DIY: W124 Tie Rods, Drag Link, Steering Damper, and Idler Arm Repair Kit

[skiier3_9]

Here is the procedure that I used to replace the front tie rods, drag link, steering damper, and idler arm repair kit.

I. Remove front wheels, jack the car up, and put it on jack stands (both sides)

II. Work the passenger side first - all of my pictures are of the drivers side. By doing the passenger side first you can have a helper hold the steering wheel which will hold the parts where you need them.

III. Remove the 2 - 17mm nuts on the tie rod and the 1 - 19mm nut on the drag link (see pic 1)

IV. With these all removed, get your favorite pickle-fork and pry the tie rod out of its holder. This isn't real easy because they're in there quite tight, but one thing I learned was to hammer the fork in really good (as far in as I could) - then I stuck a small section of steel pipe on the end of the pickle-fork and was able to use that to gain more leverage when prying. This made separating the inner joints easier because its difficult to hit the end of the pickle fork with your mallet inside the wheel well. (Be careful not to hit yourself or the car!)

V. Now with the passenger side done move to the driver's side. Same setup here - 3 nuts to remove - 3 joints to separate. You'll have to rotate the steering wheel to get the drag link out of the way of the damper to remove it all the way.

VI. Since I was replacing the drag link and the steering damper I also needed to remove the 17mm bolt/nut from the damper/frame on the drivers side (see pics 2 and 3).

VII. With all of that removed you should be able to remove the drag link and damper as one unit. The damper is bolted to the center drag link (see pic 4 - these are the new parts).

Idler Arm Repair Kit

With all of that steering linkage out of the way - on to the idler arm.

VIII. Remove the 24mm nut on the bottom (this guy is pretty tight - I used a breaker bar + liquid wrench). Also - I used a 15/16" socket on the bottom and my 24mm wrench on the top since I didn't have 2 24mm wrenches or a 24mm socket. Do this at your own risk - you have a slight chance of stripping the bolt/nut.

IX. Remove the heat shield that surrounds the idler arm (see pic 5 - there are two bolts).

X. With the nut removed - the fun begins. If you're lucky - you can tap the bolt out the top and it won't hit the exhaust manifold/pipes. I wasn't that lucky - so - out with the handy Dremmel tool. It took me about 1/2 hour to cut the bolt head off with the cutting wheel attachment. I wore safety goggles because of the hot flying debris and also hearing protection because cutting this was LOUD under the car. Also - it would be a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy - my car leaks oil (head gasket!) and the hot sparks could potentially ignite the grease/mess under the car. (This is a good idea for the garage in general!)

XI. With the bolt cut off you'll have to remove the two pieces of the idler arm bushing. I used a channel locks to grab the bottom piece and work it back and forth until it was removed. Then I used the old bolt (one piece) to pound out the top part.