Thanks Guys,
All ya'll said sounds very reasonable (and I was glad to hear all you
said). The reason I believe the "terminal" prediction from my shop is
they had the car for replacement of the bad rear wheel bearing. (BTW, I
put new Bilsteins on a couple of years ago) They had the car on the lift
prepping to do the bearing when they saw the place where the rust had
separated the "chassis from the suspension" to use their words. They
had a repair that would have paid them $600 or so in labor and they
suggested I not do that because of the rust problem. I know no one is
suggesting the shop mis-diagnosed but seems like with $600 on the line
they would have to be pretty sure the problem was real. Another plus on
the shops side is the technicians are a couple of W124 enthusiasts.
It's nice to run into guys who love these great old cars as much as I do.
Thanks for the suggestions that she is safe, so far, other than the
(loud) bearing, there is no reason to suspect a problem! It tracks
perfectly, doesn't make any strange sounds other than the bearing - no
bumps, grinding or other noise I would associate with a body/suspension
separation. It is VERY nice to have confirmation that we have backup
vehicle that will get us anywhere we are likely to go.
I assume that when the damage gets worse, I will 'feel' something in the
rear - maybe it'll be tail happy? Course, I won't be driving fast in a
car that's questionable - especially around curves. But I'm just
guessing. I really appreciate the comments about how durable your rusty
MBs have been! Very helpful.!
Larry
;-)
On 12/19/2017 12:41 AM, OK Don via Mercedes wrote:
I think the rusty hole is a drain in the floor of the trunk.
On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 9:35 PM, Curley McLain via Mercedes <
mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
What Mitch said!
I don't see any problems in those pictures. It looks like a car in pretty
good condition. I am puzzled by the oval hole. I have seen a very rusty
124 being driven long mile trips. My 126 certainly qualifies as a
rustbucket, and has a break in the frame, but I am not afraid to drive it
anywhere. The rustiest car I ever drove was the 115 300D I junked. I
drove it 750 miles home with the rear fenders flapping in the wind, and it
left jetsam at every bump in the road.
I am certainly not afraid to drive it or buy it.
Mitch Haley via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
December 18, 2017 at 1:53 PM
What the others said.
The control arms attach to the subframe, right?
And the subframe attaches to the body?
If the subframe to body mount is rusted away, she's dead.
If the body is rusted where the top of the shock attaches, that's
repairable but indicative of the car's impending demise.
If the subframe is rusted where the control arm attaches, it's an
expensive fix to replace the subframe.
Otherwise, all I see is a very new shock, and surface rust on the spring
seat.
I'm not sure what's up with that oval hole in the picture, it looks too
precisely shaped to be a rust through, is it a dirty but intentional
factory hole?
__
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