mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

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Sat 27 Mar 2021 23:23

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - brynwyd

MOT revealed wear in the ball joints on the inner end of the rods behind the rubber bellows. Job is simple but cannot find a supplier of the part other than MB themselves. Has anyone found otherwise?

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Sun 28 Mar 2021 08:59

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - John F

Is it a failure or just an advisory looking for work? If it isn't annoying you with a rattle, I would leave it until it fails. MoT mechanics looking for work can be overcautious when it comes to suspension joints, and the test itself is overcautious with its 'no longer prevents the ingress of dirt' phraseology. These seven words provide millions of pounds of unnecessary work for the garage industry.

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Sun 28 Mar 2021 13:10

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - Andrew-T

MoT mechanics looking for work can be overcautious when it comes to suspension joints, and the test itself is overcautious with its 'no longer prevents the ingress of dirt' phraseology. These seven words provide millions of pounds of unnecessary work for the garage industry.

In the old days, before online access to MoT history, one could always take a failed car to another test station where the tester might be more lenient. Now I guess it is immediately clear that the car has been recently failed. Another loophole plugged perhaps ?

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Sun 28 Mar 2021 12:21

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - Rerepo

A few years ago I needed some rear subframe mounts for a Mercedes. I could only find then at the dealer (at a crazy price). After a bit of searching I found a supplier in Hamburg, Germany. About 25% of the UK dealer price. They arrived within a couple of days and were either genuine or perfect copies!

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Sun 28 Mar 2021 13:20

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - skidpan

Is it a failure or just an advisory looking for work? If it isn't annoying you with a rattle, I would leave it until it fails.

Is that the joint fails or it fails an MOT. Whichever its poor advice, if it did fail the consequences would be serious.

Over the years you have put enough bad advice on this Forum, perhaps the new Mods will do what Avant did and advise you to stop.

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Sun 28 Mar 2021 15:43

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - brynwyd

It is an advisory. Thank you all for comments. Seems like a plan to do it while the weather is okay rather than in our British 5 month winter. If you are able to find the details of your Hamburg supplier Rerepro (in which case you are more efficient than myself) then that wouid be great. Three years ago I bought an exhaust from Poland that is absolutely fine for about a quarter of the dealer price so am keen to avoid the main dealer.

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Mon 29 Mar 2021 08:10

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - johncyprus

“Over the years you have put enough bad advice on this Forum, perhaps the new Mods will do what Avant did and advise you to stop.”

I’ve always enjoyed John F’s posts and would be disappointed if he or anybody else was dissuaded from posting because somebody doesn’t agree with them. With regard to John F’s post it’s well known that some MOT advisories are a scam to make money.

Edited by johncyprus on 29/03/2021 at 08:13

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Mon 29 Mar 2021 08:36

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - daveyjp

It should be no surprise almost 20 year old suspension components are getting tired. Whether to change is down to the owner, but they won't heal themselves.

As for parts, don't forget importing from Germany may now be far more expensive than it was just 12 minths ago so you need an idea of the full cost including customs charges.

There are plenty of Merc specialists out there and the owners forums are always a good starting point for sourcing parts.

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Mon 29 Mar 2021 09:50

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - John F

“Over the years you have put enough bad advice on this Forum, perhaps the new Mods will do what Avant did and advise you to stop.”

Oh dear........

I’ve always enjoyed John F’s posts and would be disappointed if he or anybody else was dissuaded from posting because somebody doesn’t agree with them.

Thank you.

.....I would have thought it was barn door obvious that I meant till it failed the MoT. And, as most averagely intelligent posters probably realise, it is now almost impossible to incur a suspension joint failure, as the MoT would fail it at the slightest presence of play, probably thousands of miles before the joint would actually fail.

PS Avant has never advised me to 'stop', although sadly he is unavailable to confirm this.

Edited by John F on 29/03/2021 at 09:55

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Mon 29 Mar 2021 11:10

mercedes 230slk (R170) year 2003 - inner track rod end rather than outer - _

“Over the years you have put enough bad advice on this Forum, perhaps the new Mods will do what Avant did and advise you to stop.”

Oh dear........

I’ve always enjoyed John F’s posts and would be disappointed if he or anybody else was dissuaded from posting because somebody doesn’t agree with them.

Thank you.

.....I would have thought it was barn door obvious that I meant till it failed the MoT. And, as most averagely intelligent posters probably realise, it is now almost impossible to incur a suspension joint failure, as the MoT would fail it at the slightest presence of play.

John, ORB here, (new mod) I am not asking you not to post your opinions either.

I too have my opinions about repairs, having been in the trade, in parts and as helping out running the workshop in various dealerships.

I have seen both sides of the coin,

So carry on scribbling.

Skidpan, I too appreciate your thoughts.

Carry on scribbling

PLEASE, all stay polite.

Edited by _ORB_ on 29/03/2021 at 11:12

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