Diesel RVs: [diesel_mercedes] Clink , Thump , OH ~ SH*T ! [2 Attachments]

[Attachment(s) from Nate included below]

Shirley and I were driving up the I-405 freeway this morning when I heard something go 'tink' as it fell loose then it bumped the bottom of the car as it went under neath , then the steering wanted to make a sharp left turn .

Good thing we were in the slow lane going 50 or so ! .

The left end of the sway bar is attached to the upper control arm (Mercedes don't use ' A-Frame' suspensions) by two hard rubber donuts , two washers and one bolt ~ apparently the bolt had worked loose and fell out , the sway bar was only in the control arm 1/2" Max. , had it popped all the way out things would have been very bad indeed .

I was able to take the next exit and stopped in a petrol station , grabbed my flashlight and looked under the car and saw what you see in the photos except it was further apart ~ it slipped back into position @ home when I jacked up the car , blocked it and took off the wheel .

I was far from some , drove *very* slowly to Shirley's house , let her off and called good old Tom Hansen (my white knight in shining armor) and left him a message I needed all six sway bar bushings , I plan to change the two on the firewall as long as I'm in there .

This is a heavy job and I'd planned to let Victor struggle with it but as I was pre cleaning I thought about it and might tackle it my ownself , I have the tools (coil spring compressor etc.) and have so far done all the front suspension repairs on my old Metropolitan Nash that has ' killer ' coil springs , this Mercedes looks less dangerous .

(Mets have super long and strong coil springs , if they slip off the compressor , they'll simply rip you head off , not good)

I think I'll sleep on it and decide to - morrow or next week when my new parts arrive .

I want to shampoo the entire under car as I haven't for a year or more , plus I noticed the front brake pads are getting thin so I asked Tom to toss new pads in the box along with bushings , washers and bolts .

Maybe I can find the Mercedes E.P.C. again and get it to work on this computer , anyone have a link to it ? .

-Nate

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