Chappy

Look exactly three posts up and you'll find your answer.

taimyshukah

I noticed my car shakes alot when I'm on the freeway. Could this be because of bad bushings? I'm running 18x8.5's all around with stock suspension.

linuxfoo

could be few things, bad wheel balance, wheels that are not hub centric, bent wheels, or bad lower control arm bushings, or combination thereof.

bad wheel balance - hard to detect, normally in my experience, i had a wheel that was not balanced properly and they only shook at around 70mph +.

non-hubcentric wheels - some wheel manufacturers provide hub centric rings for specific model wheels for specific model cars IF the wheels require it. if you don't use the rings, some wheel will shake whether its balanced correctly or not.

bent wheel - easy to check, jack up the car and spin the tires, front mostly as this is where you will feel the shake.

lower control arm bushings - torn bushings will cause noise and shake as some have stated. i've changed mines early enough not to experience any shake or vibration issues.

check those out and see if any fits your criteria. good luck

Zoom On

Chappy, well mine came in today, was shocked at the size, I don't know why but I thought they would be the size of or a little larger than D size batteries. Did you get yours installed yet and what do you think? Did you do the bolts like someone above recommended too? They came with a little lube but does not look like all that much, I wonder what you could use to make sure it is good and lubed, don't want any squeaking.

ON

Chappy

The size was expected as I saw the OE bushings that come out.

Mine go in next week, but Mbenzman has installed his already on his 55 cabrio and his feedback is good.

Bolts will go in if needed....Rich and I had a chat about this, but the technical side of things got above my head (camber/caster/toe). Fortunately, he's patient with me. I'm not a DIYer....tried i the past on other cars, but kept breaking things, plus I just don't have the time, tools or diagnostic equip. It's less costly and aggravating in the long run for me to work with experts.

Zoom On

Yeah I know just enough to be dangerous

mbenzman

Does it count if I've changed my own? Or others?

Here's some pics.

odj

i'm not seeing it. (been a few days since i've been on). could you possibly point me in the right direction?

mbenzman

This is probably not going to be a diy item for you then for sure!!! Best to leave it alone.

Chappy

https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....9&postcount=22

Chappy

Looks like a tootsie-roll

Rich, any other feedback you can add since you installed the bushings?

odj

lol... I've done a couple of these jobs already, both with and without a press, i'm just not familiar with MBZ parts sources. This is what I find when I search LPD...

mbz > 1999 > c-class > suspension:



i've searched the years '98 thru '00 and received the same results. I don't know about you, but i don't see any LCA bushings there

Chappy

I realize their website is not the easiest to navigate.

Click on the link. Then scroll down (look in the lower right for the page numbers) and go to Page 4. Voila! The bushings are yellow in the picture, but come in black (at least mine did). Part number ADUS 597.

odj

No, I'd say it borders on retardation. The misspelling of 'mercedez' made me a little wary from the get go.

Got it! Thanks a bunch.

Is there a general list of shops that carry performance and OEM parts for our cars?

Zoom On

mbenzman, so ok call me a dolt, but where do they go? I see the pivot point and the new clean bolts, but do you need one or two a side? Did they give you enough lube or did you use extra and if you did what?

Thx

ON

mbenzman

Your a doit!! You asked me to call you that, I just followed your wishes. What's a doit anyway?
I haven't called anyone an idiot. I was surprised that the fact he responded to Chappy's three post up comment with a request for further clarification. Since I do this for a living, I may believe everyone is very knowledgeable and therefore make certain assumptions. I couldn't help myself in having a laugh in this case, no offense intended.
So to clarify in the absence of a better picture, I pointed out the respective bushings and the details. It's the rear one and the websites picture is showing yellow but they do say it will only come in black now.

ZedStyle

i had to lok at it twice too... ' doLt '!!!

mbenzman

Here's the guys current auction link. If you want it, buy it now. This is the place both Chappy and I bought ours. You will need two, this is not a pair.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...mZ130095725298

Owen, you wanted some, did you get a pair yet? He's obviously reloaded. First come, first serve.

Zoom On

yeah it was doLt not doit, but hey call me what you want its all good. So there are two just one seems to fail, thats strange. Any advantage to change both or not that big a deal? So in your picture with arrows the one you say is cracked looks like it has a metal sleeve around it but maybe it is just the angle/picture.

Anyway thanks again for the additonal info!

ON

Zoom On

OK you want to know what is strange.... if you go to the link he wants 50 bucks but I ordered off his web site and I paid 46?

ProjectC55

thanx for the link Rich! I just bought mines! Gonna buy the front ones brand new from the dealer.

ProjectC55

O.T. Wow Rich from the look of this pic ,your exh seems routed exactly like the C43's with the Cat right behind the pic of the control arm on the drivers side. That's a good footnote!

mbenzman

I bet he just adds the cost of the auction in to cover his costs.
Chappy actually located these. I had been trying to have them made (dealt with two companies) since I never was successful in locating any suitable polyurethane ones already out there. I was going to replace them with the factory ones when Chappy located these and therefore rescued me.
The lack of an external shell is not a concern as the thickness of the control arm is more than sufficent. It would stiffen them up more to have a outer shell as it would reduce the thickness of the urethane which gives versus metal which would have any give. They are more stiff than the factory installed bushings but you wouldn't notice it. They are not as stiff as the earlier style W124's for instance use in their similar control arm suspension.
Believe it or not that rubber front lower control arm bushing is at least as stiff, if not a lot stiffer than that rear is in urethane. It is layers of steel and rubber in between. I would have been fine with one of those in the right size instead of urethane. It's what they used to install in both bushing locations of the front lower control arms (like the W124's, W201's etc.) before they decided to try and make the suspension softer for us with those flimsy style thrust bushings.
The lube that comes with them should be sufficent, I don't know because I have giant tubes of the stuff at the shop and used that liberally and then some.
Here's how I feel about them. I would have been willing to pay at least $300-400 for the two bushings to avoid the factory ones. The factory thrust bushings are garbage and have no buisness in our cars as they are the cause of major tire wear, vibrations, and the resultant customer complaints.
As far as driving goes, the car seems less upset through bumps and ruts and follows the steering more accurately. I expect perfect tire wear and less sensitivity to tire defects and brake disc runout.
I have fixed many BMW's with very fussy owners and expensive tires with the urethane bushings permanantly. They argue when told the about my fix that it will ride too rough. I've told them I'll take them out if they're not happy. Never had one come back and say they are not happy. I just notice the lack of complaints later from these people. I call that a fix.
The big problem is sourcing any aftermarket parts for Mercedes. No one takes us seriously, there seems to be no one supplier we can get our trinkets from regularly and affordably. I only find someone making one here, there and whenever.
I've been trying to get a more sets of these cool adjustable rear camber arms (non-spherical rod end style) from a previous supplier since last year. I have multiple sets on order but he won't hardly respond. I don't care about the price so much as just getting them, but they seem as hard to pull out of this world as hen's teeth.
So get your bushings while you can before this one dries up, I have promised the guy repeated orders to try and keep the supply going.

mbenzman

Do you need the front one replaced? I would bet not. I don't believe they're available seperately anyway. Just the front and rear in one box for servicing the one arm.

Zoom On

Thats cool MR, nothing wrong with firm controll as long as it is not harsh. Sounds like this is the perfect balance. I can't wait to get mine on and see.