w124 spring removal

[gt-83]

my lowering springs have sat in the garage for months, waiting for me to be brave enough to fit!, i attempted them at the weekend after buying a set of (now useless) spring compressors, wheel off, jacked up,one hour with compressors,give up,wheel back on, give to my mechanic to do.....now my mechanic friend has been at it over 40 years, very good and has worked on them all, so he takes the car, and brings it back to me with just the rear lowered ....it looks terrible, says he is real sorry but he done the backs and couldnt do the front, obviously he will put the original ones back for me if i say,,,so my question can the fronts on a 320 w124 be done with normal compressors,,or do i have to buy special ones...i would like to do it myself or my mechanic do it.......as im going to look a right monkey taking it in somewhere to be done when the rear has already been done

 

[pupsi]

Why doesnt your mechanic do the fronts with the same compressor he used on the rears?
I think if it worked for the rears, it should work for the fronts.

However, i personally wouldnt go anywhere near springs without the proper Mercedes spring compressor.

Try find a garage and rent them from them?
The fronts arent hard to do, im sure with a HowTo you could manage it?

 

[gt-83]

presumably his compressors were not man enough.....same as i bought, i would imagine as the rears are a lot smaller they were easier....i dont know as i never got that far!!!

 

[coupe deville]

My front offside spring is broken right down at the bottom, you wouldn't know to look at or drive the car. It was spotted at Mr Ian B Walkers when he was servicing the car and changing the brake pads. I suppose I'll have to get the front pair replaced, as the mot is due in Feb. 137,000 on the clock, replace all 4 and dampers ?? What type dampers and Ian told me springs are chassis specific [sportline facelift]

 

[talbir]

Not something to attempt if not done before, especially without correct compressors.

I have personally changed w124 springs with standard clamp compressors that cost 12 quid from Halfords. Not fun, not ideal but can be done using basic equipment.

With front end raised, springs compressed with tool and a jack under the control arm, remove shock aborbers and detach anti roll bar from hubs. Then releasing jack slowly from under control arm, the arm will move way down, and you can simply pull out the compressed spring.

New spring goes in the same way, compressed.....flat side up with rubber pad pushed tightly on. Easier fitting up the new lowered ones as less compressing to do !

Note, ideal to check the nibs on the spring rubber pads...they range from one nib to 4 nibs on w124s and if you want the car lowered nicely best not to use anything more than 2 nib pads. They are available from MB dealer for not much money.

Also note, you ought to do a complete 4 wheel alignment and front camber setting after the fitment.

Talbir

 

[nick mercedes]

my lowering springs have sat in the garage for months, waiting for me to be brave enough to fit!, i attempted them at the weekend after buying a set of (now useless) spring compressors, wheel off, jacked up,one hour with compressors,give up,wheel back on, give to my mechanic to do.....now my mechanic friend has been at it over 40 years, very good and has worked on them all, so he takes the car, and brings it back to me with just the rear lowered ....it looks terrible, says he is real sorry but he done the backs and couldnt do the front, obviously he will put the original ones back for me if i say,,,so my question can the fronts on a 320 w124 be done with normal compressors,,or do i have to buy special ones...i would like to do it myself or my mechanic do it.......as im going to look a right monkey taking it in somewhere to be done when the rear has already been done

One of these is needed:

http://www.technictool.com/spring-compressors.htm

 

[Druk]

Yeh, if you're clever you can get the rears with normal compressors but the fronts need the Merc ones. Some people have tried using a jack but they're mostly dead.

 

[gt-83]

oh dear.........thanks guys, i never doubted my mechanic as he does amazing work, perhaps get him to fit my old ones back for the meantime and have a rethink!!

 

[gt-83]

thanks talbir for the how to guide............though i think ive been put off now.....i do hate my pudding like ride though!!!

 

[kth286]

The conventional compressors come as a pair, one each side of the spring.

The springs have quite a slope to them, from one coil to the next.

It could have gone so wrong for Talbir if one of the compressors had slipped around the slope of the spring towards the other compressor, and the spring shot out.

The proper compressor for that generation of Mercedes needs to be the INTERNAL type which goes up the middle of the spring and has a clamping plate top and bottom, to compress the spring.

 

[grober]

My front offside spring is broken right down at the bottom, you wouldn't know to look at or drive the car. It was spotted at Mr Ian B Walkers when he was servicing the car and changing the brake pads. I suppose I'll have to get the front pair replaced, as the mot is due in Feb. 137,000 on the clock, replace all 4 and dampers ?? What type dampers and Ian told me springs are chassis specific [sportline facelift]

I would go for Bilstein or the correct MB sportline shocks. Ian's right about the Sportline springs. They are coded to the car via a points system dependent on extra weight over standard e.g. auto transmission,air conditioning,sunroof etc.
see here as an example:- http://www.detali.ru/cat/oem_mb2.as...GM=717.450&CT=F&cat=15T&SID=32&SGR=015&SGN=01

 

[gt-83]

The proper compressor for that generation of Mercedes needs to be the INTERNAL type which goes up the middle of the spring and has a clamping plate top and bottom, to compress the spring.

does anybody know where i can get one of these sets at a reasonable price?.....ive thought about it and im determined to complete the job as the back end of my coupe does feel realy good now, but im still dealing with the sloppy front end!!!

 

[gt-83]

AN UPDATE ON MY SPRINGS, i told my mechanic friend not to worry and that i would buy a tool to complete the job, well 8.30 this morning he turns up at my place of work and asks for my keys, turns out that it has really bothered him that he couldnt do it and says he has made a tool that will assist him.......3 hours later hes back, job done and the coupe now lowered nicely all round........the drive home was fantastic, no more diving into corners and then being thrown out of them!!.....the thing is, could i go further,will new shocks improve my ride even more?, roll bar bushes?.....any tips guys?

 

[pupsi]

If you lower your car, which you have, you are best off replacing the OEM shocks with aftermarket shortened shocks.

 

[gt-83]

would that be the sportline shocks.......or shocks for the sportline chassis i should say?