What is the most likely way to test for bad trailing arm links
When I needed a definitive test I just unhooked them and went for a spin down the driveway. All you're losing is the rear sway bar, so it's not like you're going to spin out in a wall of flame at 5MPH, but I would avoid driving at any speed that way. It's a quick test. Usually if they're bad you get a rattling when on anything but glass-smooth pavement. I even removed the shocks too in that test session, proving that my persistent rattle _was_ those crappy Kyb shocks. That's a bit more spooky to drive! (I never left the driveway.)
I've been told before that the u-joint on these d/l's rarely go bad, and if they do, you have to replace the whole d/l.
There are a couple of places in the US (Portland OR has one) that will replace these U-Joints and rebalance the two-piece driveline. It was done (and probably unnecessarily) on my 560 SL in my pre-DIY days. They do rarely go bad. They get notchy because of the way they're used, but that doesn't hurt until it gets really bad, bad enough to be loose in the middle. -- Jim
