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I need help translating and understanding how to read this torque specification for my 2015 C400 front axles.
This is the first time I've come across a 4 stage tightening spec. and I'm a little confused.
I'm assuming this means to tighten to 160 Nm first and then go to 220 Nm and then go another 45 deg. after that?
What does "losen ca." mean?
"ca." means circa, or approximately
"lösen" is German for loosen, meaning untighten or back off
Step 1: tighten the nut to 160Nm
Step 2: loosen the nut by approximately 90 degrees.
Step 3: tighten the nut to 220Nm
Step 4: tighten the nut an additional 45 degrees
"ca." means circa, or approximately
"lösen" is German for loosen, meaning untighten or back off
Step 1: tighten the nut to 160Nm
Step 2: loosen the nut by approximately 90 degrees.
Step 3: tighten the nut to 220Nm
Step 4: tighten the nut an additional 45 degrees
Awesome thanks a ton, this makes sense now. I appreciate the help!
I just got done replacing the 2 front half shafts myself. It was a 10 hour ordeal, but I got it done and it seems to be riding 100% smoother. I’ll redo the torque to proper spec tomorrow.
@flyboyusa If you can hold off re-doing the torque, I would order new axle nuts. Mercedes specifies them as single use items. Now that you have installed them, if you "redo" the torque they will have been used twice.
@flyboyusa If you can hold off re-doing the torque, I would order new axle nuts. Mercedes specifies them as single use items. Now that you have installed them, if you "redo" the torque they will have been used twice.
Ahhhh....got it. I didn't realize they were single use. I'm re-using the original ones. They are galvanized steel, really heavy and solid bolts so I didn't even think about single use.
I'm used to single use for the aluminum bolts used in other places on my C400 (transmission pan, transmission hydraulic module, etc...).
Any idea why they would be classified as single use? They are steel, so I don't see them deforming or being strained to a plastic region of the material. Is it possibly because of the factory applied thread locker that gets worn off once they are used? I can't think of any other reason why MB engineers would make them single use?
On a side note.....my C400 was affected by the TSB from MB which stated they were designed improperly. I was getting the dreaded clicking noise during tight turns and acceleration as well as increase vibrations.
I'm out of warranty (64k miles) and went round and round with local MB dealer as well as MB corporate to try and get them to replace mine with the new designed P/N....but the best I could get out of them was a 20% concession, which means I would have been stuck paying 80% of a $4,600 repair estimate at the stealership.
After checking on prices for the new design MB OEM axles...they would have been $1,700 for the pair.
So, I got ahold of DSS (Diversified Shaft Solutions) and they claim their Chinese built axles are "better" than OEM....for $360 for the pair, including shipping, I went ahead and gave them a try.
I just got them in last night...it took me about 10 hours. This included replacing a lower control arm due to a defective ball joint (this part was probably and additional hour of work, as it requires the sway bar to be dropped a couple inches to remove the LCA bolt....damn MB design engineers don't think about the end user having to service these vehicles!)
Anyways....both axles are now installed and the front differential has been drained and re-filled as well. I've put a few miles on it and I'm pretty happy so far. The ride is so much more smooth, the shifts are much crisper. I get a little bit of a dragging/popping at 100% full steering wheel turn that I didn't have before. It's almost as if the differential isn't slipping easily or somethings hanging up during full wheel tight turns. I used Redline 75W85 gear oil, not the OEM gear oil. I may drain and refill the front diff with original OEM gear oil and see if that helps.
@flyboyusa I don’t know the details of why MB specified single use for the axle nut. Very high torque and safety-critical nature of the connection went into the decision, I imagine. I would not reuse the nuts if it were my vehicle. It’s cheap insurance and adheres to the manufacturer’s specs.
Dragging at high turn angle could be new axle shaft joints with friction. Give them some time to break in. Hopefully they will smooth out.
@flyboyusa I don’t know the details of why MB specified single use for the axle nut. Very high torque and safety-critical nature of the connection went into the decision, I imagine. I would not reuse the nuts if it were my vehicle. It’s cheap insurance and adheres to the manufacturer’s specs.
Dragging at high turn angle could be new axle shaft joints with friction. Give them some time to break in. Hopefully they will smooth out.
Thanks for all the advice. I’m hoping the clearances are just a little tight at first and they’ll wear in with some miles. I don’t have any experience with replacement/new axles, so I have no idea if this is plausible/possible to get better with break in. We will see!
Luckily I’ve got 3 year warranty on them, they’ll be returned if I’m not happy with them.
@flyboyusa I don’t know the details of why MB specified single use for the axle nut. Very high torque and safety-critical nature of the connection went into the decision, I imagine. I would not reuse the nuts if it were my vehicle. It’s cheap insurance and adheres to the manufacturer’s specs.
Dragging at high turn angle could be new axle shaft joints with friction. Give them some time to break in. Hopefully they will smooth out.
Thanks for all the advice. I’m hoping the clearances are just a little tight at first and they’ll wear in with some miles. I don’t have any experience with replacement/new axles, so I have no idea if this is plausible/possible to get better with break in. We will see!
Luckily I’ve got 3 year warranty on them, they’ll be returned if I’m not happy with them.
Where did you get the DSS axles? I’ve seen them on eBay before, but are now sold out. Both of my axles click (C400 with 78k miles) and I’ve been waiting for a good aftermarket solution. Also, what symptom did your ball joint have? I also have a pop/clunk when the wheels are turned. My car has actually been solid within the 30k miles I’ve owned it, besides these two issues.
My symptoms were clicking when turning and accelerating from a stop (like out of a parking space, pulling out of parking lot, etc...) I also had a noticeable shake when I would put in Drive or Reverse with the brake on while idling.
I ended up calling DSS axles directly and spoke to them about where to buy a set. They said they were selling them as fast as they could get them on a boat from China.
Luckily, the week I spoke to them, they had just received a full shipment and had sent them out to distributors. They referred me to a company in New Jersey called Northside Imports Inc.
I called Northside and they had them sent to me in a couple days.
The DSS axles never really seemed to improve and actually got worse. I was actually afraid to turn my steering wheel to full rotation in parking lots, as the binding was terrible and actually felt like they were going to self destruct. The idle engine shake in Drive and Reverse was still pretty bad also.
I ended up purchasing a set of OEM Mercedes axles from an online MB dealership for approx. $1,700 total. I was at a local shop having front camber bushings installed and ended up having them yank out the DSS axles and slide in the new OEM axles while they had things torn apart. I was able to return the DSS axles for a full refund.
The OEM MB axles are absolutely perfect. It took care of 90% of the problem. I still had a slight vibration while idling in Drive and Reverse. I bought an OEM tranny mount off of FCP Euro for about $65 and replaced it myself, which helped a lot (the old mount had collapsed considerably). The tranny mount replacement was a real easy DIY and I had it done in about an hour.
The new axles and tranny mount also had a huge impact on acceleration and throttle response. The up/down shifts are so much more crisp now and it really does feel like a totally different car now. I was surprised that these 2 repairs would have this much impact on throttle response, but it actually did.
The car is now in storage for the winter, so I won't have a chance to enjoy my "new ride" for a couple months (I'm driving a winter beater now....2005 Corolla with a little rust and 200k miles....lol)
My symptoms were clicking when turning and accelerating from a stop (like out of a parking space, pulling out of parking lot, etc...) I also had a noticeable shake when I would put in Drive or Reverse with the brake on while idling.
I ended up calling DSS axles directly and spoke to them about where to buy a set. They said they were selling them as fast as they could get them on a boat from China.
Luckily, the week I spoke to them, they had just received a full shipment and had sent them out to distributors. They referred me to a company in New Jersey called Northside Imports Inc.
I called Northside and they had them sent to me in a couple days.
The DSS axles never really seemed to improve and actually got worse. I was actually afraid to turn my steering wheel to full rotation in parking lots, as the binding was terrible and actually felt like they were going to self destruct. The idle engine shake in Drive and Reverse was still pretty bad also.
I ended up purchasing a set of OEM Mercedes axles from an online MB dealership for approx. $1,700 total. I was at a local shop having front camber bushings installed and ended up having them yank out the DSS axles and slide in the new OEM axles while they had things torn apart. I was able to return the DSS axles for a full refund.
The OEM MB axles are absolutely perfect. It took care of 90% of the problem. I still had a slight vibration while idling in Drive and Reverse. I bought an OEM tranny mount off of FCP Euro for about $65 and replaced it myself, which helped a lot (the old mount had collapsed considerably). The tranny mount replacement was a real easy DIY and I had it done in about an hour.
The new axles and tranny mount also had a huge impact on acceleration and throttle response. The up/down shifts are so much more crisp now and it really does feel like a totally different car now. I was surprised that these 2 repairs would have this much impact on throttle response, but it actually did.
The car is now in storage for the winter, so I won't have a chance to enjoy my "new ride" for a couple months (I'm driving a winter beater now....2005 Corolla with a little rust and 200k miles....lol)
Thank you! Looks like I may need to just bite the bullet and buy OEM axles...
My symptoms were clicking when turning and accelerating from a stop (like out of a parking space, pulling out of parking lot, etc...) I also had a noticeable shake when I would put in Drive or Reverse with the brake on while idling.
I ended up calling DSS axles directly and spoke to them about where to buy a set. They said they were selling them as fast as they could get them on a boat from China.
Luckily, the week I spoke to them, they had just received a full shipment and had sent them out to distributors. They referred me to a company in New Jersey called Northside Imports Inc.
I called Northside and they had them sent to me in a couple days.
The DSS axles never really seemed to improve and actually got worse. I was actually afraid to turn my steering wheel to full rotation in parking lots, as the binding was terrible and actually felt like they were going to self destruct. The idle engine shake in Drive and Reverse was still pretty bad also.
I ended up purchasing a set of OEM Mercedes axles from an online MB dealership for approx. $1,700 total. I was at a local shop having front camber bushings installed and ended up having them yank out the DSS axles and slide in the new OEM axles while they had things torn apart. I was able to return the DSS axles for a full refund.
The OEM MB axles are absolutely perfect. It took care of 90% of the problem. I still had a slight vibration while idling in Drive and Reverse. I bought an OEM tranny mount off of FCP Euro for about $65 and replaced it myself, which helped a lot (the old mount had collapsed considerably). The tranny mount replacement was a real easy DIY and I had it done in about an hour.
The new axles and tranny mount also had a huge impact on acceleration and throttle response. The up/down shifts are so much more crisp now and it really does feel like a totally different car now. I was surprised that these 2 repairs would have this much impact on throttle response, but it actually did.
The car is now in storage for the winter, so I won't have a chance to enjoy my "new ride" for a couple months (I'm driving a winter beater now....2005 Corolla with a little rust and 200k miles....lol)
