Hi guys,

I'm having incredible difficulty removing the trunk rod from my CL to access the hockey puck to epoxy it up.

The rod end does not seem to want to separate from the ball joint it attaches to. I have even removed the plastic cover surrounding that area (back part of locking mechanism) to allow more access and nothing seems to be doing the trick for me. I don't want to break anything, yet I'm using quite a bit of force with no budging. It almost seems that the angle between the lock and the latch is too great and not allowing the rod end to pop out.

Any insight I can get to help get me through this would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Maybe this thread might be a bit of help to you. Look at response #4. http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...k-problem.html

Unfortunately not. It just says to unsnap the rod but it's damn near impossible without breaking something. Thanks for looking out, though!

I was finally able to get it off, but not the same as this R230 thread shows:

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...w-fix-diy.html

You have to remove it at the end closest to the puck. After hours of trying to pry off the ball joint end, I finally yanked on the other end and it came out relatively easy. Phew.

Glad you were able to get it off. Sometimes removing these parts seem almost impossible. Yesterday I was trying to remove one of the "standing lamps" and if you don't have hands the size of a small child it can be quite a challenge just to replace a $2 bulb.