123 Suspension problem
 

I recently bought an 83 300d (123). There seems to be a problem with the suspension. On the 10 miles trip home with it, it was making a slight grinding noise in the front end drivers side. It has become pronouncably worse and I'm almost afraid to drive it now. It's constant sound now. I repacked the wheel bearings and the brakes look fine. There doesn't seem to be anything loose. The wheels do lean in on top, more than what looks normal. Before purchase, the car had flat tires for about 2 yrs (only on the right side and the tires have no more than 1000 miles on it). Could this have done damage to something? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

First thing that comes to mind is a bad ball joint. If the boot is broken and the joint is dry, it can make some pretty awful noises. Try shooting some lithium grease in it to see if the noise goes away. After 22 years and 210k miles, there is probably a lot of suspension work in your future. Hie thee to a shop to get the front end checked out; this can be dangerous.

Good luck,
Tom
'82 300D 320k, rides like a dream on almost completely rebuilt suspension

I do plan on rebuilding the front end. Is this something I can do myself. I do have moderate mechanical experience. Would this make the wheels lean? I think the leaning wheels might have something to do with it. I will be checking it out after work this evening.

With the front jacked off the ground, can you rock the wheels vertically? if so, grinding noises could be wheel bearings - usually easy to see the movement. You didn't say WHY you repacked the bearings, but did you inspect them for signs of stress damage?

Steve

I'm unsure if a bad ball joint would cause negative camber; hopefully someone else will jump in here. You can do the suspension work yourself (but you'll need to find someone with the proper press to do the BJs). It is pretty straightforward if you've got sufficient tools and the manual but can involve lots of effort and foul language to get things apart, especially if they salt the roads where you live. Here is a pretty good writeup of what is involved.

Tom

I repacked the wheel bearings for lack of what the sound was. They looked fine, no scoring, fairly easy movement. I repacked them because there was a slight bit of vertical play. And Tesavage, I'm am quite proficient at cussing, and they do salt the roads here.

Anyone else?