Upper Ball Joints???

[Mike T]

Getting ready to replace all of the suspension bushings on my 77 450 SL. Should I buy new upper control arms since they come with new upper ball joints or can I just replace the bushings in the upper arms that are on there now? Any need to replace the upper ball joints or do they not need replacing? Car only has 100,000 miles on it and has had no abuse what so ever!
Thanks,
Mike
PS....What about replacing the "flex disks" too?

[cbdo]

If memory serves, the upper ball joints are integral to the control arms, so it's a question of replacing the control arm in toto. My local guy checking out my 107 (145K) finds one ball joint loose enough to consider replacing, the other OK.

First of all, if the steering and ride are up to par, you may not need to do anything. If the steering's loose and you're doing the work yourself, see how much play there is in the ball joints when you've got the car up; if it's not much, you might try just doing the bushings and checking how it drives after that.

[maheath]

You can replace the upper ball joints without replacing the control arms. I've forgotten how to do that, so you might want to try searching this forum or Tech Help to find out how.