I was getting new tires for my CF and decided to get an alignment (82,000 miles). I found out that my lower ball joint on my passenger side was shot. I began looking for a replacement only to find that none of the area parts stores stocked them and ordering them would be would be a pain. Dealer prices would also be high. I went to a M. Benz forum to find that this a common weak link in the CLK's (their design is nongreaseable). I looked up the ball joints for the CLK and found they are the same and fairly inexpensive. The ball joints bolt into the lower control arms. All in all, they arn't difficult to change.


The tear down is pretty simple. I am a bit of an old school Mopar mechanic, here are a few observations if you have to go through this yourself.







The bearing cap is a little different it fits much deeper onto the hub. The bearing lock nut has a 5mm socket head set screw (old cars used a cotter pin). In fact a good 5mm allen wrench is your best friend on this job.







There a couple odd sizes for wrenches or sockets that you need (many sets don't include them), you might want to make sure you have them before you begin. 16mm for the lower shock bolt. 18mm for the caliper bracket. Unbolt the shock before unbolting the sway bar. Hopes this helps.