Okay I have a 2002 clk 320 with Lowenharts LD5's 19inch wheels and goodyear eagles F1's, front is 235,35,19 back is 265,30,19,. Back tires there is a 1.5 inch gap from the top of the tire to the fender and a 3.5inch gap in the front tire and fender. Im going to be lowering it with Eibach springs and It should drop it 1.2 inches all around. My problem is that Im afraid that it will rub in the back. And i want to balance it out or make the front a tad lower. I guess what i want to know is what pads do i use? should i use #1 in the front and #5 in the back? Im thinking that if i use #1 in the front It will drop it 1.6 inch and if i use #5 in the back it will drop it 1 inch? Let me know what everyone thinks.
Thanks guys!!!!!!!! This site Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before I slammed my car I was running H&R sport springs and Koni Adjustable shocks with #1 spring pads all around. The ride height was too high for my taste, I would say there's at least 1-2 finger gap between fenders and tires. Although the back sits a little lower than the front, it still look like an SUV to me.

Spring pads will not lower your car that much unless you cut your springs or shave the spring pads.

-Bruce

what # pads for the front and back, do you think I should use to get close to what im trying to do?

According to my understanding. I dont think there are spring pad in the front of the CLK. Well at least not for the W209. If you want the perfect drop, my suggustions would be coilovers.

Bruce, i think ive asked you this before but i forgot. How was your ride quality after you cut your springs and that you have koni shocks. If the ride a lot softer or stiffer. Thanks

You are right... for your car, you don't have spring pads...

However, his is questioning about his 2002 W208 CLK320, which has a diferent suspension all together... We do use spring pads, and there is no coil over system available for our CLKs (unless custom made)

the choice of spring pads between front & rear depends on what came on your car initially. jack up the car and look at the pads to determine which one they are now... it will be between 2-5...

From there, depending on how you want to have your car finally setup, adjust the pads accordingly... each pad will yield about a quarter-inch difference

How can you tell what spring pad is currently installed.

Is there a "dot" system?

Dan

Derrick,

The ride is definately stiffer than how it would normally be, but with the Koni, it's not so harsh.

thebull: If I were you I would just go #1 spring pads all around.

-Bruce

Thanks guys for helping me out. mmgrad, I will raise my car to find out what pads I have, but how do i find out what i have? What am i looking for? LowRider if i use #1 in the back, do you think it will rub? As of right now without the new springs drop it sits about 1.5 after the drop i'll have .3 If i use #5 wont it drop it 1" that way the back isn't slammed to .3 Thanks

There will be dots on the pad showing what number they are.
If you want #1 pads for the front, you are going to have to order them for the w210 e class, because they don't make them for the CLK.

I dropped my car with a cup kit and #1's, it was so low I could barely drive. I put 3's back in.

that we don't know here is how many miles on your car? If you're over 20/30k, the OE Boge's are probably close to wearing out by now, and that also is going to affect your ride height a bit. Once thye've had a chance to settle in and wear, you lose a tiny bit of the upward pressure a new set will have. The OE Boge's for that car are a pretty sorry lot; if you've got any miles at all (and you may not, since it's just an 02), I'd put on a set of Konis or Bilsteins while I had it apart. Then, with a 6 cyl and Eibachs, I'd probably go 1's in the front and 2's in the rear. The ride height with the Eibach setup, especially for the 6, does not seem to be near as low as the H&R. It's really frustrating to go through all the money, time, and aggravation to set it up more than once. Just my .02, and that's all it's worth...

Guys what would happen if the spring pads were totally removed?

Okay, so i looked under my car, on top of the springs were rubber pads. So I guess these are the pads. Front and back had 3 little nubs or nipples. Are these #3 pads? I gues I should also mention that I have 33,000, miles on my car. Is it time to change my shocks? I have until friday do determine what pads to use. Does #1 in the front and #5 in the back sound like it will work without any rubbing in the back?

if you removed ur pads... hmm... u'd experience one of the worst possible rides... thats my opinion....

I would strongly advise against that...

I would say use #3 pad in front and #2 in the back. I'm using 19" Carlsson and was experiencing rubbing in the front with #2 pad, so I switched to dot 3. Dot 5 pads in the rear are way too high!!! (is there a dot 5 pad?)