Front lower ball joint question?
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'04 E500
Front lower ball joint question?
Hopefully I'm asking this correctly: are you able to replace just the ball joint or does it come as a unit with the control arm. If I have a bad ball joint, which I don't doubt, can shop replace just the ball joint. Thanks for any input.
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From: Ft. Lauderdale Area, USA
2015 ML 350
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
'04 E500
Barry- Those invoice prices are almost 3 days old. I was hoping for something more current.
.........LOL.........seriously, good info to know for when I stop by dealer this week. Thanks. I always hear people say u must get alignment after this type of job??
.........LOL.........seriously, good info to know for when I stop by dealer this week. Thanks. I always hear people say u must get alignment after this type of job??
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2004
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From: Ft. Lauderdale Area, USA
2015 ML 350
This is my 1st repair on me. MBUSA Ext Warranty ran out end of Feb.. Gonna keep tabs of costs & not let myself get beat up frequently & cumulatively. This vehicle in particular is superb, but I don't want to spend thousands keeping it on the road in perfect shape.
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From: KY
2003 E500
That quote appeared to be the upper control arm ball joint.
You've got a few 'ball' joints in there: lower ball joint, upper control arm ball joint, and the thrust arm ball joint.
I changed out both lowers and 1 upper over the weekend. Parts are cheap, labor is expensive. Expect ~50 for each lower ball joint in parts....4 hours of labor each side I suspect. Upper should be around 70-110 ea (depending on where you get the parts at)...2-3 hours labor each side. Although, if you have a mono upper control arm (usually only early 2003 models) you'll spend quite a bit more getting the newer model upper control arm. Thrust arms/ball joints should be 60-200 each (again depending on where you get the parts at)...around 2 hours labor.
Of course we all know that labor at MB will be more.
You've got a few 'ball' joints in there: lower ball joint, upper control arm ball joint, and the thrust arm ball joint.
I changed out both lowers and 1 upper over the weekend. Parts are cheap, labor is expensive. Expect ~50 for each lower ball joint in parts....4 hours of labor each side I suspect. Upper should be around 70-110 ea (depending on where you get the parts at)...2-3 hours labor each side. Although, if you have a mono upper control arm (usually only early 2003 models) you'll spend quite a bit more getting the newer model upper control arm. Thrust arms/ball joints should be 60-200 each (again depending on where you get the parts at)...around 2 hours labor.
Of course we all know that labor at MB will be more.
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Yes, you can replace ball joint only on lower control arm (where the shock attaches), but if your torsion arm (link) ball joint is bad you will need to replace it like whole unit because the ball joint is part of it. Upper control arm is been updated so if you need upper ball joint you need to get the new style w/removable ball joints.
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Also, according to the prices you state above, would you say that to replace them would set me back about $1k?
