mbdissolved

I Just noticed that when I jacked my car up both upper control arms bushings are ripped! I had replaced these about 14K miles ago. I was thinking that because I had jacked my car up many times since than that would have caused the ripping! What do you guys think?

Also, I had followed the instructions for installation...torque and pre load before tightening. How I saw the rip is while the car was up on jacks the tear expands. How does the thrust arm/ upper control arm bushing operate on the vehicle is it supposed to move up and down or stay locked in one position? I always questioned the "110 ft pound of torque" that is on this bolt. That amount of torque would lock the front solid I would think.

Glyn M Ruck

It seems you have done everything correctly if you loaded the suspension before tightening. Are you using the 3 way fluted bolts & if so did you align the bushes correctly before pressing them in?

Suggest you use caster bushes from the W204. They seem more durable. This problem has certainly improved with the newer bushes.

mbdissolved

I had replaced the whole control arm at the time and reused the original bolt to secure. If I replace just the bushing now how would you separate the ball joint without tearing the rubber? Do you think jacking the car up too many times would rip the bushings?

On a side note the transmission pan gasket is leaking as well. The shop that did the fluid change didn't tighten it correctly . I think the fluid is low now autozone has castrol import available for 722.6 transmission. If I add this to top off would that be a problem?

Glyn M Ruck

Jacking the car up did not cause this but always exposes it.

You can change the bushes on the car by following this method in the Wiki but not breaking the ball joint.

https://mbworld.org/wiki/images/7/74...rmR%26R-1-.pdf

You need a tool like this from Koch or Baum Tools to press out/press in the bush. Remember to mark bush position & align the 3 position slot correctly in case you ever want to use the 3 position bolts for alignment. There are also special Benz tools for this job but they are cost prohibitive.



Use a fluid approved against Benz 236.14. They are all fungible & miscible so they can be mixed.

mbdissolved

I looked at the wiki and don't see the link for bushing removal. Do you have a link for the puller and a recommended place to purchase the bushings alone? You're saying the bushings can be removed and pressed with attached ball joints!

Thanks for the help

mdavidian

I have same problem. Glyn responded to me very nicely saying that you do not need to take the control arm off of the knuckle (What disc/rotor is attached to). You simply take the sway bar attachments off of the bottom of the car (two torx bolts on each of the two brackets) and then take the large bolts off of the more central attachment of the upper control arm (some say 21 and some say 22mm?...) and the control arm is supposed to drop down on its own. When you look at those big bolts, you realize that the bolt end is facing rearward and the sway bar is in the way of taking bolt out. You then use the bushing removal tool (you can easily find it on ebay) to press out the old bushing and press in the new. There was one thread saying you had to take off the bolts holding the sway bar to the links to the strut, but Glyn did not mention this. I am not sure if the sway bar will have enough play by just removing the four bolts under the car.
As to the fluted bolts and oval shaped hole of the bushing and how this is arranged, I am at a loss...I don't understand how there could be any adjustment of anything with this bolt at over 100 ft/lbs of torque.

mdavidian

Forgot to mention- I usually buy my stuff from Rocky Mountain European rmeuropean.com, but they did not have the upper control arm bushing for my c32. I ordered the heavy duty Meyle HD 2033331014 from autohausaz.com for 24 bucks but am not yet prepared to start the job...Not wanting to spend 180 for a tool with one use...Want to split the cost?

VVF

You can try to rent it here: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...mber-list.html
Not sure if anyone has it, but worth to give it a try I guess.

As for the sway bar, after you remove the four bolts from the brackets you will be surprised by the amount of "play" it will have