The comment about turning the bearing bracket sideways to get it past muffler made this worth watching in itself. Thank you for taking the time to post this!
If you have the vehicle in neutral and the park brake off with both front wheels chocked, raise 1 rear wheel of the ground and you will be able to rotate the drive shaft by turning the elevated rear wheel without having to move the vehicle along the ground. Thanks for all the other information. Very helpful.
@@fupabox luckily I was beside an off ramp, and the fact Mercedes over engineers there brackets. It was like a mini earthquake but no real damage aside from cosmetic”
You saved my life!!!! .... But there are a few things you left out for the video. 1st you are not getting the master bolt in the center off with a ratchet. 2nd be careful about what you use to make you marks as all of the wd-40 your are going to need to spray will make your marks come off. 3rd those carrier bearing bolts where made by Satin himself and they can take days for the wd40 or liquid wrench to break them. They also take forever to come up and out like you said. One question I have is if you mis align the part of the shaft that runs into the transfer case what happens? Reason I ask is because I notice a little play or half rev in between the gears. I went to my friends tire shop to use an impact to get off that center bolt just a suggestion for the person that only has ratchets. As far as I am concerned you are a Mercedes God! Anyone that follows this video will have success. Thank you so much for making this step by step video. There is a ML500 in Colorado because of you and I was Ubering when it Happened and needed to repair fast to get back to the money. So If you are ever in CO I owe you a pint. Cheers! Please post more ml videos we are all watching!
good tips...yes the carrier bolts are nasty bastards..if there is mis alignment you will have a vibration you will notice instantly..almost undriveable vibration. Might have some ML vids shortly , but nothing really goes wrong with it. 42k miles in the last year .. very few issues. I honestly love this truck My next one will be a newer ML diesel
Thanks, great tutorial! One thing...my center support bearing came with instructions stating: "Before installing this part on the driveshaft make sure to apply grease between the outer seal and the bearing." ... I saw that the same seal in your video wasn't greased when you reassembled the joint, any issues? ... to be safe I'm packing mine with some Lucas xtra heavy.
Very nice job , I thought you can just replace that whole bearing assembly with the carrier . If that’s the case can’t the driveshaft be left in the truck ?
I replaced the carrier and bearing here as a whole assembly. I'm guessing you could do in without removing the driveshaft completely , but I think it would be more of a hassle . The toughest job on this was the bolts holding the carrier . soak the crap out of them from above with wd40 for a couple of days
Hello, I am currently trying to replace my rear drive shaft on my 1999 ML430. Is this the complete rear drive shaft? I ordered it from Parts Geek, but all that was sent was the part of the drive shaft in which the bearing is attached to. It looks like a 1 foot drive shaft. Was the long part of the drive shaft the rest of the rear drive shaft?
great video! I may have to do mines as well. I'm dreading the job already and I haven't even started it lol. Should mark the position of the drive shaft before removing? also what brand did you get. thanks
I just did this on my w163, and now watching the video to see where did I screw up? I took only the short part apart only to the 8mm bolts of the halves. I’m thinking that maybe I put them opposite??? (There’s only two ways they can go…) so now I have a vibration on the rear end starting at about35-40 mph. Should I try switching it back?
@@zokidgr8 you could try but I’m guessing the shaft got off balanced. You may need to take it to a shop to balance it. Usually before removing it you had to use a grease pen or blue tape to mark each end to each other so you can know where it goes back.
You mentioned you have to move the car forward or backward to rotate the bearings in order to remove the allen bolts. Can you post a clip of that or did you film that. Thank you for the nice video
Sorry I didn't film it.. putting the trans in neutral (if the rear is jacked up )will also allow you to turn the drive shaft for access the the allen headed bolts. Otherwise if done with 4 wheels on the ground , you can just push the truck forward or backward (in neutral )which will turn the shaft .you can get the ones at the bottom , but to get to the others the driveshaft just needs to be turned
So on my 2000 ML320, I feel the car grinds and vibrates when making a hard right turn. I feel it in the steering wheel and brake pedal. It only happens on a hard right turn. Suspension, brakes, steering pump, and bushings all look good. You think it might be one of the front drive axles gone bad?
I got one for you. How do you get the ashtray insert out after you have taken off the woodgrain panel for the switches there are no screws and you can't just pull it out.
Hello, what are the symptoms when this part is good to replace? I have a vibration which is rather towards the rear when I am between 110 and 120 and then nothing above this speed.
That sounds more like a tire balance issue. The driveshaft support will vibrate at lower speeds under load and coasting .. and be almost unnoticeable at constant speed .
@@fupabox Hello, Perfect, so I'm going to have the balance of the rear wheels checked =) I would post my return after this verification =) Thanks, have a good day
I'm thinking about retiring my w202 from daily service (still runs great, just a million little tiny issues, worth keeping around but not daily). So I'm looking at getting a 203, you still have yours right? Any advice? I know you've said avoid the 4matic, for sure, it's going to be my summer car anyways..230k or 240/320?
I sold mine to my neighbor down the street, and got the ML. I would avoid the 240. underpowered and thirsty. The 320 is solid and good on gas in the sedans Very understressed. after 2003 they had some of the earlier bugs worked out. Nice cars
Ahh yeah, I've been driving my ml430 the last week or two since the a/c went out on the c220. But it's a hungry beast to feed in the summer. Good info to know. It was a learning curve for me with model not equaling engine size, that the c230k and c240 have 1.8L and 2.6L engines, respectively. I'm looking at an 02 320 and 05 230k right now, leaning towards the 05 if it isn't much more expensive. I think the 02 has lower miles tho. I'm surprised how much the 203's have come down in price recently.
Hmmm. I love the w202, they're definitely getting harder to find i will say. Maybe I'm better suited finding a really, really nice w202, then I've got a parts car and between the two of them would be set for another 10 years haha. You think the computer would adjust to running a c220 short block in a c230 (or even c230k) car if it ever came to it?
Man. On the brink of being considered surgery haha, guess I got spoiled with the w202 driveshaft being splined in the middle, so the center support is super easy to replace, AND the two pieces are alignment marked from the factory, so you can't put it back together wrong ;) I don't have any symptoms of this but worth getting under the car and checking movement of the driveshaft.
you can try to see if there is a matching rub mark or wear mark on the bearing and cap , otherwise you take a chance and see if there is no vibration . If there is you can take the caps off and turn the shaft under the car to match up with the next bearing without removing the whole assembly. Or take the whole thing to a shop for balancing
The parts are balanced to be equil before assembly. No need to Mark anything. Do you think each driveshaft is balanced by hand on an assembly line? No that would take forever. Plus their mass produced. Not each specifically produced and weight altered for perfect balance. Their held to strict tolerance. Trust me I work in a Mack Truck assembly line in Macungie PA. Almost 25 years.
trust me ... lol . I re attached it 180 degrees out by mistake and it shook all to hell. reclocked it 180 degrees and smooth as silk . That's why I mentioned it in the video .
it could... the best check is to crawl under neath and try to wiggle it by hand.. it should move a tiny bit, but if it slops around or is detached from the mount it is toast
no the whole thing. got a cigarette stuck behind it and it won't slide in and stay closed. I'm trying to pull the whole thing out not sure how to get it to release
if the whole bearing and rubber boot come away from the mount , the shaft could break away and come through the floor.. unlikely.. generally they will just make a huge noise bounce around and you wouldn't be able to drive it
fupabox driveshaft. I ended up getting it off and changing the bearing. I noticed the noise I was getting stopped for about 50miles. But now in the morning when I go to drive it I hear it very mildly under heavy throttle. Diff bushings maybe?
@@davidspringer8691 damn ..I shouldn't answer comments when drinking . I somehow thought the video was the rear axle shaft video ..Doh. Have you changed the diff fluids ? It could be thinned out fluid in the diff allowing contact between the gears . The driveshaft bearing you can generally feel near the center console area . You could also check the alignment of the center bearing carrier . If it's a bit out to the left or right it may just be wobbling a tiny bit
I could have used a puller, but there is absolutely no harm done by tapping it off with a hammer.. pounding on it with a hammer would be a different story, but this just required light taps
The comment about turning the bearing bracket sideways to get it past muffler made this worth watching in itself. Thank you for taking the time to post this!
If you have the vehicle in neutral and the park brake off with both front wheels chocked, raise 1 rear wheel of the ground and you will be able to rotate the drive shaft by turning the elevated rear wheel without having to move the vehicle along the ground. Thanks for all the other information. Very helpful.
That would’ve helped lol . Appreciate the info 👍🙏
This video was a great help to me. Much thanks. I do think your Mercedes videos are some of the best and most thorough on RUclips.
Thanks .. glad it helped 🙏
Lol I waited a couple more months and had a complete fail on the hwy today. Thanks for the vids man
Yikes . Hope it wasn’t to bad . They can thrash around and cause some real damage
@@fupabox luckily I was beside an off ramp, and the fact Mercedes over engineers there brackets. It was like a mini earthquake but no real damage aside from cosmetic”
Thank you for the Video from Germany 🇩🇪
Very welcome 🙏
My Hero! Us Mercedes lovers salute you!
Thank you for your time in making this.
You saved my life!!!! .... But there are a few things you left out for the video. 1st you are not getting the master bolt in the center off with a ratchet. 2nd be careful about what you use to make you marks as all of the wd-40 your are going to need to spray will make your marks come off. 3rd those carrier bearing bolts where made by Satin himself and they can take days for the wd40 or liquid wrench to break them. They also take forever to come up and out like you said. One question I have is if you mis align the part of the shaft that runs into the transfer case what happens? Reason I ask is because I notice a little play or half rev in between the gears. I went to my friends tire shop to use an impact to get off that center bolt just a suggestion for the person that only has ratchets. As far as I am concerned you are a Mercedes God! Anyone that follows this video will have success. Thank you so much for making this step by step video. There is a ML500 in Colorado because of you and I was Ubering when it Happened and needed to repair fast to get back to the money. So If you are ever in CO I owe you a pint. Cheers! Please post more ml videos we are all watching!
good tips...yes the carrier bolts are nasty bastards..if there is mis alignment you will have a vibration you will notice instantly..almost undriveable vibration. Might have some ML vids shortly , but nothing really goes wrong with it. 42k miles in the last year .. very few issues. I honestly love this truck My next one will be a newer ML diesel
Thanks, great tutorial! One thing...my center support bearing came with instructions stating: "Before installing this part on the driveshaft make sure to apply grease between the outer seal and the bearing." ... I saw that the same seal in your video wasn't greased when you reassembled the joint, any issues? ... to be safe I'm packing mine with some Lucas xtra heavy.
I didn't have that instruction in mine , nor did the factory manual specify it . Not a bad idea to do so , and it can't hurt
Thankyou for this post, helped me know end especially having the torque values.
My 2000 ml 430 loves you
Very nice job , I thought you can just replace that whole bearing assembly with the carrier . If that’s the case can’t the driveshaft be left in the truck ?
I replaced the carrier and bearing here as a whole assembly. I'm guessing you could do in without removing the driveshaft completely , but I think it would be more of a hassle . The toughest job on this was the bolts holding the carrier . soak the crap out of them from above with wd40 for a couple of days
Hello, I am currently trying to replace my rear drive shaft on my 1999 ML430. Is this the complete rear drive shaft? I ordered it from Parts Geek, but all that was sent was the part of the drive shaft in which the bearing is attached to. It looks like a 1 foot drive shaft. Was the long part of the drive shaft the rest of the rear drive shaft?
the rear driveshaft should be the complete 2 piece section shown in this video
great video! I may have to do mines as well. I'm dreading the job already and I haven't even started it lol. Should mark the position of the drive shaft before removing? also what brand did you get. thanks
nevermind I look at the video again and you answered my question. I must of missed it lol
no need to match up the front and rear bolts..just the 2 driveshaft halves and the carrier splines. Febi Bilstein
fupabox awesome my friend Thanks so much.
I just did this on my w163, and now watching the video to see where did I screw up? I took only the short part apart only to the 8mm bolts of the halves. I’m thinking that maybe I put them opposite??? (There’s only two ways they can go…) so now I have a vibration on the rear end starting at about35-40 mph. Should I try switching it back?
@@zokidgr8 you could try but I’m guessing the shaft got off balanced. You may need to take it to a shop to balance it. Usually before removing it you had to use a grease pen or blue tape to mark each end to each other so you can know where it goes back.
You mentioned you have to move the car forward or backward to rotate the bearings in order to remove the allen bolts. Can you post a clip of that or did you film that. Thank you for the nice video
Sorry I didn't film it.. putting the trans in neutral (if the rear is jacked up )will also allow you to turn the drive shaft for access the the allen headed bolts. Otherwise if done with 4 wheels on the ground , you can just push the truck forward or backward (in neutral )which will turn the shaft .you can get the ones at the bottom , but to get to the others the driveshaft just needs to be turned
So on my 2000 ML320, I feel the car grinds and vibrates when making a hard right turn. I feel it in the steering wheel and brake pedal. It only happens on a hard right turn. Suspension, brakes, steering pump, and bushings all look good. You think it might be one of the front drive axles gone bad?
yes, or a front hub/wheel bearing
I got one for you. How do you get the ashtray insert out after you have taken off the woodgrain panel for the switches there are no screws and you can't just pull it out.
not 100% sure which part you mean .. The little one that comes out to dump the ashtray ?
the absolute funny this is I completely did this bearing job but I can't get the ashtray out..lol
Good job fupabox
Hey if i just need to do the U joints can i take off the drive shaft right after the support bearing (if going from front to rear)?
yes .
Hello,
what are the symptoms when this part is good to replace?
I have a vibration which is rather towards the rear when I am between 110 and 120 and then nothing above this speed.
That sounds more like a tire balance issue. The driveshaft support will vibrate at lower speeds under load and coasting .. and be almost unnoticeable at constant speed .
@@fupabox Hello,
Perfect, so I'm going to have the balance of the rear wheels checked =)
I would post my return after this verification =)
Thanks, have a good day
great video well done
I'm thinking about retiring my w202 from daily service (still runs great, just a million little tiny issues, worth keeping around but not daily). So I'm looking at getting a 203, you still have yours right? Any advice? I know you've said avoid the 4matic, for sure, it's going to be my summer car anyways..230k or 240/320?
I sold mine to my neighbor down the street, and got the ML. I would avoid the 240. underpowered and thirsty. The 320 is solid and good on gas in the sedans Very understressed. after 2003 they had some of the earlier bugs worked out. Nice cars
Ahh yeah, I've been driving my ml430 the last week or two since the a/c went out on the c220. But it's a hungry beast to feed in the summer. Good info to know. It was a learning curve for me with model not equaling engine size, that the c230k and c240 have 1.8L and 2.6L engines, respectively. I'm looking at an 02 320 and 05 230k right now, leaning towards the 05 if it isn't much more expensive. I think the 02 has lower miles tho. I'm surprised how much the 203's have come down in price recently.
yeah they seem to have come down , and the w202s in great condition are now going up
Hmmm. I love the w202, they're definitely getting harder to find i will say. Maybe I'm better suited finding a really, really nice w202, then I've got a parts car and between the two of them would be set for another 10 years haha. You think the computer would adjust to running a c220 short block in a c230 (or even c230k) car if it ever came to it?
I'm leaning more towards a really nice w202. 97-00, looking for low miles, thinking the Sport edition would be cool, c230k or c280?
will i have to do it on my 03 mercedes ml320
Man. On the brink of being considered surgery haha, guess I got spoiled with the w202 driveshaft being splined in the middle, so the center support is super easy to replace, AND the two pieces are alignment marked from the factory, so you can't put it back together wrong ;) I don't have any symptoms of this but worth getting under the car and checking movement of the driveshaft.
yeah it isn't bad..except those 2 16mm mount bolts..they're nasty to get to , and easily an 1nch longer than necessary.
Hi
if you forget to matchmark one side end cap , how to now to back it?
you can try to see if there is a matching rub mark or wear mark on the bearing and cap , otherwise you take a chance and see if there is no vibration . If there is you can take the caps off and turn the shaft under the car to match up with the next bearing without removing the whole assembly. Or take the whole thing to a shop for balancing
Hello are those 5mm allen key or star ??
could be either depending on year . I've seen both
i am not sure but i think you have to rebalance the shaft if you dont the part will by good for five years
no it isn't necessary as long as the front and rear parts go back together in the same alignment wih each other
The parts are balanced to be equil before assembly. No need to Mark anything.
Do you think each driveshaft is balanced by hand on an assembly line? No that would take forever. Plus their mass produced. Not each specifically produced and weight altered for perfect balance. Their held to strict tolerance.
Trust me I work in a Mack Truck assembly line in Macungie PA. Almost 25 years.
trust me ... lol . I re attached it 180 degrees out by mistake and it shook all to hell. reclocked it 180 degrees and smooth as silk . That's why I mentioned it in the video .
does this create a grinding noise between 30-45mph?
it could... the best check is to crawl under neath and try to wiggle it by hand.. it should move a tiny bit, but if it slops around or is detached from the mount it is toast
no the whole thing. got a cigarette stuck behind it and it won't slide in and stay closed. I'm trying to pull the whole thing out not sure how to get it to release
ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=zfpZIVxjOOo
I think the link worked.. you need to remove the switch panel ruclips.net/user/edit?o=U&video_id=zfpZIVxjOOo
Great job!
Whats the worst case scenario if one procrastinates change
if the whole bearing and rubber boot come away from the mount , the shaft could break away and come through the floor.. unlikely.. generally they will just make a huge noise bounce around and you wouldn't be able to drive it
Good video, 👍👌😎
Can’t get the rear of the driveshaft to come off
driveshaft or axleshaft ?
fupabox driveshaft. I ended up getting it off and changing the bearing. I noticed the noise I was getting stopped for about 50miles. But now in the morning when I go to drive it I hear it very mildly under heavy throttle. Diff bushings maybe?
@@davidspringer8691 damn ..I shouldn't answer comments when drinking . I somehow thought the video was the rear axle shaft video ..Doh. Have you changed the diff fluids ? It could be thinned out fluid in the diff allowing contact between the gears . The driveshaft bearing you can generally feel near the center console area . You could also check the alignment of the center bearing carrier . If it's a bit out to the left or right it may just be wobbling a tiny bit
Why don't you using a puller , a hammer you can damages the driveshaft by do that , you using too much the hammer for this kind of SUV .
I could have used a puller, but there is absolutely no harm done by tapping it off with a hammer.. pounding on it with a hammer would be a different story, but this just required light taps
POOR RATCHET..
I DID NOT LIKE YOUR VIDEO BECAUSE YOU DID NOT SHOW THE BEARING INSTALLATION. YOU CAN GET IT BETTER.
The bearing install is in the video .. Did you watch the whole video ?