how to change bottom ball joint sprinter van 2002

andy, September 2008

I did this job today in 1 hour .
Remove the rod end ball joint ( strike the arm hard)
Undo 4x bolts holding the shocker to the hub .
Take off the shocker by undoing the 24 mm nut inside the cab .
Support the complete hub/ disc on top of the wheel you took off .
Remove the 30mm bottom ball joint nut .
Tear away the rubber from the joint as it stinks and is toxic when it burns .
Drill a hole in the steel cap to allow the hot grease to escape .
I used a forked ball joint separator driven in hard then heat the bottom arm .
Hit the separator with a big hammer till the joint separates
Use a solid bar and mash hammer to strike the ball joint through .
Heat is the key / use it to make putting the new joint back in .
I used a pipe the same diameter as the flange on the joint after temporarily removing the rubber boot .
Drop the jack onto the pipe supporting the joint and strike the arm .
Unti the joint is home .

Neilson miller - green mountain travel, November 2015

Just paid £30 for a pair of new ball joints and my brother fitted them for less than you think for the pair,I have a vw lt35 MK2 2000 model, which is the same as sprinter. i dont have the tools or i would of done it myself. My brother has a garage and repairs anything from a bicycle to a tank you name it hes fixed it. Like most good mechanics you dont need all the special tools that cost ££££

Mark Nuttall, June 2013

£ 250 for lower wishbone, when I asked in Europarts they quoted £ 90 or £ 110. something like that. The comment for the sprinter guy rings true, in the past I have run around geting tools that I have never needed.

Brendanstransport.com, September 2010

Mine desperately need doing now (MK2 XLWB Sprinter), been quoted £150 a side if its hastle free !

Thanks to Simon S for planting that idea in my head, the lower arms come with bushes and balljoints already installed, yes they're quite expensive but you're getting new bushes, balljoints and arms into the bargain so....

£300 + for just the balljoints (fitted at garage)

Or

£250 fitted myself but with the added bonus of new arm and bushes (genuine MB parts - Bit worried about using pattern parts on something like this).

So it seems buying and fitting the entire lower suspension arm is the way to go, £50 cheaper and new arm/bushes/balljoints !

I'll post back when ive done the job to let any new readers know if it was a pig of a job to do !

Cheers all

The Courier, April 2010

just done a ball joint on a sprinter what a nightmare if you are not a very confident mechanic then don't bother trying to do it so much easier to change the whole arm than doing the ball joint itself

simon s, March 2010

A quick question on the same subject. I have recently been quoted 6.5 hours at £50 per hour to have the ball joint on my iveco daily (1996) replaced. I can't recall the cost of the part. Is this reasonable? I thought it was a tad steep.

Andy, January 2010

Please dont waste money on these balljoint removers. I've been working on sprinters for nearly ten years and have never needed anything more than a big hammer to change a balljoint. I've never even needed to heat one up.
Get an assistant to hold the wishbone with the balljoint between the jaws of a vice. Do the vice up so that the jaws are just touching the edge of the balljoint and give it a few really good whacks with the hammer to get it moving. Then use a drift to tap it the rest of the way out.
If a pair of these takes longer than an hour from start to finish i'd be worried.

Rustbuckets, January 2009

bit of a nightmare this mate, you need to remove the brake calliper and the track rod end from the hub, undo the bottom nut (30mm) if the bj wont seperate from the hub put jack under the ball joint and jack vehicle on bj, repeatadly bray it with a hammer and it will eventually seperate,undo the 4 19mm bolts holding the hub to the shocker, lift shocker up and jam it up with somethin like a block of wood, metal etc, and remove hub and brake disc, get some heat on the bj as it is a right bitch trying to remove it, heat up then bray out, install new bj and rebuild.

gazad, January 2009

As I said my Sprinter is a 312 so I would double check what amount of torque you will need to use on your model.

Regards Rob

robert A, December 2008

Looking into learning myself...Cost me £170 to have one replaced the last time, most of that labour as the ball-joint costs a few pounds! They told me when they gave me the bill how difficult it was and that it took hours and that they had to use a heat torch which sent the ball-bearing flying accross the garage after hitting the mechanic (why he stood in the trajectory whilst heating the joint I don't know?). I don't trust some of these garages and reckon it can't be so hard.

Found an excellent web video - many thanks to Nathan McCullough at
http://www.expertvillage.com/search.htm?s=replacing+ball+joints

Found a link to a guy who sells a heavy duty ball joint remover / installer kit which has pic's showing it used on a Sprinter (It's also similar to the one used in the video). It's not cheap (but cheaper than what I paid for one ball-joint replacement at a garage) but looks more robust than some kits I've seen for less. More importantly it will definitely save lots of money over time as supposedly the ball joints on Sprinters need to be changed quite often, especially on the LWB types according to one guy who runs a courier firm.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/22-Piece-Universal%2FBall-Joint-Removal%2FInstall-Kit---NEW_W0QQitemZ380089396591QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20081212?IMSfp=TL0812121310002r6100

I've got a Peter Russek manual for my 312 (ISBN: 1-898780-89-7) that although doesn't explain how to do so gives the tightening torques of the nuts concerned - they're high so you will need to invest in a torque wrench that can handle the 28-30kgm (275 - 294 Nm) torque required. Screwfix sells a 3/4 " Teng Wrench that can handle those torques - about £112 the last time I looked. Remember to only use the torque wrench for the final tightening. It's a precision instrument and expensive as a general wrench! Might be worth getting a power bar which you attach the socket to. Go easy when tightening, i.e., finish off with the torque wrench once it is starting to firm up..Have found in the past a cargo strap is pretty usefull for exerting lots of force onto wrenches when undoing tight nuts. Its hard sometimes when lying on your back to exert enough force...

It seems a lot to buy the tools but I enjoy being more self-reliant, love to learn how things work, but especially hate having to find hundreds of pounds for jobs I can do myself for a lot less, especially when I am strapped for cash and often have a bit of time free inbetween jobs. Once you've got the tools, and got some experience it will get easier down the line. I intend to keep my Sprinter going as long as I can so it will pay off to learn myself. It's done me proud so far!

Robert A, December 2008

up to 3mm axial (up & down) play seems to be acceptable according to Mercedes Benz. I've read elsewhere that there should be zero radial play.

Extract from VOSA report

"Mercedes UK suggest
that a maximum of 3 mm of axial play (up
and down movement) is safe.

Provided the protective rubber boot is not
split or damaged, the ball-joint should not
wear under normal circumstances. Even with
an excessive amount of wear in the joint, the
design is such that it cannot ‘separate’, as the
cup cannot lift away from the ball due its
location and physical confinement below the
suspension strut."

From VOSA report -

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/repository/MoT%20-%20Issue%2023%20-%20April%202004%20.pdf

Robert A, December 2008

there is no tolerance allowed for lift in ball joints at mot. vosa were initially unsure about how much was acceptable and later gave a zero tolerance to stop the confusion. what you tend to find is testers use their discression and advise a slight amount of play, but it is slight.
book time is 2.2 hrs to replace a ball joint.
try williamsdiesels.com they specialise in merceds repairs and are mobile.

Darren Johnson, September 2008

these ball joints have a lot of play built into them and show up when vehicle jacked up ,-i seem to remember a special mot notice about them,you could do to check mot testers manual at your local mot station or ring main dealersfor advice before you change them ,they may be ok.

k, September 2008