krew944

i am having problems with my thust arm and bushings in the front of my car.
i have done a search but have not found much on how much they cost to replace. Is there any aftermarket parts for this or do people usually replace it with oem ones.

SeaCoupe

You don't mention if your car is under warranty. I have the StarMark warranty, and i have had thrust arm, bearings, and bushing replaced under warranty.

Ed

FrankW

I believe they will cost you at least $500+ because of labor the dealership charges.

BeaverMjr

I had my coupe in the other day and was told that the thrust bushings were loose and should be replaced. can someone explain what they are and what they do. I'd like to know what $600+ gets me, besides an over inflated hourly labor rate.

also is this something the average person can replace? I'm thinking not but who knows.

WaveyKat

i replace mine myself the frirst time then the Dealer replace them for free like 2 weeks ago but the parts are like 80-100 each but the labor is what gonna kill you.

do a search for "Control Arm"

or look at the last page of this link
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ht=control+arm

C230SportsCoupe

Control arm/trust arm is covered under the major drivetrain components, if you still have some waranty left, get them fixed.

Otherwise they are < $100 each, and any mechanic can do it for you, find a cheaper one, or DIY. The cost adds up cause you have to do an alignment after, so you might as well replace them all.

$1000 in parts/labour/alignment to return the car to driving like new is a good investment, and the updated bushings are supposed to last much longer than the 60-100K miles people are getting out of them.

BeaverMjr

DIY?

How would I go about doing that? Do you have any instructions? Is it at all easy for a novice car guy? I'd rather not pay 600+ to the dealer.

I'm thinking of finding a shop that can do the work cheaper.

Carcrazy2

What are the early and late symptoms of this thrust arm issue?

I have slight squeak in my front suspension when I turn far left into a parking space...

C230SportsCoupe

That might be a bearing or tie rod, not a thrust arm. Still its all covered.

How is it a DIY? Impact gun or some muscles will break the bolts free, then change the arms and take it to get an alignment.

Any mechanic should beable to do these things, its not rocket science cause its a Benz.

MARK CUMMINS

[QUOTE=Carcrazy2;1823727]What are the early and late symptoms of this thrust arm issue?

Early Signs are a leaking bushing as they are filled with liquid

Late signs are a Clunking when stopping /starting

They are a Common Item with the W203s

wizkid

Can we get a little more specific. My wife went in for an alignment this morning, they told her the front arm thrust bushings are worn out or need replaced.

She got the alignment, but I am going to do the replacement and then we will get another alignment. Heck, I can swap them out and get two alignments and still come out cheaper.

So, with that said, we have noticed no ill effects but I am all for changing out every bushing I can. What should I change out while I am under there?

Btw, they quoted $409 to fix them (how many?).

UPDATE: I just found a post that shows I had them replaced under warranty at 75,000 miles. This forum is so handy. Man, they don't last long. We hit 134,818 miles today. Almost like clock work.

Can someone point out the location of the bushing in this photo? I have no idea where it is on each front wheel.

SeaCoupe

Did you put up pics of the replacement work you did?

E

wizkid

Mr. E, if you were talking to me, no because I have not replaced them yet but I need too according to the dealer. They were replaced under warranty at 75,000 miles. Sorry if I was not clear.

I need someone to post a picture showing me where these bushings are. Once that is done, I am going to order them and do a install guide to replacing the bushings.

Mr. E, can you help a brother out? Tell me where to take a picture and I will take a few shots so we can figure out where it is.

SeaCoupe

I figure you need to take a pic of the that will show at shot of the steering links, etc. Isn't this the bar that is a 45 degree angle to the 180 line of the steering rack?

Did that make any sense?

E

wizkid

I will throw my wife's car up on the lift tomorrow and take a bunch of shots and post them.

SeaCoupe

Ehh, I think this will help you.

http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.asp...SGR=030&SGN=01

Look for part #90. Bushing is in the back.

In any case this is for my car. Go to the front page of this and find your car, then look for steering knuckle and control arm diagram.

E

rpayer

check this out....

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178980

mleskovar

How can you tell when they are bad if they are not leaking? Both mine were replaced 37K ago because one was leaking. Is there noticeable play if you manually push/pull on parts while the car is on or off the ground?

Boom vang

Great explode diagram, is there a source to get other diagrams of other areas throughout the car?

wizkid

Thanks Mr. E. I will still throw up some photo's today.

I ordered the parts through my friend at a local dealer so I will know a cost on them by Friday, I hope. Probably around $40 each but we will see.

Also, how do you tell they are bad? I am not sure. We have experienced no noises and no fluid leaks. Kinda makes me wonder. We were told by the dealer when they were doing the alignment that they were bad. So I am going off their reccomendation but doing the swap myself (yes, I am going to do a DIY guide with less fanfare than the transmission pan drop I hope).

I will be back with more news as it develops.

mleskovar

Check out the new and old real well to see if you can tell a difference in function and let us know.

RES

Dont forget to add how to drink the beer while doing this job. How many
beers it takes and at what point is the best for consuming. You know the importain stuff!

Did you get your Mercedes disc? I was looking and all you have is two lower arms and a shock strut. The two arms look like $165 for one and $59 for the other through OEM parts. Not much can wear out or break in the front. I would think a little strut side play would be the first thing that would cause looseness or noise?? Mybe these arms are just crap, my 88 is still on the originals at 320,000 miles.

wizkid

Yeah, I got the DVD ($95 + tax from my dealer ). Besides always having a problem getting it to load, it thinks I am using a back up copy for some reason, I could not really find anything to do with the thrust bushing or arm on the DVD. Of course, that DVD is a little hard to navigate but I did use the search. When the wife gets home, the car goes up on the lift tonight for some pictures so we can nail down just wth is the thrust arm bushing they say is bad.

I called and ordered the bushings today along with a new cabin filter (the one above the battery).

My sliding bridge jack for my lift is not scheduled to get here for another 2 week so I can't do this on my lift until then. However, it would help to actually know what bushing I am looking for and wth is what under there. Maybe we can all hold hands and identify the parts and I can get a nice labeled photo up for all to use.

Update: I just got a call and my parts will be here tomorrow in my hands. I don't know the price but I order through another dealer so I get a discount on the MB parts because they rip off the average joe that walks in. I get cost +10% at my GM dealer so we will see what the difference in price is. I will call MB and get a price and see what they tell me over the phone. Then we can talk about beer drinking and cuss stealerships.

RES

Ive been buying just the small service items from autopartswarehouse.com. I don't know if I said anything before, but a fuel filter was $140.00 at the dealer and $36.00 at the autopartswarehouse. Shipped in record time, they must dropship locally.

mleskovar

Here's a picture of mine when I took it in for leaking.....

https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-tech-talk/95117-what-s-should-i-worry.html