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My car’s shocker front strut boots are worn. Can anyone share the exact part number of dust boots of struts from the VIN and how to change instructions ?
VIN WDD2120036L035438
Thanks in advance
There are several videos on utube, can use the ones for e350 4matic w212 as a guide as well. I did my control arms at same time. Basically lift front, remove tires, I removed brakes/rotor/dust shield suspending caliper properly. Disconnect the sway bar link, 2 bolts/nuts from bottom of strut and the 3 small bolts from top of strut tower under the hood. Jimmy it out.
Then you will need a spring compressor, compress spring and remove top nut on strut, this allows removal of the spring and dust shield and related parts. VERY DANGEROUS when compressing springs.
leaky stabilizer link
the darker color shows the grease has come out...
suggested strut parts
No90: top strut bushing
No80: strut bearing
No50: dust shield
No10: strut cartridge
strut parts disassembled
I just got done replacing my strut bearing/bushing at 60kMi: this made a huge difference in handling at highway speeds.
Now steering is easy and precise (due to bearing) and car is well planted straight (due to main bushing).
front wheel control parts
A new front control arm is always very welcomed. It includes two wear parts bushing + BJ. Outcome better toe control and better brakes.
Side control arm has a separate BJ that needs to go!
+++ F+R stab links...
Once you have replaced Front stab.links only, you may realize that the side-to-side chassis motion involves bad front link as well as rear ones. They wear out together. Replace both Front+Rear stabilizer links. Very simple job.
++++ Strut top NUT....
You may want to loosen top nut half-turn while strut is still installed on the car.
Once strut is removed it makes it more difficult to apply removal torque necessary unless you have a fast impact tool.
NOTE: be sure not to spin the strut shaft at high speed while trying to work top nut out - This kills old strut seals.
The shaft should be held when backing out large nut while heavy spring tension is compressed, ready to spring sideways on you... be safe !
Too add what cali mentioned the top strut mount part number 90 in his diagram be sure to get the better ones (if you replace it). I got this one off amazon
the ones I got in the kit from FCP euro were not near as good quality. Forgot what brand they were. I did use the part 80 from the fcp euro kit as the genuine ones I got off amazon did not come with that part.
Spring compressor took I got off amazon (if you do it yourself). Not perfect but seems to work ok, I was able to make it work.
Another thing be mindful and buy good quality torx bits, depending on how far you get into it, those bolts require a decent amount of force to break the nuts free and cheapo torx bits will fail on ya.
Also on my e250 the brake pad sensor is on the passenger side so if taking caliper off be careful and disconnect that before moving caliper. Ya may not have to get that far into it, I did most of the front end at one time so cant recall exactly minimum required to get just the strut out. Overall once you get the hang of it its not that hard of an evolution but getting the various bolts loose can be a chore like any suspension work on older cars. At 106k miles my e250 original struts were pretty much shot, the other suspension components were not too bad and could of gone longer.
My car is driven 51,000 miles, September 2013 Manufactured. What all parts should I change as of these miles. Currently experiencing no problems at all in the suspension but I can see that the link ends and dust cap boot are worn out completely, I will get them replaced in few days. What all parts are the most expensive ones?
My car is driven 51,000 miles, September 2013 Manufactured.
What all parts should I change as of these miles. Currently experiencing no problems at all in the suspension but I can see that the link ends and dust cap boot are worn out completely, I will get them replaced in few days. What all parts are the most expensive ones?
All these parts are cheap, the MB specialist labor charges are the bulk of the cost.
You may want to avoid duplicating work multiple times: do it once, do it right!
We can guess your strut seal without boot protection has been eating dust...
-- at 50kMi, I would let it be as is then replace whole strut assembly later.
-- or pay labor charges to replace bad parts to extend strut life to near 100kMi.
Stabizer links need ALL FOUR F+R at once.
Rubber bushings are the source of looseness...
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; 08-26-2024 at 04:09 PM.