Wobbling front end

nidohso

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I have a 1992 300TE 4matic Benz. I took out the front shaft about a year ago i tried to have them replaced not but i have bought 2 set but both of them scattered and i'm now driving the car without a shaft and i observed that the front of the car wobbles as i accelerate from 40km up and is gets worse i have changed all the tyrods, front shocks and steering buchin. it was still wobbling and i noticed my chassis was rusted so i welded it back but i can't seem to know what the issue is any more and at this point there is no front shaft in the car anymore because i don't know what went wrong with the other two set of shaft that scattered while on the car. Please can anyone tell me how to stop the wobbling issue and what to do about my shaft replacement
 

television

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Hello and welcome,, I do not follow what shaft you have removed and from where
 

jibcl500

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Front prop shafts at a guess, the gearbox is out of balance, it assumes there is no drive to the front wheels or they are spinning or stationary, front wheel drive only works when the conditions dictate, for it to shatter the shafts would indicate a common fault on the 4 matics gearbox.
You need to get the box looked at first and go from there.

jib
 
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nidohso

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Can this cause the front end of the car to wobble that bad. In a 4matic, there is a propeller from the gearbox to the engine and you have a shaft connected to the lower engine on both side that connects to the front wheels. I have disconnected both shaft the come from the engine to the wheels but i still have the propeller on from the gearbox to the engine. Do you think this might be the cause of the wobbling front end?
 

pde2000

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the wobble may be the result of a worn steering damper which is cheap and easy to replace. its much the same on a 4matic so you can follow a haynes manual. if you still want some shafts my 4matic is sposed to be scrapped this summer so maybe help you out? Ive replaced my steering damper twice now, second time because i hit a pothole and the damper ruptured (squirted oil when i took it off).
 

kth286

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E320 Coupe 95
The instruction from Mercedes for my rear wheel drive car, is that when a driveshaft is removed DO NOT MOVE THE CAR as it will destroy the wheel bearings.

I guess your wheel bearings are being destroyed because without the drive shaft in, what is supporting the inner bearing race and stopping it moving in a sideways direction.
Is there no noise from the wheel bearings ?
 
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ncooper

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1984 Mercedes Benz 280 SL,1993 Mercedes Benz 190E Manual,1993 Mercedes Benz 190E Auto
The instruction from Mercedes for my rear wheel drive car, is that when a driveshaft is removed DO NOT MOVE THE CAR as it will destroy the wheel bearings.

I guess your wheel bearings are being destroyed because without the drive shaft in, what is supporting the inner bearing race and stopping it moving in a sideways direction.
Is there no noise from the wheel bearings ?

Also,I wonder if the 4 Matic is the early type which should only be used on loose surfaces and not on metalled roads,like early Land Rovers.
Might this have caused the original problem?

Regards,
Nick.
 

turbopete

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2017 '17' Ford Mondeo 2.0TDCi ST Line X 180 (sorry)
Also,I wonder if the 4 Matic is the early type which should only be used on loose surfaces and not on metalled roads,like early Land Rovers.
Might this have caused the original problem?

Regards,
Nick.

the problem with the early landrovers was transmission 'wind up' caused by the centre diff being totally locked. as far as im aware there was never a locked centre diff on a w124.
 

ncooper

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1984 Mercedes Benz 280 SL,1993 Mercedes Benz 190E Manual,1993 Mercedes Benz 190E Auto
the problem with the early landrovers was transmission 'wind up' caused by the centre diff being totally locked. as far as im aware there was never a locked centre diff on a w124.

I have no prior knowledge of the 4Matic system,but a bit of research on the Internet shows the early system,as fitted to this car was hideously complicated and was ditched by Mercedes in 1993.

It seems the centre differential contained two clutches which locked it depending on the road conditions the car was in.
This device offered three choices,RWD only,a 50-50 split and rear 65%-front35% and the ABS sensors controlled this.

As this car has apparently destroyed two sets of front driveshafts,possibly the centre differentail was/is stuck in the 50-50 state?

I can find no reference to the result of removing the front drive shafts,other than a terse reply on one forum "Don't do it".

An interesting topic and I look forward to some input from members with some in depth knowledge of this system

Regards,
Nick.
 

Number_Cruncher

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Your Mercedes
1995 W124 E300D TE
I don't know anything about 4 matic, but, it's usual light vehicle engineering practice on driven wheels for the wheel bearing to be clamped together by the splined section of the constant velocity joint.

The slight interference fit between the drive flange and the inner races of the bearing is enough to prevent the bearing falling apart during servicing operations, but is not anywhere near strong enough to cope with road loads.

If I wanted to remove the front drive shafts on this car, I would see if I could dismantle the shafts, and refit only the outer CV joints, to keep the bearing safely clamped together, making up some dummy cover to seal the innards of the CV joints.

Without the bearing being properly clamped together, the car is dangerous, and should not be driven on the road.
 


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