r/MechanicAdvice • u/Terlaine • 3d ago
Would you replace this joint?
Rebuilding a 1991 Mercedes w124.
It's the joint between the driveshaft shock absorber and the transmission output shaft.
I'm changing the shock abs thats connected to it because it looks worn out but this one doesnt look so bad even if it's 30 years old.
It costs around 80€, it's not too expensive but at the same time it's not cheap and also I don't know if I trust more an OEM from the 90s or a modern day aftermarket.
OEM new is probably super expensive so I'm even more dubious about that.
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u/TurkishSwag 3d ago
While it looks great for 35 years old, it is still 35 years old and the rubber has to have experienced some degradation. It’s already in your hand, I would replace it.
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u/BreakingABit1234 3d ago
Rubber is all great and happy and strong and flexible and ... poof. gone to black powder.
That's been my experience.
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u/TurkishSwag 3d ago
Yep! A lot of people neglect to change tires too on garage-kept cars that don’t get driven much. Bob thinks his Corvette with 2009 tires is fine because they only have 1000 miles on them.
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u/Megid_00 3d ago
I for the most part agree with this. Though it was out of the sun, exposure to the environment and atmospheric conditions will naturally degrade any rubber over time, especially one that is 35+ years old. If you have it out, might as well replace it.
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u/Mammoth-Angle-7779 3d ago
I've changed so many of those I don't even think twice. If I take it off for some reason I replace it. If it's coming apart I replace it. If I think it's going to come aoart I change it.
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u/PoetryExtension6256 3d ago
If you are already in and you know you didn't change it last week. It hardly looks like the most expensive part.
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u/spider1178 3d ago
At that age, and since it's already out, I would replace it. Call it preventative maintenance. It may look okay now, but for how much longer?
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u/danceswithtree 3d ago
That's an unusual design. Guibos are loaded so that there are alternating compressive and tensile forces between holes. This one looks like all the holes are the same although the metal bushing is offset in the hole. Is it supposed to look like that? If there is an orientation, be sure to put it in the correct orientation and see if it's supposed to be clocked.
The ones I have seen specify which holes are supposed to go to the transmission vs driveshaft.
Put a screwdriver in the hole and see how much deflection you get. If there isn't too much deflection and you don't mind doing the job again, reuse it.
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u/Boring-Bus-3743 3d ago
If it's out of the car, "cheap", and a old wear part might as well do it. How much work is it to get it out if you put the old one back in and it fails in 6 months?
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u/s1owpokerodriguez 3d ago
I don't have anything to add other than that's called a giubo and I just recently learned that word and I think it sounds kinda funny
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u/traineex 3d ago
I wonder if that date code is 1992. Nothing to add, looks fine, might be garbage, might be equal to n.o.s.
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u/Viking2151 3d ago
For being as old as it is, it looks good, but I'd still change it, its clearly got some wear, its out, might as well change it.
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u/tubawhatever 3d ago
Just get the Febi joint, it's probably also a SGF manufactured joint like this one. I suspect this joint is hard as a rock at this age.
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u/zertoman 3d ago
That’s a great looking old guibo, no reason to replace it unless it was clunking.
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u/Ok_Swan_3053 3d ago
35 year old rubber is a great reason to replace. Would you trust 35 year old tires on your car driving at highway speeds just because they look good?
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u/Ok-Bill3318 3d ago
Given you already spent the time to disassemble and take it out yes.
Parts are generally not the time consuming, expensive part of car maintenance.
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u/JoseSpiknSpan 3d ago
Looks like a rag bushing from a tractor mower. Looks good but I would be worried about dry rot especially since it's a driveline component I would replace.
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u/callmechristianblack 3d ago
How tight are the bushings if you put a screwdriver in them and move it around?
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u/ShipshapeMobileRV 3d ago
My take is, if you're this deep into it and it's not prohibitively expensive, change it. Otherwise you might be repeating all of this same work in a year or so.
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u/Background-Half-2862 3d ago
Just grab the aftermarket and keep the old one. Then the old one will be in your toolbox until you sell the car… +5 years.
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u/Gullible-Constant924 3d ago
Yeah for sure, I have one of these on my John Deere front mower, it exploded and the shaft smacked my radiator and rimwracked it when it was flailing around. Dont be me.
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u/Old_Mastodon_1969 3d ago
That thing is due for replacement, the modern version of that is not even built that way, not sure if its a worse design now or not, time will tell. In my neck of the woods we call that a drive shaft flex joint
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u/Kidiotic 3d ago
They’re easy to get out so if you really want to run it a while you can. Probably won’t fail anytime soon. But why wait?
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u/carguy31 3d ago
It's destroyed, man. And youve already removed it. Waste of time to put it back in, have drive line vibration and have to pull it back out a few months to replace it anyway
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u/SpaceCat72 3d ago
Guess that's a personal judgement call. Will it donkey dick if it fails? That matters a bit lol
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u/InternationalBeing41 3d ago
If you know how to change, then reuse it. It's not like a tire that could fail catastrophicly. I'm sure you'll hear noise or experience a vibration in plenty of time to swap it out.
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u/SuperReleasio64 3d ago
How in the hell has that thing not blown apart yet? I'd frame that on your wall lol
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u/FingersMartinez 3d ago
Depends how much it is. It makes sense to change it while it's out if it's not super expensive.
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u/canyoufixmyspacebar 3d ago
is it easy to replace it if it fails later? decision entirely depends on this. also this part from 30y ago may not be so bad because this is before they developed materials that fall apart in short time
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u/Samidas96 3d ago
Please replace it. You don't have to buy OEM. If you order it from Febi Bilstein, you have a high chance to get SGF as well. MB and Febi are buying from the same manufacturer :)
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u/Sad-Mark9764 3d ago
I've personally never put an original giubo back in on my own cars. They can look "ok" but decades old is decades old. Very much a "while you're in there" situation.
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u/Savings-Mud2808 3d ago
If you went to all the trouble to remove it, then you might as well replace it. It's a common worne part for Mercedes-Benz sedans. It does improve the ride smoothness and quality during acceleration and gear changes.
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u/Head-Arugula6926 2d ago
They are ALL SGF. O.E. /febi it doesn’t matter. Better yet, the part number is molded into it.
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u/Impression-Material 2d ago
Ill put it this way. I have seen the carnage of one of those failing at 80 miles/ Hour. The drive shaft wanted to play peek-a-boo with the driver. So yes!
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u/FavoriteDart680 2d ago
anything older than 20 - 25 years you need to change almost all the rubber if it’s a wear part, if it’s within your budget and you can do it, I’d suggest you do. It’s already in your hand so that’s half the work done.
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u/Slight-Tennis-6659 10h ago
I do not miss working on Mercedes due to what the company and its owners have become....
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u/dxrey65 3d ago
I'm not sure what that one is supposed to look like new, but it looks like it might be fine. If it's not fine you'd know pretty quickly, as it is designed to dampen driveline vibrations, and if it's not doing the job you'll get vibrations transmitting into the chassis. It's called "giubo joint", by the way.
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u/Ok_Swan_3053 3d ago
Drive shaft shock absorber? No such thing. Been in the auto repair feild 50 years never have I seen a car/truck with shock absorbers for a driveshaft including the mercedes 124 chassis. Now as to that drive shaft disc/coupler/joint you have it out, it is over thirty years old what do you think. I think this is one hell of a good time to replace it and that is what I would do as well as recommend you do.
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u/rastika 3d ago
For someone not in the trade its a very common sense name. It absorbs drive train shock, both vibration and axial shock.
It is actually called guibo for most German manufacturers its a portmanteau of GIUnto (the Italian word for "joint" or "coupling") BOschi (the inventors last name).
Ive heard the british call it a rotoflex joint.
Ive heard Americans call it a rag joint.
Your disc/coupler/joint is also common in north america.
Though I've only been a technician for 20 years I've been lucky enough to get my parts technician red seal for 10 and work all over the globe so I get exposed to all sorts of weird names for things.
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u/callmechristianblack 3d ago
https://ebay.io/m/m9cc3l Just for comparison, there's a cheap aftermarket one on eBay right now for 33 bucks us
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u/JulietAirway 3d ago
No offense but if you can’t figure out it needs to be replaced, maybe you shouldn’t be fixing cars.
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