R107 SL Front ARB Drop Links / Changing advice

[Timper]

Hello people.

Can anyone tell me, is this as simple as it looks? Car is a 1987 E reg, 300SL.

Been getting a strange rattle / rattles sound from the front when i ride the bumps, mechanic reckons its the front anti roll bar drop links.

He reckons its an easy DIY fix at home with a 13mm spanner or two.

Is this right? Reckons i can get them from GSF and do it in 30-45 minutes at home.

Just wanted to know if anyone has any tips / pointers / expeirence?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jaymanek]

Very easy, just get all new nuts and washers etc from the dealer as they will be rusted on..

 

[Timper]

Very easy, just get all new nuts and washers etc from the dealer as they will be rusted on..

Thanks Jay.

Does the car need to be on the ground or can it be done with the car up on the jack / axle stands and therefore the wheels off the ground?

 

[jaymanek]

its easier on the ground as the anti toll bar is in the right position.

 

[Timper]

just phoned GSF, who said this is the part i need:

Part Number: FDL6141, but im sure it didnt look like that when we were around the car this morning.

 

[Timper]

So, here we are... this is the part that my mechanic told me to replace...



looks nothing like this:

So, what to do? GSF are not really that helpful on the phone. They want you to have the info ready, rather than them help to find you the correct part.

 

[jaymanek]

get the kit from mercedes, its not expensive.

 

[Timper]

get the kit from mercedes, its not expensive.

(once again) Thank you Jay. I'll ring them now.

 

[jaymanek]

Complete kit is A1073200047 - not so cheap at around £90 but this also includes the D bushes. ...

all you really need is A1153230244 x 8 at 32p each. Id get the nuts and bolts too.

A1159900801 x 2 bolts
N913002008004 x 2 nuts
A1153230367 x 8 Washers
A1159910140 x 2 Spacer Tube.

 

[Timper]

Complete kit is A1073200047 - not so cheap at around £90 but this also includes the D bushes. ...

all you really need is A1153230244 x 8 at 32p each. Id get the nuts and bolts too.

A1159900801 x 2 bolts
N913002008004 x 2 nuts
A1153230367 x 8 Washers
A1159910140 x 2 Spacer Tube.

Wow, Thank you Jay, that will help me no end.

 

[Timper]

Just gave them a call... the washers, nuts, bolts and spacer tubes come to £56.52p incl VAT

I'm going to take the existing ones off and apart and then asses what really needs replacing. LIke you say, might be best to just replace those rubbers @ 32p each.

 

[Druk]

It will just be the rubbers. Sometimes the tube won't part company from the through bolt: that might be your only difficulty. The GSF part shown is for the rear ARB.

From your pic the lower rubber next to the wishbone @bottom arrow is gone.

Try Wunderpartz for the bits. 01302 623293 Brendan.

 

[jaymanek]

Yes my tubes wouldnt come apart so I had to cut them off... but I didnt try that hard as id already ordered the kit.

 

[Timper]

When you quote a mercedes benz club membership number, what do they actually check? The guy told me they just need a number for the discount. Can anyone help / advise?

 

[Timper]

Well, courtesy of MB Leicester, these were delivered today....

http://oi45.tinypic.com/juzj47.jpg

Looking forward to fitting them and reporting back.

Thank you Jay for your assistance and all the other replies on here. I will report back once that lot is fitted. I cant wait to get them on and see if the noises have gone!

 

[Timper]

Right, so... had a go at this yesterday as it was the first dry day in ages and also the first free sunday afternoon i've had for ages.

Please can someone help me?

I thought i took everything out in neat order so that the new items can go in in the same order but for some reason, it doesnt quite make sense.

I thought the large washers go behind the rubber bungs but if you do it that way, the spacer tube is too long. (i have checked that all the components that have come off are identical to the new ones, and they are)

So, does anyone know the actual order of the items? It looks as though from what has come off, the spacer tube actually goes through one of the rubber bungs, and the washer is under the rubber bung if that makes sense?

It doesn't to me, so rather than bodge it, i've left it alone and thought i'd ask here before doing anything further.

PS, so far, i have only undone on side, the other is as it was just incase i need to refer to one, even though i have the picture on here.

So, anyone with any intel' on this? Thanks in advance as always.

 

[Druk]

Starting from the top....

Nut

washer

rubber

Front rollbar

rubber

washer

spacer tube

washer

rubber

lower wishbone

rubber

washer

Bolthead.

My bolt is 210mm long.
Spacer tube is 101mm long.


.

 

[Timper]

Thanks Druk. That's what I'd have thought. I'm about to upload some pictures that show they are not currently in that order and if you look at my picture shove with the arrows on it, they appear to be in a different (and for my mind wrong) order.

 

[Timper]

So, correctly as I'd assume, rubber is there to buffer movementsnd the washer is there to keep said rubber pressed into position...

However look at the lower side. A rubber with no washer. The washer is actually under the rubber and the spacer tube has gone in through the rubber

This is the order they came off in...

This is how I would assume they go...

But look, washer in the wrong place, no? Rubber with the spacer through it? What's the point of that??

 

[Druk]

Yes. In pic in post #6 the washer is on the wrong side of the lower rubber. That won't have been doing it any good.

I commented on this in post #12 but didn't notice the error for what it was.