Pic's of SSR Wheels, Penske Shocks and Spring Perches
 

Below isthe link to the pics of my wheels, 1999 C43 and shock, spring package.

Wheels are SSR Competitions. Front 17"x8.5" and Rears 17"x9.5". They weigh approx. 15 lbs each.

Shocks are Penske's 7500 series with adjustalbe compression and rebound. They work very well and are rebuildable and tunable.

Spring Perches adjust the car for Ht. by turning that 19mm bolt that goes through the lower control arm. The perches support the Eibach Race springs 2.5" I.D.

Pic's:

[IMG] http://home.earthlink.net/~kimdac/ [/IMG]

springs/shocks look nice and even match color :)

Did I see that right? You have an adjustable mount at each end of the spring? Why would that be needed?

Kwik,

You are the first to catch that.

When I was going through my R&D I wasn't sure if I wanted to run 8" or 10" springs. So when I tried the 8" springs I found I needed to run the lower perch too far off the lower control arm and it created some bad geometry to the suspension angles. So to correct that I installed the upper adjustment to preload the spring and that allowed me to set the lower swiveling lower perch close to the lower control arm to keep the suspension angle correct.

If the future the I would make use of a 10" spring to get rid of the upper adjustable perch.

Jeff

I like the style/idea of the upper perch better, but it would require spring removal to adjust it. That upper style is more inline with MBs spring pad idea. Did you also use a flat (W201 style) spring pad above the upper perch?

I looked at using only the upper spring adjuster, but like you said you can't set ride Ht's unless you jack up the car and remove the wheel.

Plus the stock lower control arm spring perch has swings through a pretty big arch as the suspension moves and the this causes the spring to bend.

To fight that I used a spring perch that swivels so that the spring stays straight all the time. I guess this is fine if you use the long springs that Mercedes does, but is not so good with the shorter race springs.

And no there is not an MB spring pad above the upper spring adjuster.

Jeff

Speedy,

Are those perches universal, or are they from Eibach only to be used with Eibach springs? Will they work with the stock springs? Basically, its a type of "coilover" system, right? Brilliant!!!

What is the height adjustment range? So you adjust it from the top? And youre not using any of the black rubber shims? Please clarify. Are there two more pics at the bottom of your link?

Thanks,
Bey

It is a swiveling weight jacker setup that is made for Nascar type racing and I modify it to use 2.5" I.D. race springs.

If you look at the bottom of the control arm you should see a bolt with a locknut and the height is adjusted from there.

The upper perch is there only to preload the spring a little because I am using 8" long springs to save weight.

They would not work with stock springs, but would work with any 2.5" I.D. spring on the market.

Jeff

Very cool. Nice pics. Mods look nice.

You should try Zaino'ing your car. It makes the paint look NEW.

Thanks for the pix, Speedy! I was gonna ask you for some pix, I am thinking of SSR's myself, but maybe the GT1's or GT3's instead. I was just wondering why you stayed with 17's? I want to stay with with 17's because I believe they give a better ride, but with your performance focus, I would be interested in why you kept the 17's. Also, I don't think the GT3's come in 17, do they? But I know the GT1's do...
One more thing... is that real CF on your B pillars? I hate that faux crap and have been searching for the real thing...
Thanks for all the great posts!

mis-u-jerr,

I went with 17" wheels because last year there was not a very good selection of DOT race tires to go on larger diameter rims, plus the 17" rims are lighter.

Today, given the better selection of tires in the 18" range I might run some 18" wheels, but there is still a weight penalty.

The 18" SSR Comp in Silver is very good looking and is about 17lbs per wheel.

And, yes it is real Carbon Fiber. My wife bought it for me so I don't know where it comes from, sorry.

Jeff

A-ha, knew you had a reason...
Yeah, that rocks! Like I said before, saving 60 lbs of unsprung weight doesn't suck :y
Well, ask her damnit! :p J/K. It's just I have been looking for a while. Sparcus got his on Ebay, but I haven't found any there...
Thanks again for your expertise.
PS: Got any extra phenolic spacers lying around? :D
Have you done yours yet?
Thanks

miss-u-jerr,

No I have not made that phenolic spacers yet. I have not been able to find the time. Soon I hope.

Jeff

mis-u-jerr:

goto www.feathercarbon.com he can make you a set of real c/f B pillars.

Thanks guys! Yeah, I know that Thomas ran amok on Scott's car :p
If i can't find some pre-made, I may try to give it a go myself.