Strutmasters to Yellow Speed Coilover Swap. My experiences
02-20-2019, 10:41 PM
#26
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Thread Starter
After much deliberation, they finally sent a pair of 16kg springs with the appropriate adapter collar
however I am running the 20kg fronts/14kg rear spring rates
the 16kg springs they sent me are smaller in diameter and also length too, I believe. I never bothered fitting them because they don’t seem suitable for a heavy car like W215, in fact these springs look kinda whimpy
my best settings I’ve found so far are fairly soft front shocks (5-8 clicks) with fairly firm rears (25-28 clicks) but with all preload removed
to remove preload you do not need to need to drop the coilover thankfully
Its hard to access so you may elect to remove the inner wheel well liner. The plastic wheel well liner can seem in the way. I was able to remove my preload without removing the liners, but in retrospect it may have taken less time
as far as how much preload was on the coilovers, it’s kinda hard to be precise with my estimation but I would assume there was about one full inch(or more) of unnecessary preload on the rears
if I recall correctly, the fronts weren’t nearly as bad
one thing you have helped me a lot with Rick is taking a look at the “bigger picture” of the geometry and physics of the w215
i believe a large part of my new-found satisfaction with my yellowspeed Set is how I have manipulated the weight of the car with height settings
yes, height settings
Make sure your rear of your car is a full inch or more HIGHER than the rear
see this displaces the weight of the car away from the rear and down onto the strong 20kg front springs. With my soft front shocks settings, this setup lets the front end glide over road imperfections while the weight of the car and 20kg springs keep everything planted in the front
then I use stiffer rear shock dampening settings to keep the car planted overall
basically what i have discovered is the rear suspension is hugely important in these cars because of the design/geometry
i will say there is still a very slight, tiny bit of bounce at high speed road dips.. it is not bothersome but on a certain bridge over here with 15 consecutive “dips” I find the car bounces up and down more than my work truck, or my girlfriend’s jeep Cherokee.
I may forego sway bars and experiment with different springs instead
I know some of the first 215 yellow speed kits shipped out with 14kg fronts/10kg rear ... I wonder if those folk have the same twitchy bounciness at high speeds
however I am running the 20kg fronts/14kg rear spring rates
the 16kg springs they sent me are smaller in diameter and also length too, I believe. I never bothered fitting them because they don’t seem suitable for a heavy car like W215, in fact these springs look kinda whimpy
my best settings I’ve found so far are fairly soft front shocks (5-8 clicks) with fairly firm rears (25-28 clicks) but with all preload removed
to remove preload you do not need to need to drop the coilover thankfully
Its hard to access so you may elect to remove the inner wheel well liner. The plastic wheel well liner can seem in the way. I was able to remove my preload without removing the liners, but in retrospect it may have taken less time
as far as how much preload was on the coilovers, it’s kinda hard to be precise with my estimation but I would assume there was about one full inch(or more) of unnecessary preload on the rears
if I recall correctly, the fronts weren’t nearly as bad
one thing you have helped me a lot with Rick is taking a look at the “bigger picture” of the geometry and physics of the w215
i believe a large part of my new-found satisfaction with my yellowspeed Set is how I have manipulated the weight of the car with height settings
yes, height settings
Make sure your rear of your car is a full inch or more HIGHER than the rear
see this displaces the weight of the car away from the rear and down onto the strong 20kg front springs. With my soft front shocks settings, this setup lets the front end glide over road imperfections while the weight of the car and 20kg springs keep everything planted in the front
then I use stiffer rear shock dampening settings to keep the car planted overall
basically what i have discovered is the rear suspension is hugely important in these cars because of the design/geometry
i will say there is still a very slight, tiny bit of bounce at high speed road dips.. it is not bothersome but on a certain bridge over here with 15 consecutive “dips” I find the car bounces up and down more than my work truck, or my girlfriend’s jeep Cherokee.
I may forego sway bars and experiment with different springs instead
I know some of the first 215 yellow speed kits shipped out with 14kg fronts/10kg rear ... I wonder if those folk have the same twitchy bounciness at high speeds
04-02-2019, 12:29 PM
#27
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
just wanted to update
on the soft dampening settings, the body has too much roll for my liking with semi aggressive driving, I noticed this especially while being a passenger and someone else was driving. So i have stiffened up the dampeners all to 3 clicks from hardest. The suspension seems to perform best at these settings, it's not necessarily that much more stiff, as much as it prevents body movement. Still perfecting the ride height settings, as others have mentioned, I want to echo that the individual coilovers do no settle at the same rate, meaning even if you measure your settings to within 1/16th of an inch, the car will not sit perfectly level when you lower the car to the ground again
its a matter of trial and error, adjusting each coilover until you can find the right settings so that the body is perfectly level. you may even want to account for how cars are usually unevenly weight distributed towards the driver side, unless you always drive with a passenger
on the soft dampening settings, the body has too much roll for my liking with semi aggressive driving, I noticed this especially while being a passenger and someone else was driving. So i have stiffened up the dampeners all to 3 clicks from hardest. The suspension seems to perform best at these settings, it's not necessarily that much more stiff, as much as it prevents body movement. Still perfecting the ride height settings, as others have mentioned, I want to echo that the individual coilovers do no settle at the same rate, meaning even if you measure your settings to within 1/16th of an inch, the car will not sit perfectly level when you lower the car to the ground again
its a matter of trial and error, adjusting each coilover until you can find the right settings so that the body is perfectly level. you may even want to account for how cars are usually unevenly weight distributed towards the driver side, unless you always drive with a passenger
The following users liked this post:
biker349 (04-02-2019)
04-02-2019, 01:50 PM
#28
Member
just wanted to update
on the soft dampening settings, the body has too much roll for my liking with semi aggressive driving, I noticed this especially while being a passenger and someone else was driving. So i have stiffened up the dampeners all to 3 clicks from hardest. The suspension seems to perform best at these settings, it's not necessarily that much more stiff, as much as it prevents body movement. Still perfecting the ride height settings, as others have mentioned, I want to echo that the individual coilovers do no settle at the same rate, meaning even if you measure your settings to within 1/16th of an inch, the car will not sit perfectly level when you lower the car to the ground again
its a matter of trial and error, adjusting each coilover until you can find the right settings so that the body is perfectly level. you may even want to account for how cars are usually unevenly weight distributed towards the driver side, unless you always drive with a passenger
on the soft dampening settings, the body has too much roll for my liking with semi aggressive driving, I noticed this especially while being a passenger and someone else was driving. So i have stiffened up the dampeners all to 3 clicks from hardest. The suspension seems to perform best at these settings, it's not necessarily that much more stiff, as much as it prevents body movement. Still perfecting the ride height settings, as others have mentioned, I want to echo that the individual coilovers do no settle at the same rate, meaning even if you measure your settings to within 1/16th of an inch, the car will not sit perfectly level when you lower the car to the ground again
its a matter of trial and error, adjusting each coilover until you can find the right settings so that the body is perfectly level. you may even want to account for how cars are usually unevenly weight distributed towards the driver side, unless you always drive with a passenger
CTravis,
Did you add the W220 Sway bar? The front one is all you would need. I added it to my car pulled from a parts yard W220. it is a very easy install and the car does not sway one bit, it is very planted around turns. I do have the rear sway bar but not installed. Others have mentioned and I agree it is not needed and it is quite a job to install.
Rick
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biker349 (04-02-2019)
04-03-2019, 10:28 PM
#29
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
CTravis,
Did you add the W220 Sway bar? The front one is all you would need. I added it to my car pulled from a parts yard W220. it is a very easy install and the car does not sway one bit, it is very planted around turns. I do have the rear sway bar but not installed. Others have mentioned and I agree it is not needed and it is quite a job to install.
Rick
Did you add the W220 Sway bar? The front one is all you would need. I added it to my car pulled from a parts yard W220. it is a very easy install and the car does not sway one bit, it is very planted around turns. I do have the rear sway bar but not installed. Others have mentioned and I agree it is not needed and it is quite a job to install.
Rick
i've been driving the car a lot lately...i just think on soft settings the sway is a bit much, soo ive increased the dampening BUT overall i actually prefer the higher dampening settings anyways
im installing cieka kit on someones car this coming weekend, i may just go with cieka if the problems are fixed. ill make a thread about the experience/test drive
Last edited by ctravis595; 04-03-2019 at 10:37 PM.
04-15-2019, 03:54 AM
#31
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
I installed the cieka kit this weekend , very very similar to the yellow speed kit. Looks like it’s probably the same manufacturer in Taiwan
the kit installed came with 14/10kg spring rates and the customer said it felt drove well without sway bars; but still has that jumpiness we are familiar with on the yellow speed kit over dips/rise in the road. Overall the customer is very happy, he got a great deal on a low mileage W215 with bad abc and I installed his coilovers at nearly 1/5th of the price a shop quoted him
I noticed his springs looked a lot like the 16kg pair yellow speed sent me...so I may try them on the front or back sometime to see if I can’t solve the bounce issue, I think the back is definitely in need of the most attention.
Right nowi have my yellow speed dampened to 15 clicks from hardest in front and 2 clicks from hardest in rear. Did particularly well in severe rain, the softer fronts seemed to keep the front tires on the ground particularly well.
Still trying to figure out the difference between these skinny 16kg springs I have and the thicker diameter 14kg springs I currently have in the rear of my car....yellow speed said my springs are progressive spring rate and the 16kg’s are not but I’m not sure that’s believable, they don’t seem entirely knowledgeable
see photos of customers cieka install
the kit installed came with 14/10kg spring rates and the customer said it felt drove well without sway bars; but still has that jumpiness we are familiar with on the yellow speed kit over dips/rise in the road. Overall the customer is very happy, he got a great deal on a low mileage W215 with bad abc and I installed his coilovers at nearly 1/5th of the price a shop quoted him
I noticed his springs looked a lot like the 16kg pair yellow speed sent me...so I may try them on the front or back sometime to see if I can’t solve the bounce issue, I think the back is definitely in need of the most attention.
Right nowi have my yellow speed dampened to 15 clicks from hardest in front and 2 clicks from hardest in rear. Did particularly well in severe rain, the softer fronts seemed to keep the front tires on the ground particularly well.
Still trying to figure out the difference between these skinny 16kg springs I have and the thicker diameter 14kg springs I currently have in the rear of my car....yellow speed said my springs are progressive spring rate and the 16kg’s are not but I’m not sure that’s believable, they don’t seem entirely knowledgeable
see photos of customers cieka install
The following users liked this post:
biker349 (04-15-2019)
