marcosik11112

Hi,

Do you maybe know from which car shocks (or shock model) are used in these Strutmasters? It would be helpful with further maintenance...

Has anyone mounted successfully rear swaybar to CL500?

What is the height of car as opposed to original? Could you reference any photo?

I saw beisenhauer24 mounted Arnott kit to ABC based W215. Has anyone else done that - match Arnott Airmatic kit to W215 chassis? What are impressions?

Could anyone write how car with kit and both sway bars handles during aggressive cornering or f.ex. in case of aggressive turn to avoid accident, etc... Isn't it too soft or unstable?

Thanks in advance, I think this info will be also worthy for others.

beisenhauer24

marcosik11112 Hi,

Do you maybe know from which car shocks (or shock model) are used in these Strutmasters? It would be helpful with further maintenance...

Has anyone mounted successfully rear swaybar to CL500?

What is the height of car as opposed to original? Could you reference any photo?

I saw beisenhauer24 mounted Arnott kit to ABC based W215. Has anyone else done that - match Arnott Airmatic kit to W215 chassis? What are impressions?

Could anyone write how car with kit and both sway bars handles during aggressive cornering or f.ex. in case of aggressive turn to avoid accident, etc... Isn't it too soft or unstable?

Thanks in advance, I think this info will be also worthy for others.






k well the strut master setup when I talked to tech is made with a made in china strut. I don't remember who but I did not like and sent back! as for cl idk I have s classes but sure someone has but this is y I went with arrnot cause done right even for my heavy car and before I did sway bars it handled great! and I whip that thing around on track with Mercedes benz club track days and never issue on street with arrnot, strut masters noooooooo car would not turn good on track days. now with arrnot and I used brabus swaybar set it is nuts I would never go back!! my times even went down and wife loves ride even more. as for height it should be same as factory that's way arrnots is just front for me is about 1" lower cause kit for v8 cars mine heavy v12tt. and mine is w220 s600 not w215. and want to add I recommend arrnot as my personal preference from having both on same car and with personal testing and in no way do I benefit from suggesting their company at all. but if you do a kit, front bar is most important as heaviest part of car and rear for most part can't lean if front is stable. you can email me at beisenhauer24@comcast.net anyone who wants personal contact to call or email directly for question as I check my email regularly but not on here. and always happy to help.

blair

I've had the conversion kit on my vehicle for about 9 months and I must say that It rides rather well.I left my original tandem pump on and simply drained all the fluid out of one side.The shocks were the stock height,but I wanted to know If anybody knew my limits as to how far up I could go on tire and wheel size and the offset that Is suitable for aftermarket wheels?

ctravis595

Still driving on my strut masters set up, performing as good as when I installed the struts

I would recommend nothing bigger than 19" rims. I have 20" staggered rims with my strut masters set up and sometimes while going over gutters or driveways I get minor plastic rubbing in the rear wheels

1999 S500

I updated my 1999 S500 Grand Edition with strutmasters and it rides fine. That car has factory 18" AMG Monoblocks with 255s which work well.

CLK500 TWINS

I have found this thread to be quite reassuring. Especially spanning the course of years and finding the op still pleased with his decision. I just bought a 2003 cl600 v12 biturbo that unbeknownst to me has a failing abc system. Everyday we were adding another 2k to the bill until I said today that it was time to stop the bleeding. Ive decided to covert the suspension to Strutmasters, for 2200, it seems to be worth its weight in gold to provide the comfort of knowing I can turn my car on without fear, put my kids in it with out worry and I wont have to sacrifice their college funds to maintain the abc system. Im not doing the work myself, but i like to learn and be informed in my decisions. So here are my questions:
Is it necessary to change out the power steering pump or can you just drain out the one side as someone had mentioned doing?
if I do change out the power steering pump, will the w220 work on my car?
Do you guys reccomend gutting all abc components?
If I leave abc components intact, is there a way to stop the fluid from flowing through the hoses that pose a risk of rupturing?
If we pull out accumulators, hoses, valve blocks, etc. Will it be necessary to change p/s pump? Basically I know it is a tandem pump but can it run indepebdently for just the power steering?

Forgive my ignorance, Im a female, im not mechanically inclined, but I love beautiful cars and I feel it necessary to know what im talking about.

ctravis595

Hopefully strutmasters beefed up the front suspension to accommodate the bigger v12 engine. I think you will be very satisfied with your strutmasters conversion

As for your questions, I've heard the tandem pump will still usually work for the power steering if you decide to disable abc. However there's a lot of pressure that will be held in this system and it's only a matter of time until a hose leaks and runs your tandem pump dry

Short answer - get a w220 steering pump. They bolt up perfectly

CLK500 TWINS

Thank you, I hope so cause I adore the car and the mileage is low, I wanted to enjoy her for a while to come.Do you recommend gutting all abc parts? I don't know if Strutmasters has changed its design over the years, I just became familiar with the brand recently. Now the w220 encompasses a few of the s class models. Do you have a particular model that you know will work with my car, more specifically the pulley? From what I've gathered here the v12 has 7 notches or ribs or what have you

OCKlasse

It's definitely going to be trickier with the V12, than the V8s. You might want to investigate what power steering pump the SL65 Black Series is running, as that is the only V12 that does not have ABC that I recall.

CLK500 TWINS

Ahh, I'll definitely look into that, thank you. Someone else said Jeff at Mercedes Master Tech in Pompana Beach Fl fabricates some kind of spacer for the belt to be used with a 350 euro pump. I have to look deeper into it. But thank you, it may be easier to do that.

CLK500 TWINS

Well thank you Ctravis595 for your reassurance. The conversion is done and I couldn't be happier. It feels solid, I really have no complaints. Body roll is minor as I'm not hitting speeds much past 80 and I'm definitely not whipping around corners. Bumps in the road feel slightly harsher, but I'm on low pro's so I try to avoid pot holes as it is. I love it and the assurance of not having to worry about the abc dropping out on me is priceless. Highly recommend the Strutmasters conversion. Worth it's weight in gold, feels great.

dee2000

Hi,
I am thinking of coil over conversion on my 2002 cl500, can anyone recommend a shop in the area who have done the work on CL?

Thank you

ctravis595

Haven't been driving the w215 much lately. I've been focusing on my music career and I recently bought a boat for the lakehouse which is requiring some tinkering

I am open to installing your strutmasters kit on anybodies car for a reasonable cost. I am super familiar with these w215's by now. I can travel anywhere in Florida with my tools/jacks

Email me if you're interested ctravis595@gmail.com

tusabes

How much would you charge to install ?

ctravis595

$500+fuel for most jobs

$650 if we need to also replace your power steering pump and don't run into any extra issues

My installation on my car is still holding strong years later(both p/s pump and suspension)

While under your car I can give you a visual inspection of the multiple rubber flexplates they implement on the transmission mount/rear axles etc

The rubber mounts get brittle/crack over time and I had a few needing to be replaced by 100k miles.

Keep in mind I don't think a lot of MB shops would want to do a "strutmasters conversion" especially to something like a w215

You're also more than welcome to have the car on a flatbed/driven to my place in Palm Harbor. Probably cheaper to pay for my gas since gas prices are low

biker349

good to know. i'm in vero beach.

4themasses

$500 bux is a deal!!!

Have you considered cutting the spring to bring the car back down? I'm seriously considering the conversion but want it as I have it now with the lowering links. Strutmasters told me that the springs can in fact be modified though it will void the warranties.

OCKlasse, I know you went a different route with an air set up. Can you tell me a little about that? I see your pic still has your CL lowered. Like I stated above I want to keep the lowered stance but want to convert this CL55 as I got a new job with a 700 mile a week commute. I have a C300 that will see the majority of these miles but my ABC blew a line this summer away from home and cost me a $300 tow.

I just bought a front suspension rebuild kit from ECS Tuning so I want to do this all in one shot.

ljubigamajka

I have done suspension conversion 3 years ago but never changed power steering pump. Now pump failed. What exactly do I need to convert power steering pump on my 01 cl500, just a pump from s500, or do i need anything else, belts, pulleys, reservoir, what fluid to use after conversion.

OCKlasse

You will need some additional hoses in addition to the new pump and reservoir. Use CHF-11S fluid in the new reservoir, but you'll need a lot less of it.

OCKlasse

Don't go down the rabbit hole like I did

muqaddar

I did my conversion on a 2002 CL500 back in November of 2014. The car drove well but it leaned a lot when taking corners. I could feel the difference without sway bars. So after driving the car without sway bars for a year I decided to add them. To install the front sway bar requires the s500 control arms that have the mounting points for the sway bar. I picked up a used front sway bar with brackets on ebay for relatively cheap. I added a rear sway bar as well. Also picked up from ebay. This required dropping the rear subframe to be able to install. I removed all the ABC lines and components as well. The car drives a lot better and I am very happy with the way it rides and handles now. In my opinion, the sway bars are a must for improved handling. As far as tire to fender spacing goes it's about four fingers spacing between tire and fender on all four sides.

jdeabate

I'm having trouble with the Tandem pump on my S55 AMG which I converted from Hydraulic to Strut Masters kit. I've burned through two pumps with no evidence of leaks and no obvious burning of Hydraulic fluid. considering replacing the tandem with a regular Power Steering pump but need ideas on which will fit the M 113 ML 55 block.

ataie

few years back I replaced the factory air shocks with the strutmaster coilovers on a 2004 S500. I had to get on the phone with the company to walk me through with wires to disconnect/cut and reconnect to trick the computer to think it still has air shocks, so you don't have a warning on the dash. the lights on the button the lowers/raises the car up and down stayed on permanently. The ride on the car totally sucked. The look was awful. The car was sitting too high compared to factory look. Hated it so much that I sold the car in two weeks and took a loss. Never again. Personally I can not recommend due to my experience.

calgary

Muqaddar and ataie: Thank you for your honest opinions on the coilover conversions:
I could never understand how these heavy cars could handle properly without swaybars after the coilover conversion. I think I will keep on replacing the ABC filter and at the same drain and replace a few liters of the expensive "green" oil -

tusabes

The conversion kit for airmatic cars Is completely different then the kit for abc cars. Airmatic cars keep their oem sway bars even after the conversion

Only abc cars lack sway bars

For airmatic cars Arnott has the best conversion kit