m a x i m u s

hey fellas,

i'm in the process of buying a suspension spring compressor for the old C43.

coolcarlski recommended the KLANN compressor, but i saw those going for mega bucks ($2g). i saw some comparable-looking ones on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...8461&rd=1&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...7140&rd=1&rd=1

visually, i see no difference. does anyone have any personal experience or input as to the suitability of these models? i dont want to buy one, then find out (during the installation process) that it's some cheapo knockoff that will fail and launch my spring into my forehead.

thanks!

raymond g-

am using the $200 one right now. all's not rosey as the video makes this chore
out to be.

99 E320 - the first i tackled was the pax side front perch. 15 mins and it's out.
new lowering spring goes in in 25 mins. i feel great and figured it would be a 2hr
job for all 4 corners.

errrrr, sorry. on the front driver side, i compressed the stock spring until the
coils touch. though the spring (in compressed state) clears the perch and
begins to tilt out, the threaded telescoping center of the compressor extends
long enough that it impinges upon the top perch and prevents removal during
top tilt. attempts to do the opposite also fail ie shifting the whole spring back
up into the top perch and tilting the bottom to clear the bottom mount. in
this case, the bottom of the compressor rod is long enough that you cannot
pivot/tilt it out of the bottom mount.

so now, i'm left with 1) trying the traditional hook design, spring compressor(s),
or to lower the control arm to provide me the clearance needed to remove
the spring....with or without using the spring compressor.

just to let you know that i've heard this from another user of the Klann type,
pancake style spring compressor. it's not a guarantee that it will be a one-
tool easy job. may require that you ad-lib a bit more depending on how much
your car wants to test you and your garage skills.

but a short/quick answer to your original question: the $200 compressor seems
very well built - heavy plates and solid telescoping rod which functions quite
smoothly even with the tremendous spring forces exerted upon compression.

i just wish the other incidentals didn't exist to prevent this from being a
quick spring change. am actually heading back to the garage now to try and
tackle the job again. where the first spring took about 45 mins to swap out,
the second spring has thus far, resisted similar change after 5 hrs.

m a x i m u s

wow, sorry to hear that you are experiencing problems, raymond. out of curiousity, are you attempting to do this to your E320?

raymond g-

affirmative - trying to swap out the stock springs for Vogtland lowering springs

after i complete my project i was going to have my compressor available as part
of the Mercedesshop rental program. that, or 'sell' to someone with buyback
option once they're done with their job. i purchased because i didn't see one
availble for rental on the West Cost through their program. my local stores
didn't seem to have these for rental.

m a x i m u s

hmmm. that's also interesting that you mention that the threaded center butts out to hit the perches ... ive seen other pics of these compressors with the center piece compressed a bit (while sitting in the plastic case), and i didnt see any protrusions ... that center rod actually looked 1/2 the length. wondering if maybe yours is different (?) just a thought.

raymond g-

what will vary from job to job is the coil thickness/diameter. thinner ones will
compress more vs thicker coils, all things being equal...blah blah. the space
seperation between coils....whether the coil is progressive or straight wound.
so no easy comparisons or conclusion when it comes to spring compressors.
simply a matter of getting the proper tool for the job at hand. good luck with
yours!

p.s. the rod design i have is three piece telescopic and can compress quite
a bit. flip side: the center threaded portion extends out (more exposed) when
you compress more. in other words, the overall length of the centerpiece is
almost unchanged. it's the pancakes which get closer together during compres-
ion.

ProjectC55

I got mine from E-Bay! Also I think when I dropped the front sway bar ( I opened up the 4 brackets towards the very very front of the car that supports it) it made the job even easier. It allowed me to lower the control arms even more for clearance when I put in the longer stck front springs back in the car. Also allowed me to have the clearance to use the spring ccompressor easier.

The quality of the Klann tool is excellent. No problems and if I wanted to I could resell it but I still need it to do my rear! I have to cut the rear springs now. How much did they kill you for the "Euro Spec" so called springs?

ProjectC55

Nope don't use that type and don't take down the lower control arms. At first I ran into the same challenges as you but lowering the front sway bar by opening those 4 brackets at the front seemed to allow the lower control arms to drop down more. Job became alot easier for me and I got the tool to wrk fine. You have an E-class so the setup might be slightly different. This method should still work.

SDR

I pikced up the one from El Paso Tools. It's worked fine on both my C43 and the wife's E430. The compressed spring does result in the center piece jutting out, but it should fit into the hole in the middle of the spring perch. A little wrestling might be necessary to get it so, but I've swapped springs and/or pads at least 10 times now without issue. Having said that, I don't know how long you could expect this unit to last. Dozens yes, but I don't know that it would last much longer.

raymond g-

oh, great! folks have an idea what i'm wrestling with. i feel like I'm in an AA
group of folks who understand may pain.

any one of the fasteners here? (not seeing any Torx type)

raymond g-

ah!.....looks like fastener B. duh.....just like the coolcarlskiC43 said above.
(can you say 'swaybar?'....ah knows that you can)

okay, out with the spring compressor again and hope i can do this before i
need to hook up with the boyz for superbowl gather. hope to report success.

ProjectC55

Ray don't loosen any of the bolts you labled(control arm,tierods,endlinks). Just the bolts on the brackets holding the front of the front sway bar. You can also remove the bottom bolt from the bottom of the shock absorber as well. This should allow the lower control arm to drop some more. Spring will come out much easier with the Klann tool. those holes in the spring perches are there purposely for you to use the Klann tool. Good luck!

raymond g-

note that fastener B referenced above is T-50. thereafter it went so fast, I
have time to make a run to Costco for apple pie for the party. :-) it'll look
a bit raked in appearance - i wont be able to get to the rears until after the
game. coolcarski is my hero

m a x i m u s

hey SDR:

did you experience the same or similar space issues that raymond and coolcarlski did on your w202? just curious.

m a x i m u s

hey bro. springs cost me $400, including shipping.

also, you may or may not remember from a previous post that i dont have any tools anymore (moved, etc.). so, in the interests of efficiency, what tools do i need to remove the 4 brackets that you speak of? and also the lower bolt of the shock (size of socket, i mean)?

thanks as always...

ProjectC55

Max it would serve you best to purchase a cheap set of Metric sockets from 10mm to I believe 17 mm from Pepboys or Autozone. I can't remember the exact size especially since my car has been in the body shop up till now. Otherwise I'd be able to recheck for you.

400.00 Whew! You really only needed to know the model# of the spring because they are really just reg MB springs! The person selling these things are killing you guys.

Anyway you have them now so let us know or see how the car looks when you are done!

ProjectC55

Yes I guess that would be an optional spot to drop the sway bar. I just would hate to use the torx if that bolt is on too tight. So I loosen the brackets that hold the front up(sway bar) which uses regular metric bolts and nuts

m a x i m u s

yeah, i thought i should buy a socket and wrench set of some sort. thanks for the suggestion as to the size range.

as for the "eurospec" springs, i know that they are mb springs from another application, and i even found the part # from another string. i just figured that since H & R's go for about $250, then MB springs must be a bit more than that. plus throw in shipping from europe. i was thinking it would be around high $300's from the get go. i wanted to go with the MB springs bc i didnt want to mess with the ride too much, just lower it a bit. and i didnt trust myself to cut the stock springs equally (i can just see my OCD kicking in on that job!).

i hope to do this job in the next couple of weeks, schedule permitting. ill post pics of before and after!

ProjectC55

Max shoot me the part #. I believe my friend paid like 50.00 a spring from MB for new stck ones for his C43. Price I suspect would be the same. List the part# and I will chk and post.


PS Stay away from Eibach and H&R springs for our C43 I had them both and they are complete garbage on these cars for some reason. The H&R's wrk fine on BMW's though. Eibachs wrk better on the MB's with struts in my opinion.

m a x i m u s

Part numbers are:

Front : 210.321.22.04
Rear : 210.324.34.04

im sure it is less at the local dealer, esp since no shipping and "handling" charges are involved.

i actually remember you posting before that the stock springs were 50 bucks each ... anyways, let me know what your research uncovers! i suppose i could cancel my order, worst case.

m a x i m u s

anyone have experience with this type of compressor:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Coil-...spagenameZWDVW


the black stalk goes on the OUTSIDE of the spring, versus up the inside of the spring, which probably eliminates the issues that raymond was experiencing. only drawback, besides slightly higher cost, is that im not sure how secure the coil would be. seems like the "inside the coil" type would hold onto the spring more securely.

check out page 3, et seq:

http://www.klanntools.co.uk/Chapter1.pdf

ProjectC55

I think it's a great tool if you have struts but because of the way the W202 suspension is made there may not be any room or clearance for this specific type of Klann spring compressor. I could be wrng though and maybe it would wrk but why spend the $$$$!

Follow the directions I gave Ray and you'll be good to go! Seems like he was successful and got the springs out with ease and in a hurry. Hopefully he'll chk back!

PS Thanx also for the part #'s.

raymond g-

i am stuffed with Superbowl party food and feel a bit dizzy, but will try to recap
what i learned from earlier today.....

A - if you spread the clamps as far apart as possible, the driving nut end will also
stick out proportionally. so once you compress spring to minimum length needed
to remove (tilt out of perch) it is possible that the bottom spindle may still be
too far extended into the lower control arm.
B - as mentioned earlier, it is possible (depending on spring coil spacings,
depending on spring wind, depending on # of coils between the clamps, etc)
that when fully compressed, you still may lack the necessary clearance to
tip-tilt out the spring/clamp unit.
In my case, I only needed about 1/2" more clearance to tilt out the spring
from the perch. Loosening the swing arm linkage for a minute was sufficient
to gain the slack needed. the spring was then easily removed and the new
spring inserted. The T-50 was replaced and retorqued. I put a dab of Loctite
blue on it as well.

The time it took to remove T-50, compress the spring, swap out and reinstall
the new spring took no more than 20 minutes.

Insofar as whether the center spindle type spring compressor has merit over
the the side-saddle design is unknown to me. In my particular application, I
think the side-saddle compressor wouldn't work as well. When installing or
removing a spring, I can see the advantages of the coaxial design....as it
allows me to rotate the spring and to index it into the spring pad, or index
into the LCA's spring channel with more flexibility. eg I can rotate 10º, 90º,
180º, 270º etc simply by spinning the spring. with the side-saddle design,
I'm limited to roughly 90-120º before the telescoping spindle impinges upon
some body or suspension structure (perch, body, frame, sway bar LCA). this
is just an educated guess on my part.

p.s. Maximus, for some reason the lower shock mount on mine on all four
points were SAE, thus 17mm and 19mm didn't work. I had to hunt down
5/8" from neighbor's toolbox. so just be aware.... maybe my metric socket
had too many points but it kept slipping

m a x i m u s

hey, raymond! thanks for the details! i cant wait to get my stuff in the mail so that i can swap those babys out! how does your car look???

raymond g-

this was before. the fronts dropped 1" and will continue to settle prob another
.5". the rear will lower another 1" but I'll prob add a thicker spacer so that there
is a scootch of rake. that's why i opted to purchase the spring compressor,
knowing that i would be changing them out several times until i was satisfied
with the gap. i dont want slammed look as we have some decent grades and
hills here in Seattle. but I also couldn't stand the Mike Tyson teeth gap that
you see in the photo.