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Almost made it home. Drove it about 20 miles after I heard the PSSHHHHT sound of air being expelled from the driver front bag before the tire started making a rubbing sound on the inner fender liner that was a bit much for me. Tow the rest of the way home was $275. Only had to wait 5 hours for it. Have to submit to Progressive for reimbursement. Got lucky getting it onto the flatbed in that the bag actually pumped up a couple inches right before driving it up onto the platform. That, along with the two, 2" thick rubber pads I stole from under the swing set ramped the car up nicely onto the truck avoiding any front-end damage.I just ordered two Arnott AS-2540's so as to retain the OEM active dampening. Will do a thread on the replacement of those if ya'll want, since these things are getting old enough to be cheap enough to work on yourself. Arnott's will be here next week.
1. It's safe at home in the garage right now while it waits for the new struts. I have the left front jack point right behind the wheel sitting on a jack at normal ride height. It kept pumped up during the tow enough to drive it off the tow truck and into the garage, where I hurried while I could to get the floor jack under it and level it out.
2. I probably could have attempted, and possibly drove it the rest of the way home (about 15-20 miles) after it pumped up a bit but I didn't want to burn up the compressor with stop-and-go.
1. It's safe at home in the garage right now while it waits for the new struts. I have the left front jack point right behind the wheel sitting on a jack at normal ride height. It kept pumped up during the tow enough to drive it off the tow truck and into the garage, where I hurried while I could to get the floor jack under it and level it out.
2. I probably could have attempted, and possibly drove it the rest of the way home (about 15-20 miles) after it pumped up a bit but I didn't want to burn up the compressor with stop-and-go.
I drove 335 miles with the front left strut all the way down. It was a bit rough ride but did not damage anything. The only problem was I could not make sharp left turns for tire rub.
Strut change job is super easy after you have the right tools, like the ball joint separator. The loaner from AutoZone does not work. I don't know if some other car part store has better ones. The best is the one from Harbor freight that you need to grind a little bit open to fit all the way on the bolt. It is thin enough to go in where the one from AutoZone is not and will not go in enough even after grinding.
Strut change job is super easy after you have the right tools, like the ball joint separator. The loaner from AutoZone does not work. I don't know if some other car part store has better ones. The best is the one from Harbor freight that you need to grind a little bit open to fit all the way on the bolt. It is thin enough to go in where the one from AutoZone is not and will not go in enough even after grinding.
The Harbor Freight one is absolutely perfect for this job. Just load it up with some tension and lightly tap around the area and it will release without tearing the boot or violently flinging tools across the garage. Do not just crank on the bolt until the joint separates! The tool will break.
Came out to the same view summer of last year, when headed to lunch! Sadly opened my door and all could hear was air rushing out, strut didn't even attempt to lift!
Smart move with ordering both sides! I was hesitant, but thankful I did as whenever I lifted the vehicle to replace them the passenger side ruptured.
The Harbor Freight one is absolutely perfect for this job. Just load it up with some tension and lightly tap around the area and it will release without tearing the boot or violently flinging tools across the garage. Do not just crank on the bolt until the joint separates! The tool will break.
please post a picture of this specific separator, I may have it already. But none of the ones I tried worked, I had to use a pickle fork and a crowbar and even then it was the hardest part of the job. Thank you
please post a picture of this specific separator, I may have it already. But none of the ones I tried worked, I had to use a pickle fork and a crowbar and even then it was the hardest part of the job. Thank you
I had to grind the fork open at the bottom a little bit so it goes in all the way. It needs to, otherwise it won’t stay in place when tightening the screw.
Other thing, you want to leave the nut on the ball joint stud so it covers the end of the thread AND does not allow parts and tools fly around when the stud release from the tapered hole. It will just POP against the nut still on the stud.
And yes, as already mentioned, you will break the tool if you over tighten it. Put a good tension on it and then tap with a hammer.
I had to grind the fork open at the bottom a little bit so it goes in all the way. It needs to, otherwise it won’t stay in place when tightening the screw.
Other thing, you want to leave the nut on the ball joint stud so it covers the end of the thread AND does not allow parts and tools fly around when the stud release from the tapered hole. It will just POP against the nut still on the stud.
And yes, as already mentioned, you will break the tool if you over tighten it. Put a good tension on it and then tap with a hammer.
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Arrie, thank you so much for the tool tip! I have read over the procedure in WIS and watched the Arnott YouTube video of the replacement just in case there was anything specific or not obvious that I couldn't figure out myself, but yeah, front struts are cake on these things.
That said, would you please post a link to the exact tool you're describing? I will go to Harbor Freight today and pick it up so I can grind it down and prepare it for when the struts get here. Which, by the way, will be here tomorrow, a week early! I need to start getting this thing torn apart so I can get the new ones in and get the cores back as quickly as possible! If I sit on cores too long, I tend to blow them off and never get the refund!
Thanks also for the compliment, it is a very clean car! With only 46k miles on it!
Thanks to all for sharing! And yeah, it looks pretty sick that low!
I drove 335 miles with the front left strut all the way down. It was a bit rough ride but did not damage anything. The only problem was I could not make sharp left turns for tire rub.
Strut change job is super easy after you have the right tools, like the ball joint separator. The loaner from AutoZone does not work. I don't know if some other car part store has better ones. The best is the one from Harbor freight that you need to grind a little bit open to fit all the way on the bolt. It is thin enough to go in where the one from AutoZone is not and will not go in enough even after grinding.
My advice is to just remove the inboard lower arm bolt - no need to separate the ball joint. Did both my front struts a couple of weeks ago. So long as you re-tighten the bolt when the car is back at ride height it's straight forward.
My advice is to just remove the inboard lower arm bolt - no need to separate the ball joint. Did both my front struts a couple of weeks ago. So long as you re-tighten the bolt when the car is back at ride height it's straight forward.
on 4matic cars, the ball joint and the strut are 1 unit and need to be separated from the lower control arm in order to be removed. The one that connects the upper control arm to the knuckle can stay
My advice is to just remove the inboard lower arm bolt - no need to separate the ball joint. Did both my front struts a couple of weeks ago. So long as you re-tighten the bolt when the car is back at ride height it's straight forward.
Perfect, that's what I'll do. Thank you! That's what I'd prefer to do anyway. I'm RWD. Getting ahead of myself here before getting underneath it and looking at it for myself. It's been so long since I've done anything with this car that I don't remember all the crap I researched last year regarding maintenance things I had planned for it. It just sits in the garage Lol. I put 2,400 miles on it since last February. Can't let these things sit like that or you end up like me at 46k total miles!
I have the luxury of having a pit! More difficult without though - and the bolt is pretty tight. You don't have to have the wheel on though to get the hub at the right height.
For those of us with ABC, I heard Arnott is not remanufacturing struts any longer (at least for now). Anyone know if MB uses them, or do they have their own source? I don't need it yet, but all four will fail sooner or later.
For those of us with ABC, I heard Arnott is not remanufacturing struts any longer (at least for now). Anyone know if MB uses them, or do they have their own source? I don't need it yet, but all four will fail sooner or later.
Mercedes Benz dealers are the single best and cheapest source for ABC struts. They are rebuilt by MB to an insane quality standard and can't identified as remanufactured at all!!! My experience: lead manager at a large independent German automotive repair facility for 1 year, where I managed and optimized parts ordering! All other sources are junk!
Best case is to befriend a local independent repair facility and ask bluntly for discounted parts (sometimes you'll save money over the dealer). Also, No parts manager or owner will ever turn down a quick 5-10% profit on parts. If you live in an area deprived of independent repair facilities, contact a close one via phone and have a conversation, as again parts managers or owners will never turn down a quick 5-10% profit on parts, even if they have to ship them. However, they will ask you to pay for shipping!
How? It's under the car. That's not necessary with the ball joint.
I'll be dropping my front wheels down on blocks of wood then slide underneath on my back. After the job is done and this being the very last step, I'll run the car so it pumps up and levels out, then hit the ride height button to the high position. That should give me a couple more inches as well. I've done this before. You just want to load the bushings after tightening so you don't introduce any unnecessary binding at ride height. That's pretty standard for all cars regarding lower control arm components.
I'll be dropping my front wheels down on blocks of wood then slide underneath on my back. After the job is done and this being the very last step, I'll run the car so it pumps up and levels out, then hit the ride height button to the high position. That should give me a couple more inches as well. I've done this before. You just want to load the bushings after tightening so you don't introduce any unnecessary binding at ride height. That's pretty standard for all cars regarding lower control arm components.
There us no ride height involved with the strut change. Are you mixing up with lower control arm change?
Separate the upper wishbone ball joint si it provides enough room to maneuver the strut out and in.
There's enough room without undoing the upper ball joint. If there is residual pressure in the strut - as there was in mine - I had to lower the lower arm to get the strut off the lower arm ball joint spigot after removing the two "studs" at the bottom of the strut.
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