Hi all. I am new to the board. I have a 1983 240D 4 sp manual, which I bought last summer. It has been my daily driver, and has been getting about 28-30 mpg combined city and highway. My concern is this - the rear end seems to be very wiggly - like the rear is almost skittering separate from the front when I hit rough pavement or potholes. Is this just shocks? What are the other components that are most likely in need of attention? I have about 6000 miles on the tires (prev. owner had just replaced all 4) and there is no indication of uneven wear of any kind. There is no pulling if I remove my hands from the steering wheel (for short! periods of time!!! ). There is no evidence of significant rust on the body or frame. Where should I be looking, and what should I be looking for? Thanks in advance for your help.

check the suspensions and subframe bushings......I'll bet they are shot.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Are the subframe bushings another term for the rear trailing arm bushings?

I am looking in my Haynes manual at the suspension components... are the "subframe bushings" the same as the "Rear suspension front mount bushings" outlined in section 10.9 of the '76-'85 Diesel 123 Series manual? If not, is there another manual reference that clearly points out the "subframe bushings"? Thanks in advance for your help.

Check the sway bar links, one on each side. If these are bad, you get excessive body roll and goofy handling.

jack the rear tires up off the ground with the parking brake set, then apply some torque to a lug bolt. If the wheel moves back and forth, you have bad control arm bushings.

This will also give you serious torque steer -- pulls one way on accelerations, the other on braking. Will also "swoop" badly in corners, as if the whole rear end wasn't attached to the car tightly (as it isn't when the bushings are bad!)

There will be no evidence of excessive tire wear.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Sometimes really cheap tires can give you a fishtailing effect due to weak sidewalls.

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Palangi

2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
2006 Toyota Prius, Saving the Planet @ 48 mpg
2000 F-150, Destroying the Planet @ 20 mpg



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Hi again. Tires are not it - Decent and brand new. No discernable torque steer on acceleration or braking. Have not had a chance yet to jack up the car - I'm guessing that ALL the bushings need replacement. The previous owner did alot of easy maintenance, but I don't see anything about shocks or bushings in the repair records. Maybe next weekend we'll get the ol' jackstands out and take a peek. Could somebody pretty please (see I'm asking really nice!) shoot an answer about what other things subframe bushings could be called? I'm not finding that term in my Haynes manual. Please (!) point me in the right direction for reference, or let me know if I have some how overlooked it in Haynes. Thanks again.