w124 Tie rods question
 

I switched out my shocks to bilstein sports today and I noticed that my tie rod's rubber has disintegrated and I can see the joint. Is it necessary to replace it?

I will be lowering my car soon, so are there any other suspension elements I should check out? (Tie rods, ball joint, drag link...anything else?)

How many tie rods are on the front? 1 each side? Then 1 drag link?

Yes, that should be replaced.

There are 4 tie-rod ends & 1 drag link.

Tie rod ends come in sets with an adjuster in-between.

Get the LH and RH tie rod assys. You'd be wise to check the lower ball joints, idler arm bushings and steering dampener.


Michael

I just replaced all of it on my 300E for that very reason.....once the rubber is gone then water and dirt can get into the joint....

Its not that hard to replace it all. Just need a nice sledge hammer, pickle forks, and rugged muscles. :D


Oh, and wrenches to mount the new stuff on. :D

I noticed my lower ball joint looks to have the same issue, but since I am putting on 400E brakes, I was going to be running real close as it was on the stock LCA's...so this gives me a reason now to replace them. I'll probably nab them from the junkyard as they are $180/each new.

So I need 1x Tie rod assembly for each side OR 2x tie rod ends for each side? Each tie rod end is more expensive than the assembly itself...why would you replace just the ends then? :confused:

Got a new steering damper. I know my wagon @ 90k miles was leaking, so this one will probably be as well. It's a cheap and easy enough item to replace for good measure.

What about alignment issues after replacement? Will they be severely unaligned after replacement, or will it survive for a day until I can take it to the dealer to get aligned?

You need 1 assy for each side. 1 assy has (2) tie rod ends and 1 adjuster.
Ball joints for the old car should be $15 each from the dealer. Might be good unless your brake upgrade is comming really soon. Dealers tend to be quite competitive on steering and suspension componets @ wholesale prices. Note that they don't come with new nylon locking nuts from the dealer. I get them from mcmastercarr.com DIN894 ( I think).
They sell the ends seperately so if you only needed 1- it might be cheaper. But agreeed new assy's are the way to go! American stuff it's all sold as seperates.

Michael

Tie rod ends aren't too expensive so if you can afford it, replace them all. If you just do one side, replace it as an assembly. Before you drop an assembly, measure it carefully from the center of one stud to the other (I used a wire looped around each stud and taut). When it's out lay it on the ground and match your new ass'y up to it in length as close as possible, then when you install it (loosely) finish by matching the previous measurement as exactly as you can. If it needs adjustment you can do this by turning the center rod adjustment (which spreads both ends at once) or if it's only a few threads off, pop the outer one and turn it out until the measurement matches.
You should get an alignment afterward. When I did mine, the car went quite straight with no shimmies, vibrations or handling issues so I never got the alignment.

Makes sense...These tires have worn badly as they were on my wagon which need rear suspension links done, so I'm not too worried about an alignment right now. I was just concerned over shimmy/vibration issues. I'll just keep them as close as possible and hopefully I won't have anything :)

Thanks guys.

do your future alignment guy a favor, and never-seize the tie rod end threads on the new assemblies

My alignment guy got off easy on my W124 recently, I replaced all of the steering components two days before I sent it in for the alignment. :D I just replaced the entire assemblies....so its all new and shiny. I did the struts and strut mounts too, so everything would be in spec....drives like a dream now. My W126 is next.....

I know the never ending question "what about"....but anything else I should check? I'm trying to balance necessity and being sensible as I would guess lowering it by ~1.2" is going to put some extra stress on everything as it is all original. I see nothing under there that looks like it was replaced (not surprising either based on the small amount of history I have of the car).