W211 E320cdi front shock adjustment.

[boxer 01]

Front shockers and springs on my car needed replacement so I ordered TRW shocks and Sachs springs off Autodoc, I was going to do it myself but decided to take it to a garage as they had a pneumatic spring compressor. I decided to go and witness the process of fitting the new spring on the new shocker when I got there my mate had removed the old spring off the old shock and was measuring up the distance from bottom shocker mounting hole to spring plate, as there is adjustment grooves on the new shocker he moved the spring plate by means of a little spring clip so as both the old and the new shocker distances were the same (we did have a little chat about how a little clip can hold back so much tension) he then proceeded to compress the new spring on his machine after this he slid the shocker through the center, fitted the mounting plate and tightened up the center shaft nut. As he released the tension off the new spring the spring bedded itself and seemed fine but within a few seconds there was big bang and the bottom spring plate shot right past the little spring clip. We decided that there there was no point in carrying on as there was something seriously wrong with the adjustment clip or grooves we ended up refitting the old legs back onto car.
I have lodged a warranty claim, but would like to know if anyone else has had a similar problem, apparently most shockers have this type of adjustment.

 

[m80]

ATS fitted Eiback R10147 springs to Sachs 316 950 front dampers last month. I didn't monitor them doing it but all has been ok.

They lowered the ring to the bottom stetting, I wanted softest ride, and tried to choose springs from the multitude of options for that.

 

[boxer 01]

ATS fitted Eiback R10147 springs to Sachs 316 950 front dampers last month. I didn't monitor them doing it but all has been ok.

They lowered the ring to the bottom stetting, I wanted softest ride, and tried to choose springs from the multitude of options for that.

I will be getting Sachs shockers once I get a refund on these faulty ones.
With regards the spring clip it was moved maybe 4 grooves down but why did spring plate shoot past it, maybe the grooves on shocker were too deep maybe the spring plate inner bush internal diameter was too big it's a mystery, without cutting the shocker in half and inspecting/measuring these parts it's impossible to tell.

 

[W1ghty]

I will be getting Sachs shockers once I get a refund on these faulty ones.
With regards the spring clip it was moved maybe 4 grooves down but why did spring plate shoot past it, maybe the grooves on shocker were too deep maybe the spring plate inner bush internal diameter was too big it's a mystery, without cutting the shocker in half and inspecting/measuring these parts it's impossible to tell.

I had to do this one mine in the summer . I think you have to be very careful not pulling the spring clip apart too far otherwise it doesn’t seat itself fully in the small groove on the shock.
I would guess it wasn’t seated right in the groove for some reason ?
Mine have been fine .

 

[boxer 01]

I had to do this one mine in the summer . I think you have to be very careful not pulling the spring clip apart too far otherwise it doesn’t seat itself fully in the small groove on the shock.
I would guess it wasn’t seated right in the groove for some reason ?
Mine have been fine .

Hi w1ghty I had a feeling you might pop up. The clip was in the groove and stayed in the groove, the round steel plate which the spring sits on just pushed it self over it but after the spring pressure was released onto it. Definitely a squeaky bum moment, and squashing that spring is no mean feat either as you know full well.

 

[W1ghty]

Hi w1ghty I had a feeling you might pop up. The clip was in the groove and stayed in the groove, the round steel plate which the spring sits on just pushed it self over it but after the spring pressure was released onto it. Definitely a squeaky bum moment, and squashing that spring is no mean feat either as you know full well.

That sounds nasty buddy , hopefully someone that does this for a living will add some advice . Good luck

 

[boxer 01]

That sounds nasty buddy , hopefully someone that does this for a living will add some advice . Good luck

I am going to do my front shockers and springs soon and I need to adjust the snapring on new shockers to the same as my old ones but at the moment my front end is a tad too high if I was to lower the snapring one notch more than on my old shocks will it lower the car or raise it.
Basically what I'm asking is by lowering the snapring adjustment will it lower the car or raise it, I am having a very empty head moment and just need some reassurance really, I think it will lower it but need a second opinion thanks

 

[W1ghty]

I am going to do my front shockers and springs soon and I need to adjust the snapring on new shockers to the same as my old ones but at the moment my front end is a tad too high if I was to lower the snapring one notch more than on my old shocks will it lower the car or raise it.
Basically what I'm asking is by lowering the snapring adjustment will it lower the car or raise it, I am having a very empty head moment and just need some reassurance really, I think it will lower it but need a second opinion thanks

I would say lower because it will drop the seat of the spring . If I’m right that makes me marginally more cleverer than you buddy

 

[boxer 01]

I would say lower because it will drop the seat of the spring . If I’m right that makes me marginally more cleverer than you buddy

Thank you I already dunnit.
What I wasn't taking into consideration was the obvious that shocker spindle will move also, up or down as per adjustment silly me

 

[boxer 01]

Does anyone know how much lower the Front will drop when the snapring is moved down one groove. At the moment my car is 1 inch higher at the front than the back and I could do with it level (looks a lot better )I have placed snapring on shockers one groove lower than what's required but in between grooves is only 5mm !!

 

[W1ghty]

Does anyone know how much lower the Front will drop when the snapring is moved down one groove. At the moment my car is 1 inch higher at the front than the back and I could do with it level (looks a lot better )I have placed snapring on shockers one groove lower than what's required but in between grooves is only 5mm !!

I would think the car will drop by exactly the same amount as you move the ring down

 

[m80]

As the springs re under compression anyway I don't see that the car height would be affected. The car would still sit at max damper travel. I would just expect a softer ride.

 

[boxer 01]

As the springs re under compression anyway I don't see that the car height would be affected. The car would still sit at max damper travel. I would just expect a softer ride.

I thought that at first but spring tension is going be the same whichever groove I use as the shocker spindle will move up or down as per adjustment, the lower the spring perch the lower the car sits, this is my first time messing with strut adjustment but this is my understanding.

 

[W1ghty]

As the springs re under compression anyway I don't see that the car height would be affected. The car would still sit at max damper travel. I would just expect a softer ride.

When you buy new shocks/dampers you have to measure the position of the circlip and transfer that measurement across to the new ones .
A different circlip position means a different ride height

 

[boxer 01]

When you buy new shocks/dampers you have to measure the position of the circlip and transfer that measurement across to the new ones .
A different circlip position means a different ride height

So to lower my ride height by 1inch I need to to move snapring 1inch down from where it is on my old shocks. I suppose if my old springs are a bit weak with new ones it's going to sit a bit higher anyway.

 

[W1ghty]

So to lower my ride height by 1inch I need to to move snapring 1inch down from where it is on my old shocks. I suppose if my old springs are a bit weak with new ones it's going to sit a bit higher anyway.

That’s my understanding

 

[colinallcars]

As the springs re under compression anyway I don't see that the car height would be affected. The car would still sit at max damper travel. I would just expect a softer ride.

Won’t a car at rest sit about mid damper level, ride height being set by the spring and perches?

 

[OneForTheRoad]

I set my Sachs 2 from the bottom.

And working out how that clip takes the tension is like working out a woman.

Adjustments after you get the top hat back on are easy , just compress the spring enough with the top hat on and you can slide the lower spring holder up to get at the clip , move it to where you'd like it , then decompress the spring , easy !!

 

[m80]

I was wrong.
If I pull the wing upward, there is some lift of it.
The damper rod isn't at full length.
So the weight of the car causes further compression of the spring.
So the lower the snap ring the lower the wing will sit.

 

[m80]

So with my rear air suspension if I had set the snap ring at the top the level sensor would inflate the bags so that the car would ride higher.
With rear springs the snap spring setting would be more critical.