Bad axle or did I break?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 3
From: Knoxville, Tennessee
2005 E500 4Matic wagon
Bad axle or did I break?
On my '05 E500 4matic, I decided to replace the front axles since the boots were split, I was getting noise when turning, and one of my front airmatic struts failed. I had a lot of difficulty on the left side, and when I got it together, I just get a grinding noise from the left side when the transmission is in gear. When I took the axle back out, I find the inner joint is the problem.
So, since this is a brand new axle, I am hesitant to open it up and see if the bearings have come off or if there are other problems. Is it even possible for me to mess it up? It is possible I extended the axle too far as I did have trouble getting it to compress when I went to attach the wheel. On my old axle, I have extended them too far and had to work to get them back in, but the boots are almost non existent. Is it possible to extend too far with the boot and then have things come apart?
If I open it, is there an easy way to put the clamp back on?
So, since this is a brand new axle, I am hesitant to open it up and see if the bearings have come off or if there are other problems. Is it even possible for me to mess it up? It is possible I extended the axle too far as I did have trouble getting it to compress when I went to attach the wheel. On my old axle, I have extended them too far and had to work to get them back in, but the boots are almost non existent. Is it possible to extend too far with the boot and then have things come apart?
If I open it, is there an easy way to put the clamp back on?
Newbie
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: Vancouver, BC Canada
2005 E320 4Matic
If you still have the original shaft, you may try to rebuild by yourself, replacing inner and outer boots at the same time is not so hard because inner ring is much easier to take it off.
The $100 aftermarket shaft was verified a wasting of money.
after removing shaft, it's a good time to replace old air strut and upper control arm together.
The $100 aftermarket shaft was verified a wasting of money.
after removing shaft, it's a good time to replace old air strut and upper control arm together.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 3
From: Knoxville, Tennessee
2005 E500 4Matic wagon
Based on this, I am going to open the inner and see if I can put things back together. I found a $12 band clamp tool at Northern Tool today, and I hope it works. I do have the original axles, and know I could rebuild if I need to, but I am going to hold this as a last resort.
I have already replaced just about everything in the front suspension.
I have already replaced just about everything in the front suspension.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 16
Likes: 3
From: Knoxville, Tennessee
2005 E500 4Matic wagon
To close out my own thread, I had pulled the inner CV joint apart. The solution was to remove the band, dig in the grease to find the parts, and then put things back together. This design has a cage with 3 ***** for the inner joint. The cage and ***** were apart in the boot.
