Originally Posted by
Cedar11
Hello all,
My car is having suspension issues (vibration) and the mechanic said I need to replace the ball joint, inner tie rod and wheel bearing on the front drivers side.
I would like to do this myself if at all possible.
The service manual mentions that the spring must be removed to replace the ball joint but looking at the schematic I'm not sure if this is necessary. Does the spring need to be removed? Also, it mentions a special tool is necessary to remove the ball joint, is this necessary as well?
I realize the inner tie rods must be replaced with the entire assembly and the service manual mentions another special tool is required to remove the outer tie rods, is this tool necessary as well?
Thanks in advance for any help.
The springs need to be compressed to replace the ball joints. There is a specific special Mercedes tool to do this that has a plate that goes on the top and bottom of the spring with a center part attaching to both plates that screws in compressing the spring. You can use a generic spring compressor set that fits on the outside of the spring.