suspension mods

[toby]

I have a 2002 CLK 55 AMG and would like to lower it for both appearance and improved handling. Told to use the H&R stage 2 springs with rest of suspension left alone. Has anyone done this and what is the ride quality like? Understand the stock car has 4 front and 2 rear DOT spring shims that can be removed and the thinnest shim to be used is 5mm-is this the case? How much negative camber can/should be used at the lower suspension setting for aggressive street driving? The front tires seem to wear more on the outer edges with stock suspension and alignment specs. Thanks...Toby

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[Mach430]

Originally posted by toby
I have a 2002 CLK 55 AMG and would like to lower it for both appearance and improved handling. Told to use the H&R stage 2 springs with rest of suspension left alone. Has anyone done this and what is the ride quality like? Understand the stock car has 4 front and 2 rear DOT spring shims that can be removed and the thinnest shim to be used is 5mm-is this the case? How much negative camber can/should be used at the lower suspension setting for aggressive street driving? The front tires seem to wear more on the outer edges with stock suspension and alignment specs. Thanks...Toby

Welcome to MBWorld!

The H&R Sport Springs are a great aesthetic and performace upgrade to the CLK. You currently have Bilstein HD shocks. Changing the shock to a Koni Adjustable or Kleemann Speed Sensitive dampener would do a lot to improve handling. Most likely, your car has a 4 front and 3 rear spring shims. The lowest you could/should go would be a 2 front 1 rear (keep the front 1 step higher as it currently is). Size 1 is 9mm tall, and each step up is an addtional 5 mm. Changing to a 2/1 would translate to a 1 cm addtional drop. You will have some negative camber at these settings, but it is not too much. In fact, most people prefer the look and handling benefits from it.

Many people, including myself, have the same problem of the outer tires wearing early in the front. This is most commonly caused by fast/hard cornering. The negative camber that you would gain in the front would help, but not much. You can also raise your tire pressure to 36 (17" wheel), however this has its tradeoffs in handling and ride quality. You should rotate your tires (removed from the wheels if you have directional tires) from side to side every 5000 miles. None of these are a sure fix, however they should help you get another coulpe thousand miles out of your tires.

Thanks,

Ben