W124 rear spring compressors

[grober]

A friend wants to replace his W124 rear springs. He has read "elsewhere" that they can be changed by the judiscous use of a trolley jack and axle stands. I have told him the ideal tool to do the job is the special KLAN tool or similar. He was quite keen till I told him the price. I have advised him even cheaper clamp type spring compressor/s carefully used are safer than none at all??? I was however unable advise him about which cheaper clamp type to use. There are so many available so does anyone know of the ones that would fit the dimensions/environment of the mercedes rear springs. I was thinking these looked quite good--- Sealey AK3841 but unsure if they fit?
http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuild...on=ak3841&fulltextsearch=&category=0&cmdGo=Go!

 

[BlackC55]

No need for a spring compressor. Just need a jack and 30 mis per side.

 

[grober]

Thanks. I take it you mean the method using the removal of the inner wishbone arm bolt and lowering the arm on a trolley jack? Any tips or things to watch out for would be welcome. E.g. is it necessary to detach the shocker and anti-roll bar links to get enough arm articulation to release the spring?

 

[219]

I've done it that way on a 190E , I did disconnect the shock absorber but don't remember taking off the anti-roll bar .

 

[Dieselman]

No need to undo the damper or even the wheels.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=394491&postcount=20

 

[219]

When I did the job on the 190 , I was changing the shocks at the same time .

I'm about to do the same job on the W126 .

 

[grober]

No need to undo the damper or even the wheels.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=394491&postcount=20

I see from your post that you released the spring tension by effectively raising the car body and hence the upper spring cup position in relation to the arm. I would think this might be a more stable way to do things-keeps the suspension arm level and "the sky's the limit" to get sufficient clearance. Its a pity the MB dealer got it wrong. Was it completely the wrong spring or just the blue spring /long/ 2 burl pad-------red spring/short/3 burl pad MB classification of paired springs with nominally the same part no/ rating but slightly different manufacturing tolerance??

POINTS REAR SPRING REAR SPRING BLUE PAD REAR SPRING RED PAD STANDARD SUSPENSION
-30 124 324 16 04 201 325 10 44 201 325 11 44
.
31-32 124 324 11 04 201 325 09 44 201 325 10 44
33-40 124 324 11 04 201 325 10 44 201 325 11 44
41- 124 324 11 04 201 325 11 44




SPECIAL EQUIPMENTMODEL POINTS CODE POINTS
124.040 28 550 HITCHING MECHANISM 7
124.042 28 307 COOL BOX 6
124.052 30 412,414 SLIDING ROOF 3
274,325 AUTOMOBILE TELEPHON 3
915 90L FUEL TANK 4
211 AUTO. LIMITED-SLIP DIFFERENTIAL 3
430 REAR SEAT BENCH HEADRESTS 1
420,425 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION 1
480 SELF-LEVELLING DEVICE 1
810 SOUND SYSTEM 1
819 CD CHANGER 1

 

[Dieselman]

Its a pity the MB dealer got it wrong. Was it completely the wrong spring or just the blue spring /long/ 2 burl pad-------red spring/short/3 burl pad

Wrong springs altogether. They were Classic/Elegance springs instead of the shorter Avantgarde ones.

 

[grober]

Wrong springs altogether. They were Classic/Elegance springs instead of the shorter Avantgarde ones.

No wonder they didn't fit then!

 

[grober]

Changing rear springs a little gem!

On my search for more info on changing rear springs with or without spring compressors I came across this little gem on changing the rear suspension on a 16v 190. There's one or 2 other vids on the same subject also. Thinking back I may have seen this before but didn't register because its not for a w124. Enjoy!
[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kBFZ7u3msqE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kBFZ7u3msqE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

 

[jaymanek]

yep thats the one where he ditched delf levelling for no real good reason!

 

[pupsi]

SLS fluid and SLS struts can be expensive, much easier to chuck in regular shocks and get the job done.