Year: 1974
Make: Mercedes-Benz 240D (W115 Chassis)
I had been dealing with excessive tire wear on the outside edges of this 240D for the past 10-20,000 miles. It had been getting progressively worse. The most recent set of tires lasted a mere 4,000 miles before the outer shoulder of the tire was down to the wear bars. Rotating the tires every 1,000 miles was no longer enough.
It was time for a front-end rebuild–or so I thought. I was envisioning needing to replace bushings on the A-arms and possibly ball-joints. However, once I removed the wheels and started looking critically at the front end components, it became clear what the issue was: a cracked front subframe mount on the driver’s side.
End of the Line?
The images below show the cracked mount. This explains the excessive tire wear. The car is currently parked as this is a serious safety issue.
