tie rod ends

[GrampiansMerc]

Having trouble locating tie rod ends (ball joints) for the 300D.
They have a rather large thread of 14mm and seem hard to get (managed to get an outer LH tread one for the drivers side) but not the inner RH thread)
The smaller thread versions (12mm?) are easy to get
Its a bit of a mystery as they are stock standard tie rod ends - no bends or anything unusual, I would have thought no worries about after market parts...

I figure I will do both sides, since the RHS outer was flogged out.

Has anyone had any luck with these recently (as 6 months ago they seem to have been available....)
Checked many places and they don't stock or are out of stock.

[newMercowner69]

Here's some aftermarket (PAJA/ROADSAFE0 part numbers for you: TE3380 to 1977,
TE8071R to 8/1982,
TE584R 8/1982-,
Try Autobarn,
Bursons,
Ebay,
Repco,
Or just " Google" those part numbers,
Even try Pedders.

[T-Modell]

Hi,
did you look through here? https://www.dbdepot.de/123-front-axle

Andreas is reliable, but I don't know, if he ships to Oz at the moment ...

Regards
Thomas

[pastelgrey300D]

If you aren't having luck here in Au, I've had good experiences and multiple orders with Rockauto - they ship via fedex who owns TNT so their international freight is about the cheapest you'll find from overseas. I usually add a few tie rod ends or balljoints in with some of my purchases because they are so cheap.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/mer ... d+end,7428

Pro tip, if you click on the 'RSS' yellow button you can find a list of all their clearance/closeout items which are incredibly cheap.

rockautorss1.JPG

rockautorss2.JPG

https://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefee ... &html=true


One trap to watch out for is that with Rockauto they have multiple warehouses, it can get expensive if you are shipping items from multiple locations. Try to keep all the items from one location (you will see a truck logo appear to denote that the item ships from the same location as one already in your shopping cart).

[GrampiansMerc]

Yep tried auto parts stores they have the outer but not the inners (rht)
I will keep trying, found some on ebay.
cheap crap from China (BAPMIC) but some reasonable Febi Blistein ones as well ~ $45. also found some incredibly expensive ones too! (Trupro $275 for set of 4)

[John Green]

Yep tried auto parts stores they have the outer but not the inners (rht)

Buy an assembly, not the individual ends. There are multiple reasons why:

- if one is stuffed the other end is
- if they are seized in the adjuster tube you need an assembly anyway and you only find out after buy the ends
- if some heavy handed wheel aligner has used stilsons (plumbers spanner) to adjust them the strength of the adjusters will be compromised
- etc, etc

Part number is A1233300403

Also be aware that the earlier cars had differant length ends for inner and outer, this was superseded to a differant design where each end was the same length, but obviously a differant thread.

[Christo C]

Available in Australia for around $40 at
https://www.qualitycarparts.com.au/merc ... 13839.html

[GrampiansMerc]

Thanks Christo

got the complete arm, for $40 (so I replaced both)