It seems than at Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:43:36 -0400, Allan wrote: > So, the recent discussion of ball joint failure has me wondering, is > there a way to detect a worn ball joint before it fails? I have some > noises in the 300D front end but it seems to be right on the firewall > so I'm thinking it's the track rods. > > How would I check for worn ball joints, or other wear in the front > end?
The chassis manual for the W123 says to to grab the end of the front bumper and shake the car side-to-side while watching the two sides of the upper ball joint. If it wobbles, it's bad. For the lower joint, jack up the car by the lower arm so the tire is an inch or two above the ground. Put a prybar in the gap between the tire and the ground. Lift up and let off while watching for movement on the two sides of the lower Fuhrungsgelenk - er, I mean ball joint. -- Philip
