Front suspension spring replacement
06-06-2015, 10:43 PM
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MB E430 4-matic 2001, MB 500SEL 1985
Front suspension spring replacement
Hi, MB forum members! I have a E 430 4-matic 2001. I just replaced rack and pinion assembly. My next repair for this car will be replacement of the Rt front suspension spring (this car has schock absorber inside of spring). I did it for multiple times on Toyota but this one has very different design . Can somebody describe the parts and sequence to remove the spring? From exploded view on diagram looks like I need first to compress the spring before to release the upper and lower ends of absorber.... Probably lower control arm and sway bar need to go down too. Any advices? Pictures if you have some will be helpful too. Thank you very much.
06-07-2015, 09:14 AM
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2014 ML350 4Matic
What are you trying to do? The shock absorber and the spring are two separate parts on the W210. It is different than the typical McPherson strut design, where the spring is on the shock absorber/strut unit.
Are you trying to replace the spring? Or the shock?
Are you trying to replace the spring? Or the shock?
06-07-2015, 11:07 AM
#3
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He has a 4 matic...shock in spring.
06-07-2015, 10:56 PM
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MB E430 4-matic 2001, MB 500SEL 1985
09-19-2015, 03:37 AM
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front struts 2000 e320 4matic
Hi All,
I just did this job yesterday at a friends shop. Car on a lift which made things more accessible and we had the benefit of having air powered tools. I read many threads and suggestions on how to do this and here's what I found so I hope this will help someone else.
Wheel off, loosen axle nut (with impact gun) remove nuts on sway bar, tie rod end, and lower ball joint. Strike spindle at side of each joint and tie rod and ball joint will dislodge. Sway bar can be pried up and on top of it's perch on the lower control arm. No need to remove brake caliper or rotor, just swing the whole assembly outward to disengage axle and then move to one side and secure with bungee cords. Remove bolt holding lower fork section of shock to control arm. Push down on lower control arm and remove axle half shaft. I found it helpful to pull on the half shaft while my friend was able to tap the inner shaft away from the transaxle housing. The axle will "pop" out as it's held in by a circlip on the inner shaft. With axle removed, replace lower shock bolt to control arm. You may have to push up on the control arm to get the bolt back in. Then we lowered the car onto a floor jack to compress the spring. Note: another member posted a good tip regarding this procedure. He put a bolt through the ball joint hole in the lower arm and through the pad on the floor jack. This prevents any jerking or slipping and is a very secure way to compress and release the spring. Once spring was compressed, we then loosened the upper shock nut accessible in the engine compartment. Then we slowly released the jack and the pressure on the spring was released freeing the shock from it's upper mounting. Once the pressure was release, we unbolted the lower shock mount that goes through the control arm and took out the shock and spring. Note: We had to push down hard on the lower arm to get clearance to remove the shock and spring. We did have an external type spring compressor and although it doesn't really fit, we used it as a precaution before fully releasing the spring pressure. However, it wasn't really necessary. Just release the floor jack slowly and then push down on the lower arm. Installing we just reversed the procedure and be sure the upper spring bumper is in place and the spring is seated correctly into the shock housing. The axle half shaft does not go back in until you have the shock and spring secured back into it's position and secured with the upper nuts and washers. Then you have to put the jack under the lower arm to take some spring pressure off to remove the lower shock bolt. Then push down on the lower control arm and install the half shaft (I put in new ones). Once thats in, jack the lower arm up slightly and put the lower shock bolt back in. Then the ball joint onto the lower control arm( I put in new ones) and then move the knuckle back into position over the end of the axle shaft and secure with bolt and position the knuckle onto the ball joint. Attach the tie rod end and secure all bolts to specs. Note: there is a small bracket that attaches to the lower shock mount that holds the brake line and sensor wire in place. I suggest you get new bolts. (I think they were 6mm hex head.) We worked on the drivers side first and the passenger side went rather quickly since we knew what to expect. The shocks were Bilsteins, ball joints Febi and axles were Empi (Chinese but nice quality). Also replace the sway bar bushings with new Lemforders. Got all parts from RM. They had the best price on the shocks. Ball joints, axles and bushings were competitively priced. Free shipping too. Total cost $450. Start to finish was about 6 hours. Now that I've done it, I believe that could be cut down to 4 hours.
The car feels amazing and the wheel alignment was still in spec, so didn't have to make any adjustment there. I replaced the fuel filter while it was on the lift and checked the differential fluid, and flex discs. Replacing those will be my next project since the car has close to 180k. Also noticed one of the transmission lines dripping while car was on the lift. it was the line underneath the cooling fan shroud. The factory puts a clamp around the line and attached it to the lower radiator support. That's where it was leaking.
I removed the fan and shroud and was able to access the lines with the car on the ground. I did a temporary repair by cutting the metal line and installing a short piece of 3/8" neoprene fuel line and clamped it with fuel line clamps. secured it in place with nylon ties. Topped of trans and there are no leaks. I'm planning on a permanent repair once I get the new lines.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded write up. Tried to be as detailed as possible so I hope this info will help someone else. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to help out.
Cheers!
I just did this job yesterday at a friends shop. Car on a lift which made things more accessible and we had the benefit of having air powered tools. I read many threads and suggestions on how to do this and here's what I found so I hope this will help someone else.
Wheel off, loosen axle nut (with impact gun) remove nuts on sway bar, tie rod end, and lower ball joint. Strike spindle at side of each joint and tie rod and ball joint will dislodge. Sway bar can be pried up and on top of it's perch on the lower control arm. No need to remove brake caliper or rotor, just swing the whole assembly outward to disengage axle and then move to one side and secure with bungee cords. Remove bolt holding lower fork section of shock to control arm. Push down on lower control arm and remove axle half shaft. I found it helpful to pull on the half shaft while my friend was able to tap the inner shaft away from the transaxle housing. The axle will "pop" out as it's held in by a circlip on the inner shaft. With axle removed, replace lower shock bolt to control arm. You may have to push up on the control arm to get the bolt back in. Then we lowered the car onto a floor jack to compress the spring. Note: another member posted a good tip regarding this procedure. He put a bolt through the ball joint hole in the lower arm and through the pad on the floor jack. This prevents any jerking or slipping and is a very secure way to compress and release the spring. Once spring was compressed, we then loosened the upper shock nut accessible in the engine compartment. Then we slowly released the jack and the pressure on the spring was released freeing the shock from it's upper mounting. Once the pressure was release, we unbolted the lower shock mount that goes through the control arm and took out the shock and spring. Note: We had to push down hard on the lower arm to get clearance to remove the shock and spring. We did have an external type spring compressor and although it doesn't really fit, we used it as a precaution before fully releasing the spring pressure. However, it wasn't really necessary. Just release the floor jack slowly and then push down on the lower arm. Installing we just reversed the procedure and be sure the upper spring bumper is in place and the spring is seated correctly into the shock housing. The axle half shaft does not go back in until you have the shock and spring secured back into it's position and secured with the upper nuts and washers. Then you have to put the jack under the lower arm to take some spring pressure off to remove the lower shock bolt. Then push down on the lower control arm and install the half shaft (I put in new ones). Once thats in, jack the lower arm up slightly and put the lower shock bolt back in. Then the ball joint onto the lower control arm( I put in new ones) and then move the knuckle back into position over the end of the axle shaft and secure with bolt and position the knuckle onto the ball joint. Attach the tie rod end and secure all bolts to specs. Note: there is a small bracket that attaches to the lower shock mount that holds the brake line and sensor wire in place. I suggest you get new bolts. (I think they were 6mm hex head.) We worked on the drivers side first and the passenger side went rather quickly since we knew what to expect. The shocks were Bilsteins, ball joints Febi and axles were Empi (Chinese but nice quality). Also replace the sway bar bushings with new Lemforders. Got all parts from RM. They had the best price on the shocks. Ball joints, axles and bushings were competitively priced. Free shipping too. Total cost $450. Start to finish was about 6 hours. Now that I've done it, I believe that could be cut down to 4 hours.
The car feels amazing and the wheel alignment was still in spec, so didn't have to make any adjustment there. I replaced the fuel filter while it was on the lift and checked the differential fluid, and flex discs. Replacing those will be my next project since the car has close to 180k. Also noticed one of the transmission lines dripping while car was on the lift. it was the line underneath the cooling fan shroud. The factory puts a clamp around the line and attached it to the lower radiator support. That's where it was leaking.
I removed the fan and shroud and was able to access the lines with the car on the ground. I did a temporary repair by cutting the metal line and installing a short piece of 3/8" neoprene fuel line and clamped it with fuel line clamps. secured it in place with nylon ties. Topped of trans and there are no leaks. I'm planning on a permanent repair once I get the new lines.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded write up. Tried to be as detailed as possible so I hope this info will help someone else. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to help out.
Cheers!
