2008 Sprinter - Ball joints & Sway bar bushings DIY

nickhawaii

New member
Can someone direct me to a page where I can find a DIY to replace the lower ball joints as well as sway bar bushings?
 

sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
Front sway bar bushings are almost self explanatory:

Be sure to measure bar diameter before obtaining replacement bushings (and bushing bracket if applicable, as it was redesigned at some point and the new bushings won't fit the old bracket. Europarts-SD has the new brackets listed). Remove old parts. Install new parts, tighten bolts.

I dug up a photo.. these are for a 20mm bar. Old part at left, new part on right:bushings.jpg
 

Eric Experience

Well-known member
Nick
Unlikely the balls need replacing. It is normal to have vertical clearance in the ball, only replace if you have horizontal clearance under load. Eric
 

nickhawaii

New member
Thanks for the replies guys.

I have a major squeaking noise that I cannot seem to pinpoint to anything as it resonates so much and the only thing I can think of starting with is the ball joints as I did have vehicles in the past that start squeaking when the ball joint starts disintegrating and is left without grease.

Since I am mentioning it; The squeak is present at the slightest of movement.
I had a friend jump/rock the van standing inside. Squeaks all the time but interestingly squeak goes away when the wheels are turned fully to the left. If anybody else has suggestions as to what it may be...
 

sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
Without hearing your noise it may be a dumb question but have you ruled out the sliding door as a source? Does it still squeak with the door slightly open?
 

nctrailseeker

Active member
Guarantee ball joints. Same issue here. Bought a hypodermic grease fitting and injected through the rubber boot. Took care of the noise. I know, that opens up the issue of puncturing the boot, but it was a point I had to prove to myself. It is the ball joints.
 

kazozako

Member
Sway bar bushing are cheap but important for damping road jitter and protect suspension. For older (2007-2010) there is updated replacement in which rubber bushing appears to be not fitting the bracket, best to use c-clamp to squeeze it in on the bar then bolt it on. Easy job. Make sure to get one exactly to your VIN there are two sizes....and do back too.
 

nickhawaii

New member
@sprint2freedom I did not think of that nor did I try. The noise is 99.9% coming from under the truck as I was under while my helper rocked the van.

@nctrailseeker Thanks for the reassurance, I really do hope that is it. I already bought replacement ones from Rockauto as they were relatively inexpensive however I had no clue that they needed to be pressed out. The noise is so annoying that at this point Im just going to pay to have it done.

@kazozako I bought sway bar bushings about a year ago and never got to install them ?‍♂ I've had a clunking over small road imperfections for a year now, replaced outer tie rods as well as sway bar links, but noise still present. I hope the bushings fit and they solve the issue.

Will post back once all is done with results.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Lower ball joints on a NCV3 or better known as a 906 chassis are very hard to remove. unless you do some die grinding on the ball joint housing/arm itself so that you can safely mount the removed control arm into a press and AGAIN SAFELY press it out .
Failure to do this and you run the very risk of it all flying about on a press & it becomes a safety hazard .
The tool I posted helps to remove it without risking life & limb,. but it still consumes labor time.

On the other hand by buying a complete new arm you not only get the ball joint but you also get the two silentbloc pivot mounts.
Its just install and get it aligned.
Taking the savings you got by simply buying a ball joint versus a complete arm replacement is in most cases is negated by the labor time consumed in wrestling the joint out and reinstalling it.
In any case what about the silentbloc bushes ? Are you changing them out as well?
Yet another wrestling match I can assure you and we have the equipment to do all this.
Looking at the big picture materials and labor time to refurbish the arm its often cheaper in the long run to simply replace it .
Dennis
 

nickhawaii

New member
Dennis,

You are right. I am in the process of returning the ball joints and I have ordered a set of control arms.
I had not realized before ordering that they were pressed in.

Thanks for your input.
 

Top Bottom