Ok, for those of you who were following my other thread about the thumping vibration, here is the latest. Today I put the car in the air to take a look at it. No excessive play in the rear end, both rubber flex discs look as good as the day they were put in two years ago, exhaust pipe is not banging against anything and is nice and tight with all hangers in good shape. Motor mounts are good, differential mount and trans mount are good too. Soooo, I take a close look at the drive shaft center bearing, and you guessed it. It looks good until you move it and then you see the rubber is all torn out letting the drive shaft move around and at the extreme, contact the metal frame of the bearing mount.

I'm PISSED, as I just replaced that bearing two years ago when I did the flex discs, so now I have to drop the damn driveshaft and do it again. The bearing I bought was not a URO as I know about their "issues" I think it was a Beck Arnely. Any tips on what brand I should get for a replacement? Not looking forward to the job as I remember it was a PITA the last time. Last question. This was my daily driver and I wonder if I could drive it gently until the parts arrive, otherwise the kid is gonna have to share the other car with the old man. Whadda ya think?

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

Beck Arnely is still trash, take the bearing to a bearing supply shop and get a QUALITY bearing from NSK, SKF, NTN etc.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

Unless the bearing is seized, it probably isn't the issue. Cheap rubber in the mount will have you redoing the job over and over and over again until you shell out for a decent one. OE isn't expensive, Corteco tends to have a good reputation. While you have the driveshaft out, check if the U joint is stiff or notchy. If it is, it can be causing enough movement to be destroying your mount.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Is there a method for cleaning and or greasing the old U-joint?

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

Your best bet is a good driveshaft shop. Unlike American cars, the spider and bearings are not easily serviced since the bearing cups are staked in place rather than held with circlips.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

I pretty much mentioned all in post #11 in your other thread.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/398528-thumping-vibration-rear.html

You will see how sticky your U-joint is when you drop the D Shaft.

The Bearing caps are closed on the outer end and the ends the U-joint shafts go into are supposed to be sealed.

However, where I mentioned about beating with a plastic hammer to free up the U-joint the guy used penetrating oil so for that to work and get in the seals would have to be not so intact any more.

In order to re-lube the U-joint bearings you would have to get some sort of skinny needle through the seals. If you could do that you are going to find that grease dose not want to easily move though a skinny needle.

The other method that could possibly work is rather bazar and I will just mention it as being a good story.
It was claimed that way back in the old days like in the 1940's-50's people would remove their motorcycle drive chain and shove it into the Can large enough to contain it and fill the can with grease and heat the Grease till it boiled. That was supposed to get lube into the tiny clearances on the Cain and once it solidified it would not as easily run out like Oil would.

Never tried it on anything so it is just a story.

However, if you think about it if you shoved the U-joint completely into the grease and boiled the grease (heating it slowly) till it was liquid and left the U-joint in the Grease till it solidified again one would think that when the U-joint cooled of contraction would pull Grease into the Bearing Caps.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Here is a thought that is rather cheap and you could see if it works. Instead of using penetrating oil what about Motorcycle Chain Lube. It is made to penetrate into tight places but just has to have better lubrication qualities then penetrating oil.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I LIKE it!!
i will give it a shot once I get the d-shaft out

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2012 Mercedes ML350 Bluetec 91K (hers)
2005 Corvette 55K (fun car)
2002 VW Jetta TDI 231K (mine)
1998 Volvo S70 T5 Turbo 196K (kids)
1994 Ford F150 4WD 249K (firewood hauler)
1983 Mercedes 300D 376K (diesel commuter)

I have a Uro bearing in mine with about 15k miles on it.

No issues at all. In fact, their w123 one worked well for me years ago. I put on about 40kish miles before I sold the car.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

I was able to get a genuine Mercedes bearing support from ECS Tuning, even though they are supposedly no longer available, but it cost over $100. I feel confident it will last a long time.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

URO Parts Driveshaft Support 123 410 1081 is a relatively new item for us, and we've sold just over 300 in the last year without complaints. This driveshaft support is provided with an "INA" name-brand bearing, which costs more but gives us an edge over our competitors, and positions our support between OEM and the rest of the aftermarket.

(We also use quality NSK or NTN bearings in our engine pulley's and tensioners whenever possible, since the bearing is usually the failure point in rotating mechanisms.)