coil springs

[Ian B Walker]

I'm with you there Howard. I have done a spring change on a W124 and believe me, the tension has to be seen to be believed. I would NEVER consider a spring change on any car that I work on without the right compressor. I have a likeing for my head and other body parts

 

[big x]

Your 'normal' spring compressor will not fit and is not strong enough to do the job, trust me, I have tried!!

It is possible to change springs without any compressor but you really need a 4 post ramp, a large axle stand and a helping hand. You need to drop the complete wishbone assembly, drop the srpring out and then push it all back up. It's not easy but I have done it once but much easier and safer with the proper tool.

This is the type of thing you need:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Coil-Spring-Compressor-1801_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35625QQitemZ4598677558QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD2V

It operates through the middle of the spring, on MB's there is not room on the outside of the spring to get a normal compressor on it, the wishbones are designed in such a way to use this special tool.

Yes, I agree the specialist tool makes life simple but for the home mechanic doing a job only once or twice the cheap route works.
I suppose the mcpherson strut is safer as you remove the whole strut and remove the spring on a bench.

adam

 

[GrahamC230K]

There is only one safe way to do the job and that invloves the correct tools.

 

[big x]

I'm with you there Howard. I have done a spring change on a W124 and believe me, the tension has to be seen to be believed. I would NEVER consider a spring change on any car that I work on without the right compressor. I have a likeing for my head and other body parts

The Haynes boys seemed to manage ok with a normal compressor,there's a photo on page 10.9 in the c-class manual with 2 compressors attached.

adam

 

[big x]

There is only one safe way to do the job and that invloves the correct tools.

The instructions say the jaws on these are rated at 1500kg each. On a C-class you can get 2 attached.Instead of saying "bullshit" provide me with evidence that the spring rate is more than 3000kg and I'll throw them in the bin and gladly pay my local specialist £35 PH to do the job !

adam

 

[GrahamC230K]

I've no intention of quoting any numbers at you. Your advice/opinion differs vastly to the many respected and knowledgable people we have on the forum. I believe it is well known MBs require specialist spring compressors and the off the cuff way you disgarded this valuable information resulted in my comment. Simple as that.

I don't believe the weight rating is the issue, more the confined space you have on an MB to use them. If you can get 2 conventional compressors on on your car, well done. I've obvserved while mine where changed using the correct tool and I don't see how it could have been done differently.

Feel free to work on your own car any way you wish!

 

[janner]

Your 'normal' spring compressor will not fit and is not strong enough to do the job, trust me, I have tried!!

I've also tried and although I did it it was a pain in the @rse and I still had to drop the wishbones.

That link to the proper kit looks good. I wonder.....if someone (eg me) bought them would there be a market on this forum for renting them out to recover the purchase price?

 

[GrahamC230K]

I've also tried and although I did it it was a pain in the @rse and I still had to drop the wishbones.

That link to the proper kit looks good. I wonder.....if someone (eg me) bought them would there be a market on this forum for renting them out to recover the purchase price?

I think Jimmy's experience proves, no.

 

[Alps]

Nonsense !

An average set of 3 spring compressors cost circa £20 from the likes of...
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=040211224

adam

id like to see you use those to take of MB springs! You need compressors which are designed for the MB spring, NOT general spring compressors!

 

[jimmy]

I've also tried and although I did it it was a pain in the @rse and I still had to drop the wishbones.

That link to the proper kit looks good. I wonder.....if someone (eg me) bought them would there be a market on this forum for renting them out to recover the purchase price?

I bought the ones in the link from the US, I used them and hired them out to 2 other members at a reasonable £20 (I think), I had dozens of enquiries but nobody wanted to pay so I sold them 2 weeks ago to another member.

I originaly tried using a set of Snap-On compressors that I borrowed from a mate. The trouble you have is the limited space, you cannot get the ends on close enough to the ends of the springs to get enough compression to remove the spring because of the turrets that the springs sit in.

I also ended up bending the the screwthread on the Snap-On tool, luckily they have a lifetime guarantee. But even so I could not compress the spring.

McPherson struts are different, much easier as you have more room to work on it.

I just did a rear spring on an ML430, not even 2 of my local Mercedes dealers are able to remove the springs from the struts, they replace it as a whole unit which I had to do, not cheap at £250+ each but no other way, and I had the last one in the country, not even MB Germany have any at the moment, 3-4 week back order.

 

[big x]

id like to see you use those to take of MB springs! You need compressors which are designed for the MB spring, NOT general spring compressors!

Did I tell you about the time I stripped down a complete S600 v12 with a swiss army knife..

adam

 

[Howard]

Well, there you go , you've proved it can be done.... well done ..

As i said before, there's no arguing with someone who knows best ...

 

[big x]

I've also tried and although I did it it was a pain in the @rse and I still had to drop the wishbones.

That link to the proper kit looks good. I wonder.....if someone (eg me) bought them would there be a market on this forum for renting them out to recover the purchase price?

The specialist tool hire seems far less developed here than in the States perhaps because the British tend to have smaller garages...If I didn't have a double garage where I can lift the car on all four corners I probably would not attempt DIY if I had to do it in the street.
As cars become more complex DIY can become impossible IE. the old BMW six cylinder engines where straight forward to remove the head on but the later double vanos require all sorts of special BWW tools to set the timing etc and I'm sure the MB V6 is the same in terms of complexity

adam

 

[Alps]

adam

good pic to prove your point, all I can add really is look at the compressor on the right, how the hell did the person who took the pic get that on and the bolt tightened!

 

[grober]

sportline conversion

I think lots of folks have changed springs by dropping the wishbone very carefully . I think my local garage did it on my 190 after one of myfront springs broke by unbolting the front strut from the hub. However these guys are used to dealing with big 4x4 and commercial vehicle suspensions and knew what they were doing. heres a link to some pictures of a sportline type conversion. there's a picture of someone using the pucka spring compressor and a very nice tool for rolling wheel arches. Click on the first picture and then use the forward back arrows to see all the pics.http://www.motorwerksgroup.com/p16/index.html

 

[kth286]

Guys

That picture showing the two conventional spring compressors actually on the spring is not the full story.

As yet the spring has NOT been compressed and is actually still supported by the wishbone.

The next step of either trying to compress the springs further so you can get them out of the upper spring cups OR the act of lowering the wishbones and hoping the compressors will keep the springs constant at that fixed expanded amount; will cause the problems as follows.

It will be difficult to get access to the back screw to compress the spring any further, and if you lower the wishbone and the spring trys to expand, the compressors will slip around the downward slope of the springs and both end up on the same side of the spring...... AND THEN RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, because the spring is now bent over and is about to shoot out of the car with an absolutely terrific force.

How do I know ??????????

The purpose made German KLANN tool is the only way if you want to live to tell the tale. The German unions have approved the tool and the workshop insurance companies also.

Regards

 

[kth286]

eddie E

I have just tested my e-mail facility and it works for me.

Telephone me if you wish on 0118 947 9894 and leave a message stating how I can talk with you.

Regards

Keith

 

[willy]

here is a pic what a correctly compressed merc spring looks like:

 

[Dieselman]

heres a link to some pictures of a sportline type conversion. there's a picture of someone using the pucka spring compressor and a very nice tool for rolling wheel arches. http://www.motorwerksgroup.com/p16/index.html

Did you notice how it cracked the paint on the arch edge. This is why MB will reject any claim for corrosion when the car has rolled arches.

There was one for sale on ebay about a month ago.

 

[eddie_E]

To solve the argument, I too thought "pah, what do they know" when reading all the posts about how you can't use normal external spring compressors. I am a competent mechanic and work with several million £ setups and have a 'good' range of skills. I have been there and tried and IT CANNOT BE DONE with normal compressors! Anyone who says it can has never done it! It is just not physically possible! it is as simple as that. You may be able to squeeze them on the front but you will be unable to tighten them up, on the rear there is absolutly no chance of even getting them nearly on!
The only way of doing it (on a W124 at least) is with the internal type as used by Mercedes.
Big_X, you are talking bollox mate.