look very good. I think I will just do the drag link for now and replace other parts as needed...

@Tom: Thanks for the offer! The car only has 233k on a working odo, so I'm going to take a look at the steering box and see if I can adjust the play out of it. I'll let you know if I need another.

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

You probably won't.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The FSM has a specific procedure for adjusting the box.

I have an 84 & 85SD. Both have upwards of 250,000 miles. The 85 I had piecemeal replaced parts and it never quite drove like a luxury Mercedes should. I got a wild hair and replaced everything that hadn't been replaced on the front end. The difference was remarkable. I've since disassembled the 84 and have all new parts waiting to be reinstalled.

The weather forecast is calling for 60* days tomorrow. I'll wrench if I,m not bike riding.

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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.

If this car is a "keeper", then I would replace the parts with new German made stuff. If your steering box has any issues after adjustment, you are inviting problems by buying someone else's old stuff UNLESS you can buy one which truly has a documented 100K on the clock or less. Your absolute best bet is to get Martureo to rebuild your box. He's well under $200 bucks. You can ship your box for under $20 USPS flat rate by removing he Pittman Arm with shipping back to you the same.

Again, time and aggravation is something to consider. If you have limited time and/or money, spending it twice down the road is not going to be helping you now or in the future. MB German new parts are surprising cheap compared to other parts for newer models. Time to replace is generally not horrible, and there are a zillion posts plus the FSM is all over the net. I have learned over the past few years that it makes almost no sense to replace this "one" part when all the others are probably just as old and on the verge ... versus replacing everything I can in a system.

Just my .02 cents.

....and if you use this approach and get in an accident the insurance company might want to give you $3,000 for the car you have invested $7,000 in.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.