K-Mac

LACK OF FRONT CAMBER AND CASTER, REAR CAMBER (AND EXTRA TOE) ADJUSTMENT IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM....


WE MANUFACTURE BOLT ON, precise front Camber and Caster and rear Camber (with extra Toe) adjuster kits for virtually all Mercedes models including W205 (OEM there is only front and rear Toe adjustment).


You can purchase (front only) a one position offset bolt but it only offers a minimal 1/8 of an inch change.


We saw the need therefore to re-instate from the early 1990’s full front and rear precise/ongoing adjustment capability to fully resolve steering pull once and for all along with costly, premature inner edge tire wear. The result of altering vehicle height load carrying, fitting wide profile tires/wheels or curb knock damage.

vic viper

Links finally fitted front and rear, decided that I wanted to go lower than the possible non link setting.
Worth knowing is that it is not easy to lower an airmatic 205 using the links only, you will need to calibrate using a Mercedes diagnosis tool.


Here is a teaser, will post new pics as I have my Vossens fitted, they have arrived just need to mount the tires.



screenshot windows

floridadriver

Very cool.....something about the estate version that just looks even better lowered.

BlackjackM

Vic, what needs to be calibrated? What if I only want to go slightly lower, will calibration still be needed? I'm not looking to drop it in the weeds.

vic viper

"Slightly lower" can be done without links, but if you want more adjusting room you need to fit them and unless you spend hours adjusting each link you wont get the correct height without an airmatic level calibration.

Gsrchris

Hey vic,

If I wanted to lower my c400 with only the diagnostic tool, how low is the lowest setting given I have the airmatic suspension upgrade. Also is it the star diagnostics tool used?

vic viper

It is hard to say, but about 20mm.s is an estimate


Yes, it is the Xentry Star tool used.

Nanook

Here's mine for referance..

https://mbworld.org/forums/new-m-cla...mmed-pics.html

doralmark

Vic
Does fitting and lowering with these links effect the ride quality in any way

floridadriver

This may be one of the sillier questions asked....but just curious, does the ride height of airmatic correlate to it's forgiveness, or are the height and firmness mutually exclusive? In another example, when the car is lowered automatically at high speed (>80mph), is it the same as when lowering it in sport, or they're independent of each other?

BlackjackM

It doesn't say anything about calibration on that site. Is that a new requirement for the W205 when using the links?

vic viper

Ride qualty is pretty much intact, the Comfort mode is almost exactly the same while the sport mode gets a bit firmer.


Of course you can fit the links without calibration, but if you are picky like me it is very useful to fine tune the system to perfection.

BlackjackM

Ok good to know that it's not absolutely required to calibrate. Thanks.

Eilers

Opinions are subjetive, but that there is out right self-deception.

There is no magic wand or magic links. The more you lower, the firmer it gets. No amount of reprogramming is going to change that.

bartola

The links are not magic as they are not made by keeblers as far as I know. They are just "adjustable" links as opposed to "fixed" - this allows the heigh to be adjusted via the links - only on airmatic suspension. In a conventional suspension setting "shock/springs" you are right. Also lowering makes the car more aerodynamic... the airmatic system automatically (from the factory) lowers the car 15mm at higher speed (magic?).

vic viper

How would YOU know?, have you even driven a vehicle with lowered airmatic?, no, thats what I thought.


Please leave this thread and find another forum to troll in!

Eilers

When you lower any suspension and (hopefully) also retune the damping, the suspension becomes firmer. The more you lower the suspension, the firmer it gets.

40-50mm lowering on a car like the S205 makes a huge diffence in ride quality.

You have to keep in mind that the suspension stil has to do the same job as before. But now inside a shorter space of time and travel.

vic viper

Again with your assumptions, sure a steel sprung car will get firmer due to shorter and harder springs, but this is Airmatic, a totally different story.


In the W/S205 Airmatic system the airbags located in the struts only affects height, the different agility select functions also enable the active shock absorbers in the settings Comfort, Sport and Sport+ hence influencing ride quality and Comfort,
Both systems, struts and shocks are adapted to work in a high variety of heights, therefore ride quality will not suffer much.




But hey Eilers, since you seem to know much about the subject, why dont you tell me how it is to drive different airmatic setups?
Lowered in particular!

floridadriver

Unless you've done this with your 205 and on the AIR SUSPENSION and want to post your impressions, your speculation doesn't hold much weight against others here who have first hand knowledge of it.

mihaelb

Vic viper, can you clarify...

Is it then just the airbag part of the suspension that you manipulated, to make the ride lower (but leaving the shock absorbers with their previous settings)?
In other words the shock absorbers still behave like they would have with the previous height setup, corresponding to the set agility?

vic viper

Well yes and no, the adjustable links fitted sets a new "base" level for the system, just lower (or wherever you want to go), the shocks works just as before but in a different range, but as the entire system is inteded to work at a rather large span there is no issues unless you would set a really low or high base level.

Eilers

Airmatic or not, the suspension travel of the dampers/shock absorbers are conventional ADS hydraulic piston operated units developed for Mercedes by Bilstein.

Like any shock absorber they come with a limited amount of piston travel, and will of course be affected when the car is lowered as much as we see here.

There is no where near enough leighway in the Airmatic dampers to compensate during compression for the amount of lowering you have subjected your car to. Reprogramming or recalibrating the airmatic dampers is to keep them from bottom out. .

vic viper

Yes of course, you providing me with images of a opened airmatic strut perfectly explains how much travel I have to work with in my vehicle?
How can you by observing pictures see how a certain setup works or not?


As floridadriver explains above, please leave these issues to people who have first hand, hands on, experience instead of speculating behind your screen.

Eilers

The discussion here is your claim that your 50mm slammed car rides as well as standard comfort setting.

This is not the case, to which i have argued my point. I do not need personal experience with a links-lowered C class airmatic to know I am right on this one, you just need common sense and basic knowledge. I mean just look at your car. it looks ridiculous..

The interweb if stacked full of people reporting about loss of comfort with lowering links. This is hardly news to anyone. Even the vendors who sell loweing links, explains in their FAQ that you will loose comfort as you lower the car.

The way you react speaks for itself. Parts Clerk and not Technician is my guess..

vic viper

Think about it, for what interest or reason would I have about lying about my lowered cars behavior?


I have no idea where you live, but please feel free to come here and try it for yourself, then again I dont see any reason why I should try to convince you, I am pretty confident that the majority of the members here are taking my words for true and has no reason to question everything I post like you do.