Front Ball Joint advice needed please. W211

[The Mirror Man]

Had the car for a little over a week and 800 miles now and I've pinned the clonking at the front to a lower ball joint, the front one of the 2, on the end of an alloy arm. This one. Can someone tell me what this is called so I can order one, and is it a DIY job? Thank you in advance.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

front lower control arm , diy job certainly . 610220995 ecp . or try car parts 4 less. lemforder ...

 

[merc85]

There are front lower the Torque Arms, Yes diy for sure and when torquing them up do it with the suspension under load eg on the ground or at normal ride height.

 

[The Mirror Man]

front lower control arm , diy job certainly . 610220995 ecp . or try car parts 4 less. lemforder ...

Are Lemforder the brand to go for? I've since seen D2P brand on ebay for less than £40 and First Line for £74. Is there a big difference?

 

[Trickythemerc]

Lemforder every time for me, don't buy the cheap stuff it can be and often is crap.

 

[The Mirror Man]

I'll do control arm after doing the 2 front wheel bearings. They are both completely knackered but I've just found out they are only £43 a side from MB. I hope that comes with the famous MB green grease.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Lucky you mine was £189 for one . lemforder are on par with mb parts.

 

[selphy]

Will MB really sell you the front wheel bearings? I thought you could only buy the complete hub from them for about £190 which has the bearings and grease already in. I just bought SKF bearings from ECP for about £35 but would have got genuine MB parts had I known they were available.

 

[The Mirror Man]

Will MB really sell you the front wheel bearings? I thought you could only buy the complete hub from them for about £190 which has the bearings and grease already in. I just bought SKF bearings from ECP for about £35 but would have got genuine MB parts had I known they were available.

Yes they will, according to MB Ulverston anyway. Quoted me 328.10 for the bearing and £7.65 for the rear seal, all +VAT = £42.90 per side. Add £7.80 for a tube of Green Grease and that's £93.60 all in. I've ordered a new Thermostat too for £61.80.

That's £155.40 and a very busy weekend, but I'll have a much quieter drive, a warmer engine and better MPG.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

good luck doing them bearings .

 

[The Mirror Man]

good luck doing them bearings .

Hmmm! what do you know that I don't know about MB bearings?(and I've never worked on a MB before. Are they impossible to do DIY?

 

[OneForTheRoad]

not at all . if you get the racers out and new bearings in , the rear seal is also the abs , power steering , and esp pick up sensor . i used lucas parts and it turned sour , maybe you'll have better luck .

guide here ---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Pu5BNUX5I

 

[The Mirror Man]

not at all . if you get the racers out and new bearings in , the rear seal is also the abs , power steering , and esp pick up sensor . i used lucas parts and it turned sour , maybe you'll have better luck .

guide here ---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Pu5BNUX5I

"i used lucas parts and it turned sour"

How did it turn sour?

Love the YT vid. That's the one that convinced me it was diable on a w211. I watched it earlier in the week.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

bearings were tight at the end of the shaft , pick up ring wasn't close enough to abs sensor , i had power steering loss , abs and esp problems . bit the bullet and bought a mb hub new at £ 189 .

 

[The Mirror Man]

Oh dear. It sounds like you had a nightmare.

I've just finished changing both sides. It wasn't that problematic. Just basic DIY spanner work really. Glad I watched the yt vid a couple of times. I haven't test driven it yet and your tale of woe has got me worried now. lol.

Just the thermostat to do tomorrow and I'll be back on the road with a quieter ride and better mpg. Had a 50 mile round trip to collect the part from the MB main dealer and only got 36mpg.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

have you got the part numbers for the bearing kit mb supplied ??

 

[The Mirror Man]

have you got the part numbers for the bearing kit mb supplied ??

I'll dig the boxes out of the bin and post the up. I glad a went to genuine parts.

 

[The Mirror Man]

Here you matie. Top one is the outer/smaller bearing, the second item are the seals, the third is the green grease, and the next is the thermostat and the last is the inner/larger bearing. It says there is only 1 inner bearing but there was actually 2.

The green grease comes in 150g tubs and Mercedes say that is enough for both wheels. It's not, if you want to pack the hubs like MB do, you need 2 tubes.

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Are the racers on that list ?

 

[The Mirror Man]

Are the racers on that list ?

Where is says Taper Roller Bear or Taper Roller, you get both parts of the bearing, the race and the roller bearing that runs in it.

Order 2 of everything on that list (apart from the thermostat of course) and you'll have everything you need.

I took the car out for a 80ish mile drive and it's much quieter and I dont have any warning lights on. :bannana: