Update…. My abs wheel speed sensors arrived in the mail, i was able to install without removing the wheels. Laying down under the front bumper i removed the plastic inner fender nut closest to the connector and lifted the inner fender to make the connection. Routed the wire, tightened the little screw, voila. Took the van for a drive, no lights on dash, noise is gone and i think it even rides smoother.
Thanks, that saved me a bunch of time. I had to whack the shit out of the knuckle to get it to drop off the ball joint end, enough that I ended up propping the lower arm with another jack stand... Appreciate you posting this.
Update #2 Alignment completed, the before numbers on the alignment spec show that my van didn't really need an alignment. The only thing out of spec was the “steer ahead” spec meaning that to drive straight my steering wheel would be slightly tilted but it was only off by .9 degrees which is barely out of spec. The conclusion that i draw from this is that an alignment after steering knuckle replacement is not absolutely necessary, which confirms my suspicion, but then again getting the alignment satisfies my ocd. Another interesting bit of info. Sprinters come from the factory with a lot of positive camber in the front wheels to accommodate for the high payload rating. However, the heaviest thing i ever haul is a family of four and our luggage, which is nowhere near the payload rating of the van. Therefore i wanted to reduce the camber of the front wheels to zero to get more even wear on the tires. The washer method i used to set the camber got me to 0.0 degrees on the driver’s side and 0.2 degrees on the passenger side, which is pretty darn good if you ask me.
Thanks for the video, really good even though you just narrated and didn't show the work. Your good at explaining! Why not replace the lower ball joint while doing all this? I've heard they go out. And rather than just grease for the sensor, why not anti-seize?
Thanks for the feedback trying to balance filming the steps that might not be intuitive with keeping the video short. I had no issues with ball joints so didn’t replace but your logic is sound, this would be a good time to replace them. As for the wheel speed sensor hole, I think grease or anti-seize would work. Use whatever you think will last longer; Without threads to keep the anti-seize in place I don’t think it would last longer than grease.
Why do i see on u tube people using expensive presses to change the bearings. My 2008 /2500 sprinter van front wheel bearing needs replacing. Can i just put on a new knuckle like u did? Im confused. My mechanic wants 800 to press a new bearing into place but it seems cheaper and easier to replace the knuckle. Am i missing something?
If your van is the 2nd generation (NCV3), then absolutely you can replace the entire knuckle yourself. While doing research before performing this work i noticed the same thing, i’m not sure why an autoshop would elect to replace bearings vs replace the entire knuckle, maybe the profit margin is higher since the bearing alone is cheaper than the entire knuckle??? But for a diy its way cheaper to replace the entire knuckle since you’re only doing this job probably once during the lifetime of the van. It would not make sense for a diy to spend $2500 on a bearing press tool when both knuckles can be purchased for under $800.
Where did you get your parts? You talk about online but where specifically did you get them? I find this video very helpful. It's nice to see someone get straight to the point without a lot of fluff to keep you guessing. I now also have to replace these. I'm curious what each side cost and then what the total was. Thanks again!
Normally I get all my sprinter parts from europarts-sd.com, however, on big ticket items I usually do a quick google search of the part number to check if I can buy it cheaper somewhere else. In the case of these knuckles I actually found them for $277 each on buymercedespartsnow.com. I listed the part numbers for my van in the description of this video. The abs wheel speed sensors were about $45 each, again I did a google search of the part number on found the cheapest price on carpartsdiscount.com
Update….
My abs wheel speed sensors arrived in the mail, i was able to install without removing the wheels. Laying down under the front bumper i removed the plastic inner fender nut closest to the connector and lifted the inner fender to make the connection. Routed the wire, tightened the little screw, voila.
Took the van for a drive, no lights on dash, noise is gone and i think it even rides smoother.
Thanks, that saved me a bunch of time. I had to whack the shit out of the knuckle to get it to drop off the ball joint end, enough that I ended up propping the lower arm with another jack stand... Appreciate you posting this.
Update #2
Alignment completed, the before numbers on the alignment spec show that my van didn't really need an alignment. The only thing out of spec was the “steer ahead” spec meaning that to drive straight my steering wheel would be slightly tilted but it was only off by .9 degrees which is barely out of spec. The conclusion that i draw from this is that an alignment after steering knuckle replacement is not absolutely necessary, which confirms my suspicion, but then again getting the alignment satisfies my ocd.
Another interesting bit of info. Sprinters come from the factory with a lot of positive camber in the front wheels to accommodate for the high payload rating. However, the heaviest thing i ever haul is a family of four and our luggage, which is nowhere near the payload rating of the van. Therefore i wanted to reduce the camber of the front wheels to zero to get more even wear on the tires. The washer method i used to set the camber got me to 0.0 degrees on the driver’s side and 0.2 degrees on the passenger side, which is pretty darn good if you ask me.
I used some locking pliers on the ABS sensor and carefully twisted and wiggled it out. I also used some penetrating oil to help it come out.
Nice!!!
@@antonio0072007 I was also able to knock the sensor back and forth enough to pry it up and out...
Awesome! Thank you for your time.
Thank you! Great video! Now I get the pleasure of doing this.
Good video, I'm getting to do the same right had job. Thanks Antonio
Great job.
Thanks for the video, really good even though you just narrated and didn't show the work. Your good at explaining! Why not replace the lower ball joint while doing all this? I've heard they go out. And rather than just grease for the sensor, why not anti-seize?
Thanks for the feedback trying to balance filming the steps that might not be intuitive with keeping the video short. I had no issues with ball joints so didn’t replace but your logic is sound, this would be a good time to replace them. As for the wheel speed sensor hole, I think grease or anti-seize would work. Use whatever you think will last longer; Without threads to keep the anti-seize in place I don’t think it would last longer than grease.
My traction light came on. After replacing knuckle. How long did you drive to remove abs ?
I never had a light come on because i never started the van until after i replaced the damaged wheel speed sensors.
Why do i see on u tube people using expensive presses to change the bearings. My 2008 /2500 sprinter van front wheel bearing needs replacing. Can i just put on a new knuckle like u did? Im confused. My mechanic wants 800 to press a new bearing into place but it seems cheaper and easier to replace the knuckle. Am i missing something?
If your van is the 2nd generation (NCV3), then absolutely you can replace the entire knuckle yourself. While doing research before performing this work i noticed the same thing, i’m not sure why an autoshop would elect to replace bearings vs replace the entire knuckle, maybe the profit margin is higher since the bearing alone is cheaper than the entire knuckle??? But for a diy its way cheaper to replace the entire knuckle since you’re only doing this job probably once during the lifetime of the van. It would not make sense for a diy to spend $2500 on a bearing press tool when both knuckles can be purchased for under $800.
What’s the part number for this knuckle. I have a 2015 freightliner sprinter and the drivers side is making that bearing noise
For the part numbers i used, See the description for this video.
@@antonio0072007 Thank you I see that.
@@antonio0072007 do you like the ride of the bilstein struts?
I do, but anything is better than the worn out stock shocks that came with the van when i bought it.
Where did you get your parts? You talk about online but where specifically did you get them? I find this video very helpful. It's nice to see someone get straight to the point without a lot of fluff to keep you guessing. I now also have to replace these. I'm curious what each side cost and then what the total was. Thanks again!
Normally I get all my sprinter parts from europarts-sd.com, however, on big ticket items I usually do a quick google search of the part number to check if I can buy it cheaper somewhere else. In the case of these knuckles I actually found them for $277 each on buymercedespartsnow.com. I listed the part numbers for my van in the description of this video. The abs wheel speed sensors were about $45 each, again I did a google search of the part number on found the cheapest price on carpartsdiscount.com