Control Arm/Suspension Questions

[mdsalemi]

Hello All,

In some work this summer, the mechanics discovered the following issues:

1)  UPPER control arm on the driver side was not taking grease.  There are two Zerks on this upper arm, one forward and one rear.  Grease was not going into either Zerk.

2)  LOWER control arm, driver's side, rubber boot on rear was split.

Now in trying to get these seemingly simple things corrected, one mechanic came up with the following:

1)  Upper Control Arm Kit sold only in pairs; do both passenger and drivers side at the same time.

2)  Boot not sold separately for lower control arm; do a lower control arm kit; Mercedes quoted initially $114 for the kit then revised it to $300.

Questions:

1)  Is this remove/replace and a simple operation or is there more to it?
2)  Mechanic said car needs to be realigned after this work.  True?
3)  Is it possible to somehow install the upper control arm incorrectly so it does not take grease?

So, what I surmised was two bad Zerks and one ripped boot--a few bucks of parts and a few hours of labor has turned into a multi-thousand dollar operation upon which I have begged off at the moment.

Anybody who has done this before and can shed some light on it please let me know!

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[JimVillers]

Michael ..... You can support the spring on the lower 'A' arm and remove #66 and #68 to clean them so that they will take grease.  That will get grease into the bushing but it still may still need to be replaced.

By "boot" are you referring to #55?  That should be available outside of the kit.  It is there just to keep out the dirt and you could make one from a 1/2 inch piece of hose.


Jim Villers
190SL, 230SL 5-Speed, 190E 2.3-16 Kompressor, MGB 5-Speed

[wbain]

Gentlemen

I recently bought the rubber seals for my 220S, #65 and #47, which are the same, and kit 80 as well as seals #55 and #72, which are the same. I have the same problem with my zerks not taking grease. As long as bolt 70 will turn, you're in good shape, IMHO.

Also, kingpin zerk 10 needs to take grease as well, obviously.

I haven't started yet.

I will supply pics and numbers soon.

Thanks

Warren Bain 1965 220S, 1989 300SE, 2020 Ford Crown Vic Police Interceprot

[enochbell]

Michael,

Yes, I think the rebuild kits are sold only in pairs but they are less than $100 per pair(top and bottom), just check with Buds or the other reliable suppliers.  If you need to remove the outer/upper then yes, you will have to have the car realigned.  But best to try first to just replace the zerks without even touching the CA (just replace the one in the upper/inner CA and the one on top of the king pin), if I assume correctly that those are the ones not taking grease.  If that doesn't fix the problem then you will need to install the rebuild kits.  

If the boot you refer to on the lower CA is the little seal that Jim shows on his pic (what a helpful diagram!) then you can probably find a suitable rubber washer or slice of hose if you want to avoid the lower CA rebuild kit. But I think you will have some trouble getting it right, the original seal is a flexible little sucker with an "accordian" action that lets you squeeze it into place and causes it to acheive a good seal once intalled.

That said, this is a very straighforward job, lots of helpful posts to get you through it if you choose to tackle it yourself.

Best,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[Naj ✝︎]

Rubber Seals:

On Jim's picture:

#55 is 181 333 0180
#47/65  120 333 0180

naj

68 280SL

[mdsalemi]

Thanks, Guys.

My good buddy Mike Ochoa at Miller's supplied me with some detail.  The seals are available separately from Millers at $12.00 each as are the Zerks.  Kits are available separately as well.  My mechanic was getting an [un-needed] runaround from MB-USA on these parts and prices.  Time to remove the car from him and do it myself.

What I think I will do--in the spring--is replace the offending boot.  I'll order new Zerks this week, that's an easy one.  I will remove and clean the offending parts and attempt to reinstall it all.  I can't believe anything is so seized; the parts were all new during the rebuild a few years back and it hasn't had a hard life.  At worse the pieces can all be removed, cleaned and reassembled, there can't be any significant wear on them.

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored