ZEEK

I think its time for me to change some parts in my front suspension. I have a hard vibration and rough steering wheel when turning right on a freeway. It feels like the left (drivers side) tire does not grip the road. I have a strong feeling that its my left balljoint going bad... Does anybody have had this kind of problem before? I was thinking of changing out the bushings as well. I was looking for some oem bushings on ebay and found a good deal on front upper control arms with bushings. Is it ok to change out the control arms too? or the upper and lower control arms need to be changed together?

Thanks a lot in advance techs.

Ausmbtech

On your W209 there is a upper ball joint (almost never gives trouble) and 2 lower ball joints. The symptoms you describe sound a bit more like a broken engine mount than a suspension problem.

Check your engine mounts by loading the engine up in gear with the bonnet up while watching the engine cover to see if it lifts too much in both drive and reverse.

A visual inspection of the bushes and ball joints should be ok, the ball joints almost never get play, they get noisy though.

ZEEK

I see... In the winter i did get noise coming from the front but i cant recall which side. It was a squeeky noise whenever i would move the steering to park the car. As it got warmer the noise went away. I will go ahead and inspect the engine. thanks a lot

~CL500~

Check your tie rod ends for play. Get the front end off the ground, hold the front wheels at 9 and 3 o'clock positions and try to move it side-to-side. If there's play, then your tie rod end is bad on that side.

Also, try the 12 and 6 o'clock positions on the wheels. There should be no play there either.

Good luck

Gullwing

Torque strut bushings!!!
They go bad all the time, bushing have been updated several times.

ZEEK

damn i dont know what it is...

I noticed some more stuff today...my front wheel feels like its flat but its not flat, it feels like its about to come off... whenever i hit a bump the wheels do not stay straight they change position almost as i changed a lane.

ZEEK

hey man thanks for your reply, what do you mean by 12 and 5 o'clock positions?

TMAllison

Your tire, like a clock, is round.

Problem with pulling back and forth is determining where the movement comes from. Could be tie rod ends. Could be wheel bearing play. Could be a couple of other things.

Your tire balance is known good?

ZEEK

yeah the tires are balanced properly.

~CL500~

NP.

See what TMAllison said.

+1

You mention the wheel feels like it's falling off. I know this is probably not the case, at least I would hope not, but are the lug nuts securely fastened? This could also be thrust arms.


You need to get the car on a lift or jack stands and thoroughly inspect your front end suspension. Start off by doing the simple "clock" tests I mentioned earlier and go from there. Remove the front wheels for a better view. If you're not suited for this, I suggest you visit a mechanic or the dealership. You shouldn't continue to drive normally without knowing EXACTLY what the problem is as it may be serious.

ZEEK

thank you buddy, i will go ahead and take it to a mechanic and get it inspected.

99MBSport

check the inner and outer bearings for play or noise.

Supafly

I had a symtom of vibration through the steering wheel at high speed and it made bumping noises when i drove over a speed bump or driveway....it turned out to be a split driverside thrust arm bushing and a bad lower tierod....

M-bENZ

is it cost too much to replace those ? did u jsut replace the bushing by itself or the whole arm ?

Andy

Supafly

i'll qoute in canadian prices...bushings were 40bucks each at mb, and the tierod end was 78 bucks...labour was astronomical...

also have a tech look at your knuckle (spindle) aswell... thats a good 475 bucks.

M-bENZ

Thank You

Andy

FastDonzi

check out this web site for parts when you get a chance.mercedespartssupersore.com. they also show alot of the parts in a diagram for reference.