SL55 Ball Joint Repair @ www.4wheelalignment.co.uk

SL55 Ball Joint Repair @ www.4wheelalignment.co.uk

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Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Tuesday 6th September 2011
quotequote all
After taking my 2002 SL55 to North Wales to experience the infamous 'evo triangle' I noticed a faint knocking sound during braking to a standstill. Also there was a louder 'clunk' made when the steering met full lock.

I decided to take the car into my local Mercedes Benz workshop (Vikings Canterbury) for them to diagnose the issue, it was determined the ball joint on the passenger side had excessive play and may be the cause. I was quite relieved at this point until they informed me that the strut and the ball joint was a single part which cost £1100 without fitting, therefore the cost would be circa £1300 per side including labour!

After some internet searching (various MB forums) a post was discovered that led me to the following ball joint and alignment specialists in Liverpool.

http://www.4wheelalignment.co.uk/

After discussing with both Phillip at Wheel Alignment Ball Joint Centre and Mercedes the decision was made to take both struts/ball joints to Liverpool and get them refurbised at £65 + vat per side. Phillip does offer a courier service but I didn't want the car to occupy a ramp at Mercedes for an extended period of time.

Below are some photos of Phillip's handy work, apologies for the quality of the Iphone 3G photos.

The solid resin that is injected into the ball joint.



The tooling attached to the strut.



The finished article.



As promised, they are now the 'tightest balls in town'. I receive the car back tomorrow so will report on whether the clonking has been eliminated. I would imagine that this process is applicable to a variety of ABC equipped Mercedes.

Edited by Gouki on Tuesday 6th September 11:57

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Wednesday 7th September 2011
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I spoke to this chap a month or so ago - very helpful (sounded South African or something iirc).
I'll be doing the same with my joints at some point - mine aren't misbehaving yet.

You should also find that where the resin has been injected that there will be a grease nipple - handy!

Also - a question for you - is the rubber boot replaced as well?

What is so annoying is that people are having to take this on the chin and write off £1100 (plus fitting etc) struts for the sake of a couple of quids worth of ball joint - it's a disgrace.

The other solution that I've heard of is to buy an SL350 strut (they're about £160 I believe) and have the balljoint pressed out of that and put into the ABC strut.

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Wednesday 7th September 2011
quotequote all
I don't think the rubber boot has been replaced. The whole strut is in very good condition after 9 years / 60,000 miles. I've pointed Phillip to this thread so he can register and answer any technical questions. Mercedes have charged me approximately £400 for the removal/refitting process.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Thursday 8th September 2011
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I believe that actually removing and replacing the shocks is a pretty straightforward job and easily DIY-able, so I'll be going down that route.

This a very useful post, so thanks for this information. It's rare to get stuff like this on R230s and ABC due to (a) the owner demographic (ie. they don't usually work on their own cars) and (b) the "mystique" surrounding ABC.

I'd still like more information on using the 350SL balljoints...

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Thursday 8th September 2011
quotequote all
Since mine is an old model I'm sure I will encounter many of the problems first. Please any more info that you have please post up on here since it appears that the US forums a mostly warranty claims/Texas Mile/Do these 20" wheels look nice on my car?

e.g. TPMS batteries running out. Electronic Selector Module stuck in park (easy fix £200). Tandem pump. Other that these aforementioned things the car has been completely reliable over 2 1/2 years and ~40,000 miles.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Thursday 8th September 2011
quotequote all
Gouki said:
Since mine is an old model I'm sure I will encounter many of the problems first. Please any more info that you have please post up on here since it appears that the US forums a mostly warranty claims/Texas Mile/Do these 20" wheels look nice on my car?

e.g. TPMS batteries running out. Electronic Selector Module stuck in park (easy fix £200). Tandem pump. Other that these aforementioned things the car has been completely reliable over 2 1/2 years and ~40,000 miles.
I've had a fair bit with mine such as...
- new tandem pump
- new rear shock
- new rear battery control unit
- new heater control unit
- new front SAM

(I'm not convinced that I needed the first couple).
All these plus assorted wheel bearings, discs, windscreen, plugs blah blah. It's been very expensive.
All seems to be ok at the moment!.

I've also found that it's very important to check the prices of this work against what MB will do it for - so far it's been cheaper for me to go to MB than an independent - labour rates drop when the car is 4 years old and they will price match.

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
My simplistic view on this is that IF the car costs me less than £1200 in repairs per year that is equal to the price of a warranty on other marques.

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Tuesday 20th September 2011
quotequote all
Just a quick update, got the car back and the clunk sound of full lock has now gone. However I still hear a faint knocking when braking to stand still, any thoughts (all brake discs and pads are fine).

Another gremlin that has shown itself is an intermittent fault with the driver side dipped xenon beam. Being the driverside it is also going to be a pain to access because the SBC module is in the way.


Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Thursday 13th October 2011
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Right - mine has just given up the ghost - just spoken to Phil at 4wheelalignment and he's doing mine at 9am on Saturday.

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Thursday 13th October 2011
quotequote all
That's good, Dogstar could you tell him that you found the solution on PH?

Regarding the Xenon, it was just a loose connector on the bulb and wasn't too difficult to get to. Looking at purchasing a quaife LSD now...

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Monday 17th October 2011
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Hi Gouki

I took my R230 ABC shock along to the wheel alignment and balljoint place in Liverpool on Saturday. Pretty impressive facilities.

Very interesting watching the job being done, and I'm very very pleased with the result. The joint is perfect - they charge £65 + VAT for this which is considerably cheaper than the £1150 + vat for a new ABC strut. Phil was saying that he gets a lot of joints coming in from old Audi Quattros and the like where the joints are getting hard/very expensive to source, as well as joints of huge dumper trucks and the like.

Also - a warning to anyone with worn joints who is putting the job off: get them done sooner rather than later. If the wear goes too far and the ball starts to "climb out" then they're beyond repair and end up being condemned.

Removal and refitting of the struts is an absolute doddle. Hardest bit was cleaning everything. And then cleaning it again when I'd failed to reconnect the quick-release hydraulic line properly. Messy! It will take me about ten minutes to get the other one off.

I'll be going there again if I need an alignment (and when the other ball joint needs doing). As an aside one thing that caught my eye was the way that all the tools and equipment was neat and tidy and put away and the place was pretty spotless for a garage. Shows attention to detail, I think.

Also - Gouki - do you mind if I use your images? I'm going to put up some instructions on how to remove/replace the struts and getting the ball joints refurbed in the tech section on the mbclub forum. There's an awful lot of mystique around the ABC system and removing the struts is actually a doddle. If I can help save some other R230 owners a lot of money then I will.

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Monday 17th October 2011
quotequote all
No problem Dogstar. Another issue to note is that my tyres had excessive wear on the inner edges and require new toe bolts including another four wheel allignment. They need replacing though having 5 mm tread on 99% of the tyre! Phil explained that this is quite common and he could do the work.

bosscerbera

8,188 posts

242 months

Friday 11th May 2012
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How are the repaired ball joints fairing after a few months/miles?

S800VXR

5,876 posts

199 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
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+1 for this repair. smile

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Passed the MOT over Christmas with no problems, and 10,000 miles on still fine.

bosscerbera

8,188 posts

242 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
Gouki said:
Passed the MOT over Christmas with no problems, and 10,000 miles on still fine.
Thanks for the response.

Do the joints still feel tight?

What are your options when wear sets in again at some point in the future? Can more resin be injected?

Gouki

Original Poster:

352 posts

183 months

Saturday 12th May 2012
quotequote all
I'm not sure how to 'feel' the tightness in the joints, however if you closely observe the photos in my original post, there is a removable screw and thread built into the joint from which more resin can be added if required.

bosscerbera

8,188 posts

242 months

Sunday 13th May 2012
quotequote all
Gouki said:
I'm not sure how to 'feel' the tightness in the joints, however if you closely observe the photos in my original post, there is a removable screw and thread built into the joint from which more resin can be added if required.
The feel through the car - no knocking/slop in the steering etc..

Rattly ball joints make cars feel harsh because metal-to-metal clanging happens before the rubber/sprung joints can isolate the movement.

The resin idea is very clever; I'm keen to understand more about how the resin works in the joint.

remlucs

2 posts

155 months

Wednesday 15th May 2013
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Hi
Just going through the strut replacement on my SL55 as the lower ball joints are knackered. Only problem is that I cannot get the quick release hydraulic coupling to separate. Can anyone advise me on how to release it please? I have released the pressure via the bleed nipple, the coupling moves in and out about 1 mm but the knurled collar is solid. Help !!
Simon


Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Wednesday 15th May 2013
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They can be stiff; one of mine was quite difficult. Spray with WD40 and leave to soak. I also had to use a pair of grips to pull the collar back. It will come.