Dear Brickboarders,

Happy new year. This one finds me just fueling the third and, what looks like, final month of a road trip across the country to my final destination of San Francisco. I am currently in escalante national monument in s. utah and then to Bryce Canyon National Park.. I've been on a few dirt roads (some worse than others), but none were embarked upon with a disregard or endangerment of my 240. In one instance, on a particularly waffly road, I turned around. However, I think one too many bumps may have caused my right (passenger side) shock to go. The symptoms are a quick hollow clamor (that ceases after the bump) from the rear passenger side. When I push down near the trunk, it gives the same kind of noise. When I'm on a dirt road and there are many little bumps, that noise morphs into a hollow clatter. I've consulted my Bentley manual and it does mention that such noise may be caused by a faulty rear shock bushing. I have limited tools, but prior to leaving I did throw a mixed but educated assortment of ratchets and sockets into the trunk. I also see that the back shocks are much easier to replace than the front.

I have a 91 240 sedan. It has 153,383, and I've had it for about 14,000 of those. Prior to departure, I replace brake pads and fuel filter, and changed the rear axle oil.

My questions are: 1) do you think this is indeed the shock? 2) Is it a pressing repair?--ideally, I would wait until Seattle, where I will be for a little while with a friend (but Seattle is a long ways away). Alternatively, I have a friend in park city, UT, and I could order the parts from eeuro, fcp, etc. and replace them there. 3) I will look through my tools and see if I have the necessary equipment, but is this a job I could do?; how much would it cost a mechanic? (I did leave my hydraulic jack at home, so I would need to find one of those). 4) if the problem is the actual shock, is there a rear pair you recommend?

For having travelled almost six thousand miles, I've been pretty fortunate. No doubt, it's a tank. Still starts like a charm, through the cold and the altitude. The engine threw out one faulty temp coolant sensor code, and that's been all.

Thanks for your help and happy holidays,

Jimmy