Ride height changed after steering and suspension work

[gtahhh]

Hi, my W211 has had some suspension/steering work done on both front wheels which involved taking a lot of the the steering and suspension apart. When the car came back from the garage it looks significantly higher at the front with a large gap between the each front tyre and the wheel arch. I'm sure it sat lower before, perhaps about 20-25mm and queried this. The garage says there's no adjustment and it must have gone back together at the same height as before.

I have photos of before and after that seem to show the height has increased but that may be a subtle difference in the way the photos was taken.

My questions:

1) could the garages have put the suspension back in a way that increased the height at the front?

2) if so, what do I need to tell them to convince them that they can in fact lower it?

-g

 

[whitenemesis]

It can take a while for the suspension to settle back down after being on the lift at the garage

 

[Ian Donkin]

Did you have new shocks? Mine sat noticeably higher after they were fitted...

 

[gtahhh]

No new shocks. Just the service components the suspension where bushes has worn and some work on the steering rack.

 

[whitenemesis]

Did you have new shocks? Mine sat noticeably higher after they were fitted...

I think I'm right in saying the 211 shock has an adjustable spring seat, its easy to fit it to the wrong position, causing the ride height to change.

 

[renault12ts]

Or the suspension was torqued up whilst the suspension was hanging rather than when the car was on the ground.

 

[gtahhh]

Thank you renault12ts and whitenemesis for your thoughts.

Whitenemesis, how can I confirm your theory where you think there are adjustable spring seats?

 

[sspeed]

Or the suspension was torqued up whilst the suspension was hanging rather than when the car was on the ground.

Its most important that you DONT tighten up bushes till the car is firmly on its wheel..
1. The twisting of the bushes causes the tracking to be out.
2. The twisting of the bushes will prematurely knacker them.

I had some new lower wishbone arms on my C270 and noticed they were pre tightened do to the sort of tight feeling from the front suspension..
When I got home I reached underneath with a socket and slackened off the bolts..
As I did so there was a loud "BANG" as the bushes unwound. After I had done this the front end felt more supple over bumps because now it wasn't pre loaded.

 

[gtahhh]

... slackened off the bolts....

I know where these bolts are as I looked when the car was on the ramp when the garage were diagnosing the fault. I can understand how tightening them up with the wheels hanging down when on a ramp could cause the ride height to rise, and reduce the life of the bushes. I'd like to try slackening these bolts. How tightly do I have to torque them up again? I guess they may have castle bolts and split pins?

-g

 

[Stratman]

I don't know if it applies to your E class, but on the my C class the bushes at the body end of the suspension arms have locating lugs inside them, something to do with alignment. It is important when loosening and tightening the retaining bolt that it is held still and only the nut is turned, otherwise the lugs will be sheared off.

As I said, I don't know if it applies to your car but it's worth checking.

 

[sspeed]

I don't know if it applies to your E class, but on the my C class the bushes at the body end of the suspension arms have locating lugs inside them, something to do with alignment. It is important when loosening and tightening the retaining bolt that it is held still and only the nut is turned, otherwise the lugs will be sheared off.

As I said, I don't know if it applies to your car but it's worth checking.

I had the modified bolts (Camber bolts) fitted to my C class..
By default they are NOT fitted to the car..
Photo 1 shows the elongated hole in the bush.. The default standard location is for the bolt to fit between the little V shaped spikes in the centre of the elongated hole..
To alter the camber you need to buy modified (Camber bolt/s). They have 2 grooves up the length of the bolt 180 degrees apart. (2nd photo)
You align the bolts to fit inboard OR outboard into the relevant spikes, thus altering the camber. It was after having this procedure done that I had my bolts tightened up with the wheels hanging.
The castellated nut does NOT have a split pin so don't worry about that.

I don't have my Haynes manual anymore for my C class and so I cant look up the torque figures for you..

 

[gtahhh]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll mention what you've all said to the garage and get them to have another look.