rattling / knocking from offside front wheel

[thumbs]

I'm a proud new owner of a W126 500 se.

She's a beauty all round cosmetically and in the engine, there's just one problem and I wondered if anyone has had a similar issue and might be able to suggets what the problem is.

When the car goes over bumps or small potholes there's a sort of knocking sound coming from the front off side wheel. Sounds like this is in the area of the shock absorber / suspension. I did some digging in the history of the car and it seems to have had this problem before, lots was spent replacing shocks, ball joints etc and it didn't seem to cure the problem.

Has anyone any experience of a similar problem?

I'm off to take the wheel off today.

 

[brandwooddixon]

First of all welcome to the forums - although really you should have posted this in the suspension section.

I don't know about your vehicle type specifically, but lower wishbone ball joints and anti-roll bar drop links are common reasons for clonking on most MBs.

These are almost consumable parts, especially the lower ball joints on the heavier vehicles.

Other less likely areas to check are lower wishbone bushes, upper control arm joints and arb bushes.

 

[thumbs]

thanks for the swift reply, I'll take of note of where to post though I did have an attempt at posting in the suspension area but somehow got sidetracked into the DIY section where I wasn't allowed to post.

This forum is a great resource though, in the DIY section I've found the details and photos that will help me a lot.

Will let you know how I get on, thanks again.

 

[television]

Just a welcome from me

 

[thumbs]

cheers TV,

I'll get some photo's uploaded later on, I've been driving a '93 190 for the last 2 years - it was the cheapest car I ever had yet I fell love big time.

Now I've gone to the other end of the spectrum with the W126 500se, I'm grinning even more !

 

[Alex Crow]

the w126 has a lower wishbone in 2x parts. the rear link of this wishbone is a metal tube that terminates in a special joint at the chassis. this joint is actually a ball joint and will be housed in an aluminium housing that bolts to the car. these ball joints are very common for causing the noises you have, check the play in the joint first, if it has any play it needs changing. the joint can be changed on it's own; it screws to the metal tube (like a track rod end) and is bolted to the aluminium housing with 4x 6mm allen headed bolts.