The 140’s lower control arm ball joint is a wear-and-tear component, with today’s supplies, I’ve found that no matter which brand I choose, they don’t last long. So today’s topic is not about finding a relative permanent part, but an interesting discovery: What is the relationship between OEM and Genuine MB?
Like any common car, the 140 has a pair of ball joints on the front suspension for connecting the steering kunckle and control arm, part number A1403330327. Although the part has been modified according to Mercedes-Benz North America’s statement in 1994, its part number has never changed, neither any technical modifications in WIS. The ball joint is not a high-tech part. This design has a history of more than 60 years in the automotive industry. Any car manufacturer or even a toy car manufacturer has mastered this technology, but we still can’t get a long-lasting ball joint for the 140 easily.
During the process of Octavius’ suspension rebuild, I discovered that one of the two ball joints is a bit loose that can be felt by twisting it with hand, which was very unexpected. In the parts preparation before disassembly, the ball joint was listed by me as an accessory that “absolutely does not need to be replaced”, so I did not order any in advance. Order records show that I ordered 2 A1403330327 for $66.00 each from a Mercedes dealer in Signal Hill, California in February 2017 while I was traveling in the United States, I brought them home in March. I don’t remember the exact replacement date and mileage, but it was certainly after this. I can check the mileage record during this period. From February 2017 to now, Octavius has traveled under 3,000 kilometers, and nearly 7 years. Combined with all conditions of use: permanent indoor storage, absolutely waterless driving, this record is depressing. It’s also worth clarifying that it didn’t make any unusual sounds or anything physically abnormal, I would never have known this if it wasn’t for the steering kunckle and control arm being separated, but one side did become loose and this could be felt with my hands .
I lost the packaging of this pair a long time ago, probably before I boarded my flight, Chinese customs didn’t like these things, I have to make them more unrecongnizable as auto part. I remember my backpack was full of these ingots, and an American lady who was doing check-in asked me to open my backpack and say, “ok, let’s what we have here.” She also took out the British journal <Mercedes Enthusaist> that I bought in St. Louis. I proudly pointed to the icon “I’m in the restoration business” on the jacket I just purchased from McPherson College, and she beamed. Even though there was no packaging, I could have sworn to the god that this pair of ball joints were fresh made and genuine.
After a simple appearance comparison, I unexpectedly found that even though the two ball joints were ordered at the same time, they had subtle differences. The most obvious one is that one of them is missing the star stamp next to the LEMFÖRDER triangle. Yes, it is manufactured by LEMFÖRDER, but you can be sure based on the shape of the casting that this is an MB Genuine part (at least it has the same shape as the counterpart with the star), not a current retail LEMFÖRDER, which can be seen at the comparison shows later.
At first glance, the content on the boots is the same. LEMFÖRDER always spares no effort to write on the Genuine MB parts they produce, including proud national attributes. It looks like the part number of boot on LEMFÖRDER is 025 060 021 012, pasting them into Google yields no results, we assume this is an exclusive part not for sale on the market. Of course, if you look carefully, the fonts of the two boots are different, which further verified that they may come from different batches. I decided to open the boot to check further.
Not only was there lubricant in the joint, there was also some rust, and the mix of water and grease gave it a rotten smell. I cleaned the grease off the upper part and added new lube, and during the process I felt an anomaly. A loose ball joint can rotate freely with complete ease, and when it twists to its limit, its ball stud collides with the socket. The other ball joint is very solid, will not swing freely, and will not be in direct contact with the socket. I discovered the difference, the solid joint (right) has a transparent sleeve that buffers between the stud and the socket. A free joint (left) does not have this sleeve. The difference can be seen in the picture below.
I checked the towel I used to wipe off the grease and there wasn’t any bits of sleeve on it. I am basically positive that the two joints have different designs, one has a sleeve and the other does not, along with some appearance differences. The ball head without sleeve is also extremely free, and even the tension provided by the boot can easily return the stud to the center. The reason is puzzling. It seems that the design with the sleeve is a more ideal design, but it is difficult to conclude that the version without the sleeve is just a defect because they have other differences. This difference may be caused by improvements in different batches.
To be honest, after retsoring Octavius this time, I have lost interest in LEMFÖRDER branded parts. But if Genuine just worn after a few thousand kilometers (I don’t believe Octavius has ever experienced any kind of storage that would cause static damage to the ball joint), I’d rather go with a LEMFÖRDER that’s half the expense, or even febi. By then all I hated was the peeling paint caused by repeated suspension work. So I ordered the LEMFÖRDER with a carefree attitude, I didn’t even care which country it was made in. Naturally I received the Malaysian version, I’m pretty sure the earlier version was made in Germany, they even had the same packaging. But I’m not paranoid about ethnicity now, as what the text implies about product quality today is not that meaningful.
There is clear evidence confirming that the earlier LEMFÖRDER ball joint was made in Germany and was almost identical to the Genuine. But not today, the norm today is LEMFÖRDER gives you a cheaper feel than the Genuine. The text and branding are printed rather than engraved. The LEMFÖRDER number for this part is 10741 01. It appears that this part is also offered as 10741 02 . There is only a brief part number on the Boot, certainly no “Germany” on it.
Putting Genuine and LEMFÖRDER together, first of all, their sockets come from different castings, which can be distinguished by their die-cast shapes, even though both are made by LEMFÖRDER. On the new ball joints it’s hard to tell the difference in movement quality with your hands, they are all tight so just rely on appearance to judge the advantage. Some old photos show that LEMFÖRDER 10741 01 used to use the exact same process as Genuine MB. They used to do this, but now they have stopped. It is a pity that they would rather open an additional production line in an area with cheap labor than produce LEMFÖRDER branded products at the existing cost.
By the way, I could be silent on a slightly worn ball joint, but that’s a lot of exterior rust over the past 7 years. Not only is it caused by brake powder, but they themselves are also rusted, even the parts covered by the boot. I have never driven on any road where it rained or had standing water in the past 7 years, but it is unavoidable to rinse the rims when washing the car, which will cause water to flow to the ball joint. They had been repainted at the time of the shoot and I kept a before photo. The complaints about Genuine are completely valid, and I would recommend that whatever product is used give them an extra rust-proofing treatment before installation.
I also have real NOS in my inventory, an uncommon type. Judging from the outer packaging alone, its biggest highlight is that it is made in South Africa rather than anywhere else. Mercedes parts made in Africa must be very exotic.
I have always had a keen interest in Mercedes parts production in South Africa and when I restored Bianca with new front fender, I discovered that new fender was produced in South Africa in 2002, along with their details doesn’t match the factory parts, we have to enlarge the mounting holes to offset the mounting position of the fender. South Africa had previously manufactured the 140.032 and 140.050 SKD from 1992-1994, using a certain proportion of local components, so it makes sense to find South African-produced 140 components.
The S.African version of the socket is engraved with star, so there is no need to worry about its authenticity, there is only star here. On the boot, you will see a triangle reminiscent of LEMFÖRDER. There is no definite evidence that it is LEMFÖRDER because the middle of the triangle is empty. Copying and pasting part number 032 023 012 into Google yielded no results, but the font is somewhat similar to LEMFÖRDER. Currently I prefer to define it as a standalone product. Some parts dealers think it is the same as a copy of MEYLE HD, I found that the MEYLE currently on the market is not like this, maybe it is an earlier version. MEYLE did also produce Genuine suspension components.
Despite being blessed by the star, this product from S.Africa is completely different from LEMFÖRDER’s Genuine MB made in Germany. This difference can be seen in the comparison chart below, where the S.Africa not only comes from a different casting, but is also larger. After some searching, I also found other packaging for copies of S.Africa, which came in a typical 90s Genuine MB blue box, but without the star, just “Original Quality”. This brings a cloud of confusion, we don’t know if these ball joints are actually approved by MB, but we are sure that no fakes are willing to pretend to be S.African, and most people have no idea about the history of 140 in South Africa, which only increases consumers’ suspicion.
In the past, you could get the same Genuine quality parts at half the price with LEMFÖRDER. Today, LEMFÖRDER retains the original production tooling and continues to supply parts to MB aftersales, but no longer retails them under their own brand. For the aftermarket, they move the factory to cost-friendly places and use different processes to manufacture, the quality of which is lower than Genuine. We have no more options. Complaining about the new LEMFÖRDER may not be the priority at this moment, we should pray that MB aftersales will never approve the new LEMFÖRDER product as Genuine and sell it at the original price.