Hey Matt, I struggled with getting the steering knuckle to seat on the new ball joint for 3 hours ;) .... The first side went fine but the driver's side wouldn't go back on. Then I looked again at your video and realized I hadn't loosened the allen screw on the caliper.... well, that sure made the difference! Thank-you again for posting this procedure as no one else's mentions this! David
Hey Matt, I bought the kit and modified the 2nd largest fitting, had to impact it up to the tabs :)(was a little small) Now to find the mysterious top tube, no go at hardware stores, maybe a muffler shop .... thanks for the video!
Thanks! If you’re referring to the ball joint press kit, I bought that from the Canadian Amazon, so any link I send you would be useless to you if you’re in the US. But it’s a pretty typical kit that’s available on the US Amazon, lots of different sellers and different coloured cases, etc. but basically the same kit all made in China, perfectly fine for a home hobbyist who won’t use it that many times.
Good stuff. I am somewhat perplexed at the need to disconnect the strut. I've done this exact service on the R129 (same suspension as W124) and the W201. Never needed to unhook the strut. (although I did remove the swaybar mount) Good sound/lighting & video shot coverage though.
@@CarswithNash Fair enough. I did try to keep the strut as vertical the whole time when I did mine. Side note: after watching yours today, I also found another where the guy didn't even use any press tools. Just a massive hammer, a jack stand , wrench, impact gun and a hydraulic lift of some kind. I'm not a big fan of the pounding he gave the various suspension parts, but it was s virtuoso performance. ("W124 W210 Traggekenk...something something"...like a 4 minute video)
@@FlashDriveFilms Yeah I definitely try to leave beating on things to a last resort. The press tool was pretty affordable and with how rusted in mine were I don’t think any amount of hammering would’ve got them out.
That's a Ford factory jack from a 80s Econoline van, I think the trucks used them too. I cut the hand crank handle off and just run the end of it in my drill.
Thanks for the vid, I'll try this today!! I own a 91 TE, so the ball joint is identical to yours, since I read that after 92 (or 93?) 124s use a different ball joint, the one in this vid is the "1st gen " one. Anyways, thanks for the infos!!
Been watching your channel for a while now you do good work just wondering if you're mom still has the dream cruiser still I got a PT cruiser you showed how to do some work on mine listening to you easy like you said. Did a good job putting the ford motor in the car your doing doing a good job.
Thanks I appreciate that and appreciate your feedback. Yup my mom daily drives her Dream Cruiser, she’s tried a few other vehicles but always goes back to it (she had a Kia Soul and a Dodge Caravan briefly). I daily drive this Benz now and love it.
Great video Matt! I have to do this job on my W124 sometime soon- I have over 400k miles on the car... there's an unbelievable amount of slop. As you're doing the replacement (ex: 16:30) is the bottle jack actually putting pressure on the control arm? Or is the sway bar alone holding the arm in place? I'm always scared about that spring coming loose!
At some point you do have to put pressure on it with a jack, but don't worry, there is no chance of the spring coming out, the control arm will stop against the frame of the car before that happens.
Quick follow up- I ended up replacing both control arms completely and posted a video to my channel. The tip you had about loosening the rotor was key. I made sure to give you a shout out in the video!
was it making any noise before you replaced it? I am trying to diagnose an intermittent grinding noise from the front end of my 300e - already replaced the wheel bearings
@bradowen9418 This on rattle on certain bumps. My son's W124 is also grinding, the ball joints can do that if they dry up and rust inside, these ones were just a little worn.
@@CarswithNash thanks for your quick reply & informative videos - before replacing my wheel bearings I watched how you did your's; I do feel cold just watching you work in that unheated garage though...
You don't have to unattached any of that put Jack under spring take lower bolt out of ball joint prie bar shock upwards and move it to one side the biggest mess on was actually removing ball joint without proper tool
![How to change front suspension arm on MERCEDES W124 [TUTORIAL AUTODOC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2cU_aqFuMtw/mqdefault.jpg)
![How to change front suspension arm on MERCEDES W124 [TUTORIAL AUTODOC]](/img/tr.png)
1990 300e are.removable but 1994 e320 built into arm for ball joints
Lemförder 💯 great video!
Thanks!(-:
Hey Matt, I struggled with getting the steering knuckle to seat on the new ball joint for 3 hours ;) .... The first side went fine but the driver's side wouldn't go back on. Then I looked again at your video and realized I hadn't loosened the allen screw on the caliper.... well, that sure made the difference! Thank-you again for posting this procedure as no one else's mentions this! David
Thank you for your kind words and I'm so glad to hear that you were able to get it done.
That was owesome bro,thanks for the vedio, I have the same car in Zimbabwe, Africa
I always enjoy hearing from far away and hearing that I helped someone. Thank you for the feedback.
Hey Matt, I bought the kit and modified the 2nd largest fitting, had to impact it up to the tabs :)(was a little small) Now to find the mysterious top tube, no go at hardware stores, maybe a muffler shop .... thanks for the video!
Either a muffler shop or a welding shop should be able to help you out. Glad you found the video helpful and thank you for the feedback.
Hey Matt, this is a great video. My boots are torn slightly so this may be a job down the road. Thanks for your info….
Thanks, appreciate the feedback. Don’t put it off too long, they can break without warning.
Hey Matt! Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving from the Republic of California!
Thanks! I appreciate that and a happy Thanksgiving to you and your family as well!🇨🇦
Great video .
I'm going to put ball joints in my ' 97 R129 .
Can you put a link in the description of the kit you used .
Thanks! If you’re referring to the ball joint press kit, I bought that from the Canadian Amazon, so any link I send you would be useless to you if you’re in the US. But it’s a pretty typical kit that’s available on the US Amazon, lots of different sellers and different coloured cases, etc. but basically the same kit all made in China, perfectly fine for a home hobbyist who won’t use it that many times.
Good stuff. I am somewhat perplexed at the need to disconnect the strut. I've done this exact service on the R129 (same suspension as W124) and the W201. Never needed to unhook the strut. (although I did remove the swaybar mount) Good sound/lighting & video shot coverage though.
Hmm… Seemed necessary to me to get the knuckle out of the way, you don’t want to be flexing the strut mounts that far.
@@CarswithNash Fair enough. I did try to keep the strut as vertical the whole time when I did mine. Side note: after watching yours today, I also found another where the guy didn't even use any press tools. Just a massive hammer, a jack stand , wrench, impact gun and a hydraulic lift of some kind. I'm not a big fan of the pounding he gave the various suspension parts, but it was s virtuoso performance. ("W124 W210 Traggekenk...something something"...like a 4 minute video)
@@FlashDriveFilms Yeah I definitely try to leave beating on things to a last resort. The press tool was pretty affordable and with how rusted in mine were I don’t think any amount of hammering would’ve got them out.
Nice video! Could you give me details on that little jack you used under the control arm??
That's a Ford factory jack from a 80s Econoline van, I think the trucks used them too. I cut the hand crank handle off and just run the end of it in my drill.
Thanks for the vid, I'll try this today!! I own a 91 TE, so the ball joint is identical to yours, since I read that after 92 (or 93?) 124s use a different ball joint, the one in this vid is the "1st gen " one. Anyways, thanks for the infos!!
Thanks. I appreciate the feedback.
Been watching your channel for a while now you do good work just wondering if you're mom still has the dream cruiser still I got a PT cruiser you showed how to do some work on mine listening to you easy like you said. Did a good job putting the ford motor in the car your doing doing a good job.
Thanks I appreciate that and appreciate your feedback. Yup my mom daily drives her Dream Cruiser, she’s tried a few other vehicles but always goes back to it (she had a Kia Soul and a Dodge Caravan briefly). I daily drive this Benz now and love it.
Great video Matt! I have to do this job on my W124 sometime soon- I have over 400k miles on the car... there's an unbelievable amount of slop. As you're doing the replacement (ex: 16:30) is the bottle jack actually putting pressure on the control arm? Or is the sway bar alone holding the arm in place? I'm always scared about that spring coming loose!
At some point you do have to put pressure on it with a jack, but don't worry, there is no chance of the spring coming out, the control arm will stop against the frame of the car before that happens.
Quick follow up- I ended up replacing both control arms completely and posted a video to my channel. The tip you had about loosening the rotor was key. I made sure to give you a shout out in the video!
@bsclifton Thank you so much. I will have to check that out.
was it making any noise before you replaced it? I am trying to diagnose an intermittent grinding noise from the front end of my 300e - already replaced the wheel bearings
@bradowen9418 This on rattle on certain bumps. My son's W124 is also grinding, the ball joints can do that if they dry up and rust inside, these ones were just a little worn.
@@CarswithNash thanks for your quick reply & informative videos - before replacing my wheel bearings I watched how you did your's; I do feel cold just watching you work in that unheated garage though...
You don't have to unattached any of that put Jack under spring take lower bolt out of ball joint prie bar shock upwards and move it to one side the biggest mess on was actually removing ball joint without proper tool
I like to show the proper way to do things, sounds like you enjoy doing things the improper way.