ML350 Heavy Duty Rear Springs? / How to Firm Up Rear Suspension (non-Airmatic)
12-08-2016, 09:49 AM
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ML350 Heavy Duty Rear Springs? / How to Firm Up Rear Suspension (non-Airmatic)
Hey Guys - We recently purchased a 2011 ML350 for my wife and that will also double as our family trip car. I purposely avoided Airmatic due to not wanting to deal with the hassle of maintaining it, in spite of the fact I hear that the Airmatic ride quality and control was far superior to the soft Bilstein shocks on non-airmatic W164's.
For around town and for my wife, the stock shocks and springs are great - soft/pliant that soak up bumps and potholes.
However, we recently loaded up the car for a road trip to the in-laws - trunk was full of luggage and baby gear, and my wife and baby and our small dog were sitting in the back seat on the trip. I noticed the rear definitely was sagging a little lower than I would have preferred when looking at the vehicle from the outside.
Having come from a 2003 Suburban, I was able to find heavy duty rear springs for the rear of that vehicle that firmed up the rear so that even when you loaded it up with gear/people it remained at a good ride height.
Obviously if I had Airmatic this would have resolved the issue for me, but is anyone aware of any other options for a heavy duty spring available for this vehicle?
We do a few road trips each year and I am planning to install a trailer hitch so that I can add a storage basket in the hitch. I also will do some very light towing with my trailer (back and forth to the dump or hardware store - nothing heavy duty). I worry though that the rear suspension will be sagging significantly from this type of use without some type of extra support.
I searched around a bit on Google and the forum and didn't find much. I found this thread, but it didn't really offer up much of a conclusion: https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...soft-rear.html
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
For around town and for my wife, the stock shocks and springs are great - soft/pliant that soak up bumps and potholes.
However, we recently loaded up the car for a road trip to the in-laws - trunk was full of luggage and baby gear, and my wife and baby and our small dog were sitting in the back seat on the trip. I noticed the rear definitely was sagging a little lower than I would have preferred when looking at the vehicle from the outside.
Having come from a 2003 Suburban, I was able to find heavy duty rear springs for the rear of that vehicle that firmed up the rear so that even when you loaded it up with gear/people it remained at a good ride height.
Obviously if I had Airmatic this would have resolved the issue for me, but is anyone aware of any other options for a heavy duty spring available for this vehicle?
We do a few road trips each year and I am planning to install a trailer hitch so that I can add a storage basket in the hitch. I also will do some very light towing with my trailer (back and forth to the dump or hardware store - nothing heavy duty). I worry though that the rear suspension will be sagging significantly from this type of use without some type of extra support.
I searched around a bit on Google and the forum and didn't find much. I found this thread, but it didn't really offer up much of a conclusion: https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...soft-rear.html
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
