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Ball Joint replacement - Issue with rotor splash shield clearance
EDIT: Solved the issue, but figured I would leave the post if anyone else is having the problem. I just bet the splash shield as much as i could which barely gave the the clearance the pull it out, then I bent the shield back. Definitely not ideal, but it worked.
Hey guys,
I'm replacing the lower control arm and ball joint on my '99 E320. I have the lower control arm completely removed, and the ball joint is loose. However, I don't have the clearance to actually remove the ball joint. It is hitting the rotor splash shield.
Below is link to an image showing the problem. It's not my car, just a picture from google but I figured it would be better. There is a bump in the shield right where the mercedes logo is. The bump is what is in my way.
Take the 2 minutes it takes to remove the shield. The bolt in ball joints are so quick and easy to replace, compared to press-in ones, that you have the time to do it.
Take the 2 minutes it takes to remove the shield. The bolt in ball joints are so quick and easy to replace, compared to press-in ones, that you have the time to do it.
I tried to figure out what was involved with removing it and it didn't look that simple. I definitely could have been wrong though.
On another note, as I'm reassembling everything I'm starting to worry that my steering knuckle is bent and this is why I am having this problem and no one else seems to have it. If anyone has had this clearance issue when removing the ball joint please let me know.
I just bend the shield a little bit and put the bottom one in first then lift the arm on top of the joint that connects to the control arm. This job takes about 15 minutes, but i'm also a benz tech with a rack so it's a little different then laying on your back
edit: if the old pin doesn't come out just pull the new pin out and line up the ball joint to the old pin and tighten it so it goes into the pin, replacing the pin or not has no effect on the vehicle as long as there is a pin there.
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