thinush

Hi,

My rear subframe is bent on my Merc.
I have bought a replacement from a stripper

Firstly My Car:
A209 CLK 500 (Model 2002 - Delivery 2005)
VIN: WDB2094752T054965 (Please advise if I should remove this, willing to pm if needed)

Because of the subframe (which is bent on the left side) the Control Arm (left not sure top or bottom) is bent and there is also a stabilizer needed to be replaced (right side).
was sold this car by a second hand dealership, and now a year later the subframe issue was pointed out after trouble trying to align the wheels It was found that they tried to bend it straight burning it with a welder...ugh)

So I would like to endeavor to do this myself.
I can get assistance along the way from mechanics. Especially confirming work done.
But the key thing for me, is to know what is needed to do the job right.

I was wondering of there is any MB dealership diagrams related to replacing, or removal of the sub frame. Of course, replacement of the control arms on the rear and stabilizer would also be useful.

In return, I will record as much footage as I can and make an edit to assist anyone else attempting similar work in future :-)

Any advice around this will be appreciated. I know this will be a difficult job, but I feel with enough planning I should be able to manage it.

Thank you for your assistance :-D
(Please advise if additional details are needed).

insame1

It pretty easy. Once you disconnect all the lines and cables going to the axle and brakes you drop the four bolts and pull it out.

Yidney

Yeah, it's actually meant to come out for certain reasons. You will notice that one of the bolts holding one of the arms cannot be removed unless you drop the subframe. Although you can cut that bolt and re-install it "backwards," the correct procedure to replace that arm requires dropping the whole assembly.

thinush

Thank you guys. You're responses are exactly why I ask :-D

1) This bolt I might have to cut. Is it one of those types of bolts I could just walk into a car part shop and get hold of? My dad has allot of bolts and thinks he will probably have something

2) I was talking to my dad and one of the issues he mentions I might encounter is putting the bushings onto the surbframe. He says sometimes it is needed to use a press to push them in. So if that is the case I have someone that will be able to do that for me.
I also understand now for pipes (petrol tank is possibility) that I disconnect I will be needing something to clamp with :-D

I'm going to go look at youtube vidoes now of people replacing subframes :-P

But please if you have any information that could help me on this scary path please think of me and share it :

Yidney

If you are dropping the subframe, then you don't need to cut the bolt. That was my point - that the subframe is meant to be lowered because you need to lower it to remove that arm - unless you cut the bolt. I don't think you need to press in anything. The bushings are in the various arms. They are already pressed in the arm when you buy the arms. This job is not that technically difficult, but you are lowering a big thing so you need the ability to support and lower it.

Yidney

Also, to remove the various arms, either to reuse or replace them, you need a tool called a triple square - I forget which size. The bolts on many of the rear suspension arms use a triple square head - It looks sort of like a torx head, but it has more points and each point is exactly a 90 degree angle. Its not a bit you can buy everywhere, but some chain auto parts stores carry them.

Rudeney

It's a 12-point bolt head, right? If so , the Craftsman Max Axess sets will work.

Yidney

Yup - also called 12-point. I think it's called triple square because it looks like if you took three square pieces of paper stacked on each other, and then rotated them so all 12 corners were evenly spaced around a circle.

thinush

Yeah there's a close by shop that sell those triple square. I'll figure out what size I might have.

I'm really glad the bushings dont need to be pressed :-D
I'm thinking I'll use 1 or 2 jacks or trestle's to help hold the subframe when it comes loose.

Your input is greatly appreaciated :-D

thinush

I just had my car lifted up to figure out what control arm is bent. But we didnt see anything. But It is the bushing on the control arm that is destroyed, from what I was explained this will keep happening unless I replace the subframe.

I took a picture of the control arm.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2o...ew?usp=sharing
(Not the greatest piture but the point is the bushing that is retired).

The bushing is destroyed. Do I replace the whole control arm? Or just the bushing?
I dont mind the cost of replacing the control arms...
I feel unsure about just replacing the bushings. Especially if the subframe was bent, maybe the control arm is bent but was just not visible to me?

Anyways.. .just asking in case someone has a valuable opinion for me :-D Thank you.

insame1

You do have to push sub-frame bushings in. the control arm hold up your car if it is not bent and the ball joint on the other side is good you can just replace the bushing.

Yidney

No ball joint. That's on front control arms. That has a bushing on both ends. If I were you I'd price a replacement - don't buy from a dealer. If the price is not great I'd replace it rather than have to deal with pressing in bushings.

thinush

I previously got a price for the control arms which was R2000. When I went to order now, they quoted me the control arms upper and lower and also stabilizer linkes all for R3200.
So I just bought it all :-D I dont have confidence with the car, so If I get to do all this I will feel much better :-D Previous place really screwed me nicely on this car. But things are looking better.

Guys, I really appreciate your insight. It has given me allot to think about, and I believe now I am on the right track to have a relaxed Saturday and Sunday (By the looks of things this might be done in 1 day).

I'm hoping to post back with some success :-D
Thanx

thinush

Erm.. important question now that we are digging in.

Do we have to remove/lower the diff?
Im hoping and thinking its not needed. Anyone? :-)

Rudeney

Yes, the differential must also be removed:

http://benzbits.com/w209/RemoveRearAxle.pdf

thinush

Thank you very much for that.
I need to order a new bushing for the subframe/wishbone, so will have to try the whole thing next week when i get that.

Seems this car still needs allot of work. Getting strange noises from power steering. The things people get away with selling... ai

thinush

Disconnecting rear parking brake cables under the seat is my only problem left to figure out.

There are little white clips sitting in the way of releasing the cables and im trying to avoid breaking them. Any tips? I find nothing in wis except special clip tool, but unsure hoe these things clip loose.

Please if someone can advise on this :-)
Ill attach image in next post

thinush

Yeah so I got through the parking brake issue :-)
Use pliers to pull on the little white plugs till they same out. They didnt break, but maybe deformed slightly but nothing that will be an issue.

Rear axle is now completely removed.
I have to replace the spring control arm.. these people used a hammer to bend it... not sure if that was to get the bushing to hold or what... but they sure messed up.

I'm buying new spring control arms from stealership... not sure if I can use reconditioned ones?

Yidney

Why not buy them cheaper online? Stealer won't have them in stock anyway.

thinush

Everything is available overseas so the shipping becomes more than what the part price is :-(
I was offered refurbished ones at R100 more than the new ones. I ended up going with stealership, they will have them for me tomorrow. This is probably the one bad buy I made (except the car.. its condition). I was unsure if i taking refurbished is a good idea. But looking at it... the guys wantijg to sell them second hand dont seem to know what the price is new.

Btw... thank you very much for the help you gave. Im on the last bit of this, and seems in the end i saved allot of money :-) we will see if the car can still drive hehe. Reconnecting the diff is all im worried about, but i think im doing it right. Will probably know by wednesday if I did the job right or not :-)

thinush

My fingers feel like they went to the gym.

So at last over the weekend got time to work on my car.
I have put it all back together again, lowered it onto the wheels, drove back at forward a couple of times and then put the rear onto stands.

But, I believe I did a bad job on the control arms.

I was hoping someone could advise me, I am going to go to mercedes and see if they will 'answer all my technical questions' as they claimed with their automated voice during hold :-P

So I didnt like a good boy take pictures and make marks where everything goes and what way around. And most of my control arms are new ones that I put on.
My issue now is to verify everything is correct.

I believe I might have some of the control arms the wrong way around.
The WIS contains a nice image of all the control arms. (Cant find it right now). I do have WIS available if anybody can recommend a page.
But looking at the image does not help to know which side should be at the wheel, and which side at the subframe.

I found this
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w201...rt-number.html
Nice pictures of the camber strut and pulling strut.

But as with all the documentation... how do I identify which side of the control arm goes to the subframe?
My worries are with
Camber Strut
Pulling Strut

The lower front control arm... in this picture it's number 11.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...controlarm.jpg
(Does the plastic cover face to the front? Or to the back? Based on marks on the plastic cover I think I have this one on correctly.

If there is some kind of WIS document that clearly helps to identify which side of the control arm connects to the subframe, could someone assist with that, where in the WIS it is?

Thank you very much :-) Job's nearly done

Yidney

Which arm is the one that you have lower the subframe to remove the bolt? Hope you put that one in right. Can you find some pictures online of the suspension? Like pictures somebody took while doing some project - replacing bushings or springs or shocks? The drawings are not a lot of help. Or jack your car up and remove a wheel and take some good photos and I can compare the photos to my car.

insame1

I think it would be hard to put the arms in the wrong place. Did you tighten the bolts with the car in the air? If so put the car back in the air loosen the bolts and then set the car on ramps or something so you can put the wheel at ride height and re tighten the bolts.

thinush

Ok, one of the WIS documents seems to give me a good idea of most of the control arms.

1) The control arm that you need to lower the sub frame for is on, but I learnt that you can put it on with the subframe up, it's just a major difficulty.
It seems to be called the 'pulling strut'.
I stand corrected to some extend with my worries about this control arm.
The packaging that I received this in does not indicate right / left side of the car. So I am assuming if you connect it to the vehicle it does not matter which side is facing forward as long as you connected the correct side to the subframe. If this is the case I am correct.

2) The camber strut/top control arm I have figured out from he the WIS drawing :-P The curve is below, and then I have the correct side on the subframe. I'm worried that I am wrong about the curve being below... the WIS actually failed me as it does seem to not show at all which side goes where

3) My only last worry is the bottom control arm that's to the front. It has the plastic cover on. Base on damage I noticed on the plastic sleeve, I can assume that I have connected it correctly to the subframe, but I am unsure if the plastic should face to the nose of the car or away. I would believe it should face to the front of the car.

4) I bought ramps to specifically put the car on to torque the bolts :-) So thank goodness I'm ready to do that right :-D


Ok the pictures :-) I would appreciate anything you can help me with here.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2o...ew?usp=sharing
This one I feel confident is correct. The picture is taken from the front looking to the back of the car on the left rear wheel.
The plastic cover faces to the front of the car. The plastic was never removed. I think the correct one is on the left and the right. But there is no way for me to tell. Does it matter ? :-D

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...mFSV0ZNTnNtemM
This one confuses me slightly. The packaging didnt specify which one is right or left. I do know which side connects to the subframe, but I am unsure of the left or right matters, and which part faces forward/back, it's pretty identical top/bottom... so does it matter? hehe. I just noticed this only connects one side to subframe, it cant connect the other way, it's just which side faces forward (if that matters)

I hope this was all not senseless and useless :-D
I'm hoping my job is nearly done, I want to try and make the wheel alignment shop in a couple of minutes...

Anyways :-D Thank you very much.

thinush

Ok.

So I have completed the installation :-) And all is well.
I'm going to make a write up on some blog somewhere about the experience, issues I faced and maybe some of the steps I followed. I think the information will be useful to someone, especially to speed up the proccess and get past catches early :-) Sadly no videos and little pictures... Job took way too long and too much energy to make some kind of DIY video. But I will give references to other videos that I used.

Thank you all for assistance provided. It really helped me allot.

Btw :-) The control arms can be connected the wrong way. hehe. My biggest mistake was not keeping track of which way around they were. But I should not have disconnected them completely in the beginning to start with. But so we learn :-)