Anti roll bar drop links 26 August 2022 at 11:45AM in Motoring 11 replies 494 views

Mercedes18

Car: Mercedes B Class 2015

Both of my front anti roll bars had a advisory ‘

• Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.3.4 (b) (i))
• Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.3.4 (b) (i))’

I got them replaced by Kwik fit for £80 for the pair and after 1 day the front left one started making a knocking noise. After going back to them they tightened it and the knocking noise went away but after a few hours it came back.

Mercedes quoted me £400 for parts and labour to replace these and they said it will take 3 hours which of course is a lie as it only takes 1 hour to replace both.

I’ve told Kwik fit that the noise is still there and they said they will replace the side that’s making the noise.

I know OEM are better quality and they’ll probably last longer. Is it worth paying £400 and getting OEM ones from Mercedes? I’m not sure what brand Kwik fit are using but I’m assuming it’s cheap. 

ratrace

No £400 is a rip off, i do these all the time on vw cars where i work

we use meyle hd drop links, they are good for the price

you can buy just the parts from the main dealer if you want to and have a local garage fit them providing they allow you to do that

doing drop links is one of the most easy jobs one can do on the suspension system, even when the old ones are all buggered, if they put up a fight for more than a few mins ie seem to be spinning in the joint i just grind them off

total time for the job about 1hr thats including a tea break

hope that helps 

venomx

Perhaps it takes 3 hours to do the job properly as it sounds like kwik fit aren't.

As you say the parts Mercedes use will be of much higher quality so I'd go with that 

ratrace

I dont think anyone can ignore the level of incompetence kwik $h*t has so it comes as no surprise that they cant do a simple job right the first time, whats more shocking is that they didnt tell the op that the need a new exhaust or new tyres.

op, do not go to merc paying £400 just to do some links is absurd, you can get them done a lot cheaper at a local garage 

we charge £60 p/h plus parts

Goudy

Go to you local GSF car parts store and buy a set of Delphi ones for around £32.

Take them to a competent garage (that's anyone other than Kwik Fit or Halfords) and ask them if they know how to fit them.

If they say anything other than 
Remove the old ones.
Fit the new ones.
Drop the car down off the lift and tighten them up.
Keep going until you do.

sheslookinhot

Mercedes have expensive showrooms and customer careers to pay for.

The parts in the box are the same, the label on the box determines the price.

daveyjp

If you are close to a Mercedes main dealer you will also be close to an independent Mercedes specialist.

Mercedes owners club will have details of a recommended one close to you.  Members will also give an idea of price.

billy2shots

Knocking is either poorly tightened droplinks or the wrong ones fitted!


I'm building a track mx5 so uprated the anti roll bars. When I started work I saw the rear droplinks had been padded out with a shim of metal. The independent garage which changed them for the previous owner had fitted the wrong model droplinks so bodged a patch out job. 

I could imagine the wrong model year being out just enough to fit but not tighten down properly. 

lemondrops69

Or LEMFÖRDER, they are an OEM for a lot of manufacturers

Mercedes18

I’ve been to Kwik fit and they’ve replaced the knocking side and the noise is gone. I found out the brand is Delphi. Is this brand any good and will they last?

facade

Delphi are now owned by Borgwarner, they reckon they have good QC (now) and supply parts to OEM specifications, most say "made in China" on the box so they are probably correct

They are better than the no-name stuff on eBay, probably last past the next MOT.

If you do get two years out of them, they work out cheaper than £400 for ones that last 7.