I recently had the lower ball joint fail on my W124 diesel which nearly caused a bad crash.
The mistake I made was to use non oem ball joint from what I thought was a reputable dealer.

There was no groaning or telltale signs that something was wrong other than the steering started to feel just a bit tight the day before. Nothing that the average person would be really too concerned about. I was going to check when I got home so my wife could turn the wheel and I could check and see were the stiffness could be coming from. When it this happened on my 240D it was just the idle arm for the tie rods.
This design is where the ball is inverted so water and salt can set on the entrance of the joint. This coupled with the fact that the ball is in tension is a bad situation.
I am providing this info at the expense of sounding ignorant for not knowing about this but for those that might not know please consider it a heads up. Original equipment parts are obviously made from superior materials. That fact that inferior parts can be sold for this car seems inexcusable.

I suppose if I didn't do my own service work and had a experienced Mercedes mechanic working on car he would have know about this.
Bottom line, only use genuine MB parts on the suspension of a W124.

 

It's been a while since I've been around that end of the industry, but Moog front end parts used to be top of the line for replacement front end parts even used by dealerships.

 

How about some more info on the nature of the Failure.

Did the Ball pull out of the Joint?

Did the whole Joint come out of the Bore it is supposed to stay in.

Did the Tapered shaft and retaining Bolt have an issue.

Did the Boot split prematurely and a bunch of crap get inside?

 

The ball pulled out of the socket. The metal must not have been hardened properly. Harder metal would not have deformed enough to have this happen. On other forums others have posted similar failures. Strangely enough the comments on the other forums are along the lines of ...you bought a cheap part..and you get what you pay for. This may or may not be true but the fact remains that this could happen to anyone.
I think the brand was Visa...not sure about that name.

I don't think Mercedes can be blamed for this since I am sure they did proper testing. However these cars last so long that now they become subject to effects they could not have not envisioned. These cars are now in the hands of people that can't afford the price of having these cars seviced at MB dealers. That coupled with the fact that aftermarket companies have sprung up to service the lower cost market.

I got blasted for suggesting on other forums that this is a bad design. Just because it was a popular way of doing it doesn't make it a good way.

Back in the 50s cars had a solid metal shaft from the front steering box directly to the steering wheel. I think it was Buick that actually had a dome shape ornament on the center of the wheel. More than few doctors had to remove these from a dead persons chest.
So was it a good design just because all auto makers did it. I don't think so.

 

I took the wheel off today and took a close look at the joint. I could not see any evidence of grease in the socket. The sides of the ball were flat and the socket had flat sides also.
I don't understand why this didn't make any noise or provide more indication that it was bad.

 

I have read were people said they make noise.

However, some Ball Joints have a Brass or Plastic/Nylon Cup/Socket inside that the Ball rides in. So I am guessing some materials could make noise loud enough for you to hear when driveling and some might not.

Was the Boot still intact and were the Springs Holding the Boot still intact?
I think it is possible for Water and Salt to rust through the Springs that Retain the Boots.

 

The rubber boot was in perfect shape and attached properly to the ball.
The problem I have now is that when the ball made it's exit, it sort of wedged the cup into the lower arm. I rented a ball tool from Auto Zone but it is not strong enough to push it out.

I am wondering if heating this area with a torch would be OK to do. I don't want to alter the temper of the steel or cast iron (whatever the lower arm is made from)
The last thing I want to have happen again to something break again.

I have a air driven grinder and I could grind it out by cutting one edge then pushing it out.

Any ideas?

 

Since The Ball Joint has not been in there too long it may come out without too much problems.
However, some makes of Ball Joints have a larger outside diameter where they press into the Steering Knuckle and some can be much tighter than others.

The Factory Service Manual calls for removing the Steering Steering Knuckle completely and putting it upside down in a Vice and beating the Ball Joint out with a large Punch (People use a loarge Socket).
Most of they time they will come out that way bu if it turns out to be too difficult take the Steering Knuckle to a shop and have them remove and istall the new Ball Joint.

Pressing the New Joint back in is not always easy either.

 

I managed to get it out by placing a jack under the arm with a heavy sledge hammer directly under the arm near the socket. I then was able to pound out the socket with a smaller hammer with the sledge being a heavy backstop.

Some photos to examine. The socket did not look right to me. No radius where the ball was supposed to be riding.
Tomorrow I am going to the store and hope they have a record of the brand name that I purchased so I can let everyone know what to not buy.
Based on how dry and rusted the inside of the socket was I don't think it ever had much grease in it.



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