Replacing the Rear Axles on my Mercedes R107 450sl

Gurunutkins

While doing my 6 monthly underbody inspection I found that one of the rubber boots on the passenger side half shaft was

totally destroyed and the joint dry and damaged. I had noticed no difference in handling or noises so be aware!

 

I decided to replace both shafts so here is a brief description with photos. I made a couple of tools to do the job but it is well within the

scope of most shade tree mechanics with what you have in your toolbox.

the damage

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jack up the car and place securely on jack stands

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remove the back axle filler plug first (to make sure its loose) and then drain from the drain plug 14mm allen key

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remove the brake calipers 19mm socket and tie them back

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undo the bolt holding the axle in the hub (14mm wrench or the newer M8 bolt). and push the axle out of the hub.

I had to use a brass drift on one side the other just pulled out with finger pressure. Do them one at a time. i.e. dont try and

remove both shafts from the hubs at the same time remove one full axle then the other.

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I had to remove the shocks on either side to get the back axle A arms to drop far enough to get the axle out of the hub

Then tie up the old shaft (I'm going to rebuild mine) and remove the weights from the old inner joint (you dont need them for the new shafts but keep them in case you rebuild

your old ones) they undo with 66m allen key. I know the book doesnt say remove them yet but its really difficult to get past the exhaust if you dont remove at least the left side in situ.

clean off the edges of the back axle cover and remove the rubber holder from both the axle back plate and the floor of the car  (13mm

bolts holding the carrier and 12 mm allen key for the bolts to the rear of the case)

once the cover if off remove the 2 clips holding in the axles. the book says use a hook but it requires some force to do and I ended up bending

 a file to the right angle and using that to pull them out after grasping it with some mole grips.

Once the pins are out you can remove the axles from the center differential and from the car. I also replaced the seals at this point

as there is no way I was doing this job again in a hurry. the seals were in really tight and needed to be persuaded out

with a 1/2 inch steel bar. I tried a couple of aftermarket seals but the only really good quality one with the double lip

was the genuine mercedes item so at $25 each it was still a good deal

The recommended tool was supposed to be a 65mm hub to fit them but it worked poorly so I made a bigger one that fitted the whole seal and it was easy to replace the seals with that

 

I then just tapped the new seals in making sure to use plenty of hypoid 80 -90 as lubricant

then I cleaned off the new shafts (they had quite a bit of manufacturing swarf on them)

and using new clips (cheapest part ever from mercedes 90c each) reinstalled them

I then put sealant (use the good Mercedes stuff) on the cleaned back cover and reinstalled

cleaned out the splines in the hubs and reinserted the hub ends

torqued everything down and refilled and tested!