W210 front end creak - upper ball joint
 

Is there any fix besides replacing the whole upper control arm; the ball joint is only sold as an assembly w/the control arm ($150)

Would cutting a hole in the boot and injecting some penetrating grease (Wurth HHS-2000) work? I'd seal it as well as possible with silicone.
TIA, Tom

I think you have to replace the whole unit. Apart from damaging the boot, I don't know if just greasing the boot area will get you much. The zerk fittings always injected grease directly into the joint itself.

Are you certain it is the ball joint that is creaking??? More likely to be the top shock mount or a bushing on the control arm...

First check on that chassis is the spring perch.

Mr. Dalton,
I was excited when I saw you had replied, since you always give really good info :sultan:

However, I wrote the book on spring perch failure - or rather I wrote a "sticky" anyway
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=147997 - in short I had my perch repaired after it failed and have tried to warn others.

SO, do you think the lube would have any effect ( beside accelerating my need to replace the upper ball joint)?

NHDOC, I can feel it vibrate as it creates the crreeeeakkk when the car goes up/down in the slightest. 98% chance it's the ball joint. I DID lube the top shock mount though, but can one lube the top control arm bushings? Thanks for the reply, though.

About 4 years ago, my car creaked when I would drive over speed bumps and ramps. Took the car to my mechanic and he used WD40 to lubricate all the bushings in the front. He used 1-2 cans. It worked like a charm. Even to this day, there are no creaks.

The most common cause of creaks up front is the sway bar end links and bushings, but that would not be easily confused with the upper ball joints since these are down at the bottom end of the suspension.

MB only sells the upper CA with the ball joint as an assembly. I have heard on other models that people have successfully been able to replace the ball joints on them but the whole arm is only $150-$200 or so therefore usually it is cost effective to just replace the entire arm assembly.

W210 Front suspension
 

Tom,

In March or April of this year I posted a fair amount of detail and a PDF file with all parts numbers, prices and torque values for the front suspension rebuild I did on my 1999 W210 with about 170k miles. Might be some helpful info there for you including how to access the front control arm bolts & nuts.

Let me know if you can't find the post and I'll do some digging around.
Hope this helps.
Ken