Hello all,

I am seeking help with a rather sticky situation that I have gotten myself in.

Last week, I have changed the driver's side LCA on my W124 - I followed all the safety procedures and the job proceeded rather smoothly, aside from a few stuck bolts. Replacing the LCA, I noticed the pinch bolt is rusty. I ordered a new part from the local MB dealership and temporarily assembled the LCA using the old pinch bolt. Unfortunately it's my daily driver and the ETA on the bolt was several business days.

Yesterday the bolt came in. Wanting to change it, I jacked the car up, put a jackstand under the LCA as near to the ball joint as possible and undid the pinch bolt. Unfortunately, I underestimated the force of the spring and noticed the ball joint slowly slipping out of the knuckle. In a moment of sheer terror I put the wheel back on, put a piece of wood under the joint and jacked the car down. Now I am stuck with a situation depicted in the photograph.

I have managed to get the spring compressor on, but it only compresses the spring so much - anything past what's on the photo and the compressor just slips on the coils when I try to compress the spring more. Jacking up the LCA does not work - the joint touches the knuckle, but I presume the spring force prevents it from going further in (I have centered the joint on the knuckle).

My question is - how do I push the ball joint back in / get the spring off without dying? I presume that if I put the jack under the LCA, undo the wheel and jack it down, the spring will come flying despite being partially compressed.

On a side note- I know this was not a smart thing to do and I should not have underestimated the force that the spring exerts on the LCA. Lesson learned - I guess I fell into the routine of mechanical work a long time ago and got too comfortable taking shortcuts.

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