Mercedes W123 Ball Joints Replacement 

Finally a video with real mechanics fighting the difficulties of working on old cars. Great video that got me ready to work on my 300D. Thanks guys!

with old mercedes two things: you are a very strong man, or you have the right tool!

Over 30 years of stuck, 🔨 is pretty much the only tool...and drill.... I've got an 82 300d turbo rides like a crippled beast but I love it

Thank you for saving me time and knowing what to do when i try this...

Came for the tutorial, stayed for the struggles

To crack ball joints, you hit on the SIDES to shock the taper!!! It is a job I have done many times.

Beast mode. Nicely done. I was hoping you were gonna replace those shocks . I just did my upper control arms yesterday... I swear it’s always like this. One side is cake, the other is the biggest pain in the ass. I think it relates to what side of the road we drive on and typically for us driving on the right side of the road... the right side of the car closest to the edge of the road... Hits more pot holes, gets more road junk flipped up in there than the side that’s in the middle of the road. Just a theory, but I seem to run into the same problem with one side being easy and the other taking frustratingly longer. Nice vid

The shovel technique worked in 5 wacks, prior to spending 3 hours with heat and hammering! Thanks a lot!

Video is still coming in handy old sport. Thank ye for it. Three comments: These foreign jobs strongly prefer to have the bushings tightened at the rest position. Pain with the tire there on some, so I usually throw a jack under the ball joint and then have Big Serji sit on the bumper. Keep a stand there to catch it if Big Serji sneezes hard. Next; When going after the ball joints, disconnect one end of the shock. Then back off the nut a few threads. Now look/feel at the sides of the arm the stud comes through, there is usually a flat spot. Sometimes the whole side is, other times it's just a slightly raised bossed spot. Go to town on that spot with heat and a good framing hammer. This'll work on tie rods too.That should eliminate the need of a grinder. Third; A healthy dose of determination and anger will replace out classed tools any day. A 1/2 breaker bar and a fence post or pipe to fit over it would have got that joint in place when you found your driver couldn't. Thanks again for the video of help.

9:50 When you position the control arm in the body I found that it gets easier if you aim it towards the hole in the body and just make sure that part of the hole in the bushing is visible through the hole in the engine bay. Then you can stick a screwdriver in from the engine bay and wiggle the control arm into place. And when installing the new bushings on the sway bar end it can get a bit easier if you mount it together temporarily with a longer bolt first. Because the threads doesn't go very deep into the sway bar. Just be sure not to tighten the long bolt too much so the threads doesn't get ruined. Then we can put all of the other parts together. And in the end we can take out the longer bolt again, and now it will be much easier for the short bolt to recach the threads.

Great way for a DIYer to work on a car. I can confirm the ball joint removal tehnique . As advice you should be angry for optimum results.

I change that thing on my mercedes w123, didint have the press tools so we made one, never been so angry but it worked, it took maybe 5 hours to change it, first time tho. Now i know its the right tools thats needed. But it was first time and you learn by doing.

You tightened the upper control arm to chassis bolt with everything hanging down. This will stress the bushing. Always do the final tightening of suspension bushes with the car resting on its wheels. Also you really should get a balljoint splitter.

Thank you. My husband now knows exactly what to do.

very well done. The Mercedes has a cooling water expansion tank, I've never seen it. I also have a W123, you can watch it on my channel

Thanks for the video. Really helped me do mine this weekend. Mine surprisingly came apart and went together fairly easy.

Watching this guy work reminded me of some of the hacks I used to run into. I was very fortunate to learn from some of the best technicians while I was going through my apprenticeship training with Mercedes Benz at the factory and thus never picked up bad habits or poor techniques like this guy uses with no regard for careful handling of a spindle and just letting it fall on the concrete floor and damaging the spindle threads. Horrible. This guy a a total hack!

I love the specific automotive tool, the shovel ! I will try this :D

Great job!

The shuvel...great tool! Hahaha...thx great video mates! From Belgium🇧🇪🍺🤜

Good job never seen any one put the knuckle in the dirt to take out the ball joints but at least it works.

Great job, thanks for keeping it clean. outstanding

Well done, pilgrims. I’m proud of you.

that was a great video, im about to start the same job on my old benz, you showed me exactly what i needed,,,thanks,,,

Thsnks for sharing. I got an 82 240d needs the same work done to it!

Get a hole thought a bolt. Then blow the torch up through it and heat it up real good. Use oxy/acetylene if you have it. Let it cool. Smack it and it pops right out.

Just wondering, when you buy a new upper control arm, does it come with the upper ball joint in there ?

Good stuff! Subscribed!

Must admit this is really funny ..

My Holiday plan this year 😂

When removing the ball joints from where they are bolted down you want to hit the material around it not on the joint itself.

Hammered out Garage. I've never seen hammering to this level - ever. To get out ball joints - hit the outside of the control arm - this is Comedy Garage. I'd delete this video.

You do not need to remove the hub!! This job is easy with the tools needed.

Merke, immer schön die Teile einbuddeln ;)

I used a pitman arm/tie rod removal tool to get my lower out. heated the shit out of it put the tool on cranked and BOOM popped right out. Videos soon

Ball joint separator on lower would have pulled it out instead of having to drill it out

my ball joints popped right out, dunno why you decided to cut em before even giving it a try

Hi sir, I watched this and recommend you stop using a 🔨 hammer in general, at all on anything ever epically💯😂

dude when you were pulling on the hub that car was moving a LOT. are you aware about the springs on these as well, should be putting some pressure directly under the spring on the lower control arm

I have replaced mines after an accident where one them pop out at 30km/h, now after replacing both of them, every time i hit a bump on the road my whole steering wheels shake a lot, do you know what can be the problem?

Not in Kingman AZ cheapest you can get it 100 bucks for 2 front lower.

KOOL IM GOINN TO DO MY 300 D .

That hammer is getting really biggggg

Never use an impact on a ball joint tool.

🙏👍👍👍👍

bruh. you need a can of pb blaster XD that and the torch you'd be a lot better off

its not easy to work on these old merc ,,,,,,,, thats one of the reason why you dont see many of them on roads,,,,,,

Tire rod?!

That poor car. Survives 40 years and then you have a go at it.

Great stuff? No. Use a ball joint tool to remove the old ones.

Harbor freight is great

As someone who has worked on Mercedes Benz cars for over 40 years after all of my factory training over the years, I can with no doubt tell you that this guy is no "real mechanic" as you put it. He is a butcher who doesn't know the difference between a bolt and a nut and is using a carpenter's claw hammer instead of a ball peen hammer. It would be unwise to go about working on a Mercedes Benz in the manner this backyard fool is doing this job. You are asking for trouble with this guy's technique.

I stopped watching when he said a shovel. Geez.

barbarian

OMG, who turned u loose on that old Benz? I guess your doing the best you can with the few brain cells you seem to have functioning. SCARY DUDE, REAL SCARY!! PLEASE BE MORE CAREFUL, HOPE YOU DON'T GET SERIOUSLY INJURED!

What a fricking hack this guy is. Goes from one hammer to the next and putting heat on components that one should never put heat on. This is a classic video of how not to do this job!

im doing my homework. Because this is not what i want to do.

As someone who has worked on Mercedes Benz cars for over 40 years after all of my factory training over the years, I can with no doubt tell you that this guy is no "real mechanic" as you put it. He is a butcher who doesn't know the difference between a bolt and a nut and is using a carpenter's claw hammer instead of a ball peen hammer. It would be unwise to go about working on a Mercedes Benz in the manner this backyard fool is doing this job. You are asking for trouble with this guy's technique.