m a x i m u s

hey guys. yes, i finally had time in my schedule to swap out my springs yesterday. no, i was not successful. i was hoping someone could enlighten me. heres the deal:

of course, i put my car on jack stands. then...

REARS:

i couldnt get the spring compressed far enough to get it out of the perch. in fact, both the top and the bottom the the spring were still touching the perches with the compressor compressed all the way. i used the "klann" type compressor off of ebay. placed the 2 saucers in various positions, but still no luck. do i need to disconnect the lower A arm?

FRONTS:

essentially the same, although i did get the spring compressed enough to have the top of the spring slightly off of the perch.

am i doing something wrong here? seems like removing the A arm would solve the problem, but i heard that it's a pain getting it back together. i watched a demo vid of the klann compressor, and looked like he just cranked away and removed the spring lickety split. maybe im just stupid or something.

any insights would be appreciated!

thanks!

ProjectC55

it's funny I can't find the long thread we created! But here's another!

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...light=vogtland

PS if you want to you can drop the rear lower control arm (one side or both if necessary)to take out the rear springs BUT! I advise that you put a hydrolic jack close to the side where you loosen the bolt just to ease of the pressure and allow the arm to come down.

Just look at the pic in the thread and you should have an idea. if you are putting in shorter aftermarket rear springs they will be a breeze to put in. Just make sure they are sitting correctly in the control arm when installing with the end of the spring(botttom side) against the stop in the lower rear control arm.

For the fronts, I loosened the front sway bar from the bolts holding the front of it which allowed the lower control arms to come down quite a bit.

m a x i m u s

yeah, i couldnt find our other thread either!

so for the rears ... am i correct in understanding that the rears can be removed without the compressor? just by (carefully) using a hydraulic jack?

for the fronts ... i guess loosening the sway bar and lowering the LCA would help greatly. question, though ... i did have the front spring compressed so that the spring was a bit off of the perch at which point i lost leverage to even crank the ratchet (the spring started spinning around along with the compressor). to remedy the problem, i was thinking to put a box or somthing under the wheel and lower the jacks a little to load up the spring again. sound right to you?

thanks!

ProjectC55

Correct!

NO! Put the spring compressor on the spring and compress it! in the mean time loosen up the 4 bolts in the bracket that hold up the front of the sway bar.

DO NOT LOOSEN ANY OF THE LOWER CONTROL ARM BOLTS.



I know that in addition to dropping the front of the front sway bar,when(if you want) loosen the top bottom bolts of the shocks(front) that can also drop the control arm even lower.

ProjectC55

OK, sorry I read what you wrote again. You can try exactly that to help assist u.,just don't loosen any of the lower control arm bolts. You can remove the bottom botls that hold the shocks to the lower control arms to lower them even more if you want.

PS are you doing this with the wheel still on the car? It would be harder this way!

m a x i m u s

thanks, bro. you are so helpful!

i remember you discussing this with someone with an E-class out in washington, but like you said, i couldnt find that thread! dont know if its been deleted.

so thanks for repeating yourself i appreciate it.

so for the fronts ... just compress it enough for the spring to start spinning around on its perches, and then remove sway bar bracket bolts and the lower shock bolt, and voila? just verifying, bc when i looked at those pics that you sent in the string above (the brabus/vogtland string), it looked like his silver springs were compressed down hella low. i wouldnt be able to get it that low without loading up the spring again, you know what im saying?

and i want to say "sorry" if these questions seem stupid . ive worked on cars before, and even suspensions (coilovers), but never springs like on our W202's. compressing the spring actually makes me a bit unnerved, but im determined to do this!

ProjectC55

Let us know how you make out!

ProjectC55

LOL! Here's a pretty good vid!

http://video.tinypic.com/player.php?v=48pwb5s

With the car up in the air amazing he only has to use the spring compressor. For some reason the C43's a lil more difficult because the front springs are so damn long!

m a x i m u s

yeah, this is the vid that i saw before. makes it look quick, clean and simple. hardly the case! thanks for your info. im gonna pick up a hydaulic jack this week and then give it another go this weekend! ill let you know what happens ...

m a x i m u s

well, ive FINALLY lowered my car. an exhausting but rewarding adventure that was! i'll post some pics later.

thanks to projectC55, lensolo, and everyone else for all of the help and insights!

next project ... changing my brakes and rotors!

raymond g-

sorry i never saw this thread earlier....maybe I could have contributed. but
for the heck of it, here is the thread you were probably looking for earlier.
i discovered today that the SEARCH function isn't 100%, ie it may return no
hits even though you supplied the actual words within the post.

anyway, glad to hear of your successful installation. let it settle and see if
the gap is to your liking. don't forget the possibility of realignment.

yeah, the first spring swap is always the most traumatizing.

ProjectC55

Excellent bro! I wanna see!!!!

Lensolo

Glad everything worked out! And, good to see you have all of your fingers intact.

m a x i m u s

yeah, fingers are intact, although i almost lost my sanity there for a moment!!

ProjectC55

Doing my springs front and rear today. I have H&R springs available for 120.00 + shipping if anyne's interested.

m a x i m u s

well, here they are ... 2 before pics and 1 after. hard to see bc of the lighting. not low enough by carl's or len's standards, i'm sure! but i like it ... tighter and cleaner looking than before. let me know what you all think! (and yes, i know, i need to wash that baby!)

ProjectC55

Max tell me ,what # pads do you or did you have in your car b4 and after?

PS I like the way the front came down. You could probably use a thinner spring pad in the back to lower it just a tad more! Some 18"s would round out the whole deal real nice!

m a x i m u s

ya, i like how the front dropped also. it was so satisfying when i was jacking the front back down onto the ground ... watching that huge wheel well gap disappearing!

i had and still have #2 pads all around. i actually like the set up slightly raked.

18's are definitely in the cards! i missed out on a set on ebay that went for $500 with mild curb rash. im gonna keep my feelers out, and probably wait until i need new rubber before swapping out the wheels (i just got new tires last year).

hope your spring swap went smoothly. which ones did you put in?

Lensolo

Looks great, Max!! Good Job! It's a very clean, mature and very practical drop. Something I should really think about. hahaha.. Nice Job, man

ProjectC55

Stck springs back in, 1/2 coil cut on each front and back with #2 pads up front(still sits too high) and #1 pads in the back(still sits too high).

Plan on cutting another 1/2 a coil each front and back and using thicker pads if it goes down too much. I have a TON of spring pads all sizes.

m a x i m u s

carl ... good luck with the spring mod. cant wait to see what it looks like.

carl and len ... how much do you guys pay for a 4 wheel alignment? just curious. ive gotten prices from $70 (at big o tires) to almost $300 (at firestone).

ProjectC55

$75.00 to $110.00.

m a x i m u s

cool, thanks. i found a local benz mechanic that'll do it for $79. it sure beats $300 at firestone! i think that tech got my C43 confused with a lamborghini ...