Morning all,
I have recently purchased into MB driving by acquiring an ml 270, My first thoughts when driving over sleeping policemen was that the front shocks needed replacement.
I quickly sent off for two shocks, and looked for help on the net, on how to fit them. I jacked the car up and axle standed and proceded to take off the wheel and take out the inner wing.
I found this quite easy, but i would say that careful extraction of the inner wings is important as it is quite easy to damage the wings if you go about it it hamfisted.
Inner wing off and an inspection of said shock, showed a lot of rust to the top fixing, Penetrating oil was the order of the day, and i would suggest plenty, and also to the bottom fixing as well, let it soak in before advancing as it will pay off later.
I found that by useing my MB wheelbrace as an extension on my t bar socket set helped to undo the bottom bolt it was on very tight but the Penetrating oil had done its job, but the top self locking nut had rusted onto the shaft and just twisted so as i was running out of light i cut that off with a junior hacksaw.
I removed the shock when i realised i had purchased a different shock replacement, mine had a boss on the bottom that recesses into the bottom of the wishbone my new one never, i had sawn off the top so i was in trouble, i would need the car in the morning so decided to cut the boss off of the old shock and do a temporary repair while i ordered the right shock.
Boss cut off and used as a spacer and the new shock fitted, i would like to point out that all parts should be checked before dismantling, as i had made an error that i needed to get over, also make sure your new shocks come with the top cover and bushes as mine didn't .
This worked and was ok till the new shocks came, as this side was new it came off easy so the replacement was fairly fast. Check your parts and don't make the same mistake as me. Parts differ from model to model, save yourself a lot of work by aquireing the right one first, i hope this may help.
I have recently purchased into MB driving by acquiring an ml 270, My first thoughts when driving over sleeping policemen was that the front shocks needed replacement.
I quickly sent off for two shocks, and looked for help on the net, on how to fit them. I jacked the car up and axle standed and proceded to take off the wheel and take out the inner wing.
I found this quite easy, but i would say that careful extraction of the inner wings is important as it is quite easy to damage the wings if you go about it it hamfisted.
Inner wing off and an inspection of said shock, showed a lot of rust to the top fixing, Penetrating oil was the order of the day, and i would suggest plenty, and also to the bottom fixing as well, let it soak in before advancing as it will pay off later.
I found that by useing my MB wheelbrace as an extension on my t bar socket set helped to undo the bottom bolt it was on very tight but the Penetrating oil had done its job, but the top self locking nut had rusted onto the shaft and just twisted so as i was running out of light i cut that off with a junior hacksaw.
I removed the shock when i realised i had purchased a different shock replacement, mine had a boss on the bottom that recesses into the bottom of the wishbone my new one never, i had sawn off the top so i was in trouble, i would need the car in the morning so decided to cut the boss off of the old shock and do a temporary repair while i ordered the right shock.
Boss cut off and used as a spacer and the new shock fitted, i would like to point out that all parts should be checked before dismantling, as i had made an error that i needed to get over, also make sure your new shocks come with the top cover and bushes as mine didn't .
This worked and was ok till the new shocks came, as this side was new it came off easy so the replacement was fairly fast. Check your parts and don't make the same mistake as me. Parts differ from model to model, save yourself a lot of work by aquireing the right one first, i hope this may help.