CLS Suspension squeak

[J4CKO]

My CLS seems to generate a bit of a squeak/creak from the front passenger side when going over bumps, am guessing its the lower arm/ball joint.

Will whip a wheel off and have a look tomorrow, anyone changes one, looks easy enough, any pitfalls ? whats the sure fire way to spot the component that has gone.



The parts seem cheap enough on Ebay, £79 for a Febi Lower arm or a full kit of all three arms, like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-Mercedes-E-Class-Fro...

Or will they be crap ?

[J4CKO]

Wow, cheers for taking the time for such an informative reply !

Did you need any specialist tools, looks like I need some kind of press to do the ball joints as well as a splitter.

[J4CKO]

Was thinking this,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW-Mercedes-Ball-...


For the sake of £33 its worth having, better than paying labour.

[J4CKO]

Stegel said:

I used a Sealey ball joint splitter for disassembly. As you note, you need a press tool to replace the main ball joint in the base of the hub carrier; I read so many reports of the cheap copies failing I wimped out and bought the Laser press (probably made in the same factory as some of the copies, but at least someone to complain to if it failed!). It worked great, and given we have a 211 in the family too, also due a refresh, I figured it was worthwhile, particularly given the overall saving made by spending time under the car myself.

Yeah, similar to how I do stuff, justify buying the gear on not having to pay someone else, it isnt rocket science, just can be frustrating and painful

[J4CKO]

Took, the passenger side front wheel off and had a look around, cant find anything with any play in, had a good prod round with a bar and no obvious movement, only thing I notice was the level sensor for the Airmatic was completely dry and seemed to grate when moved, took it off and cleaned it and put a bit of copper slip on.

Took it round the block and completely silent, but that fits with what happened before, have only noticed it at the end of longer journies, perhaps when there is more heat in it so perhaps something expands and lets a bit of play in.

[J4CKO]

Cheers Jimmy, good point, perhaps look at stuff that isnt suspension !

Drove it 350 miles to Luton and back and barely a whisper from it.

Only at low speeds when manuevering, think will just live with it for now and will ask my garage what they think when I take it for MOT in a few weeks

[J4CKO]

Yeah, that makes sense, whilst it is apart, at that price, do the lot, apart from the Airmatic stuff, that would make it a lot more pricey !

Think I will just get the kit, and the ball joint extractor and get on with it, love the car, just done 330 miles in it today, comfoy and amazingly rapid for what it is, engine feels amazing.

[J4CKO]

My advice, send it in, they are soooo tight !

I never got rid of the squeak, new owner did but cant remember what it ended up being,

[J4CKO]

James Hay said:

They're very tight by design but with the right tooling and a breaker bar it can be done at home. Simply a case of applying the right physics.



I've also recently read of people filling the new ball joints with additional grease in order to try and prolong the life of the joint. I'd not heard of doing that before but next time I change any I think I'll try doing the same.

I had the kit, but couldnt budge it, got a mobile guy in and he struggled.

[J4CKO]

James Hay said:

J4CKO said:

I had the kit, but couldnt budge it, got a mobile guy in and he struggled.

Mine was on about 120,000 miles and 12 years old at the time, not sure about yours but generally I suppose the longer they're in the more resistant they become. I did also spray them with WD40 both in the gap and below over a period of about a week every evening to let it properly soak in.

Was about ten I think, 120 ish k, the guy swaggered in and sort of looked at me like what does this big girls blouse think he is doing, will have it off in 30 seconds.

Took him an hour, veins on his forehead looking fit to pop, a hydraulic truck jack and a three metre bar and when it finally moved it went with a hell of a crack and he nearly smashed the bodywork, sixty quid well spent.