Replaced shocks but still feels loose
11-18-2018, 08:51 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Replaced shocks but still feels loose
replaced with bilstein b4 shocks. Felt ok at first but now feels soft and steering feels a little loose. When I first bought the car it felt so tight especially when cornering. Now when driving on not so great roads it feels sloppy and uncomfortable. The wheels feel like they move on their own a little. Not very straight. Starting to hate the suspension on this car. I even replaced the control arms and outer tie rods as well as end links two years ago and already hearing some slight clunking. I didn’t replace the inner tie rods though. Could this be the reason for the poor handling??? Used lemforder parts. Are these 320’s supposed to feel soft like this? I drove a clk550 and the drive feel of it was not even comparable! It even looks lower to the ground than mine. Also hate the adaptive shift and the weak acceleration of this car. This is frustrating the heck out of me!! Maybe just not as great of a car as I thought. Any ideas on how to make the car feel better? Thoughts?
Last edited by Ghennes13; 11-18-2018 at 09:14 PM.
11-18-2018, 09:55 PM
#3
MBworld Guru
Tie rods rarely cause issues on these suspensions. It's usually the control arm bushings that wear out. Get an alignment. If it's out of camber, and there's never been any accidents, then replace the control arms. I know you said you already did that, but they only last about 50K miles or so before the bushings are worn again. Tires can be an issue, too. The CLK550 will feel more planted as it is heavier, and also the MY2008+ came standard with the lowered sport suspension (it was optional on the V6, and also on pre-MY2008 V8s).
11-18-2018, 10:50 PM
#4
Member
Thread Starter
Tie rods rarely cause issues on these suspensions. It's usually the control arm bushings that wear out. Get an alignment. If it's out of camber, and there's never been any accidents, then replace the control arms. I know you said you already did that, but they only last about 50K miles or so before the bushings are worn again. Tires can be an issue, too. The CLK550 will feel more planted as it is heavier, and also the MY2008+ came standard with the lowered sport suspension (it was optional on the V6, and also on pre-MY2008 V8s).
A mechanic advised me not to replace these suspension parts with lemforder due to the fact that they wear out faster than original. Do you believe that’s true? Also, since I havent replaced the inner tie rods ( I’m certain they are the original), should I go ahead and replace them?
And last question. Since I’ve owned the car I’ve done nothing to the rear suspension except for the shocks. Is there anything I should replace on the rear? Bushings? Etc?
Last edited by Ghennes13; 11-18-2018 at 10:55 PM.
11-19-2018, 02:55 PM
#5
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thanks for the reply Rudeney,
A mechanic advised me not to replace these suspension parts with lemforder due to the fact that they wear out faster than original. Do you believe that’s true? Also, since I havent replaced the inner tie rods ( I’m certain they are the original), should I go ahead and replace them?
And last question. Since I’ve owned the car I’ve done nothing to the rear suspension except for the shocks. Is there anything I should replace on the rear? Bushings? Etc?
What we did is lift the car, remove the wheels, and take off all the arms and bushings and rods and inspect them and replace any part that was worn. I also replaced all 4 shocks and shock mounts. The car felt brand new again. It's a 2005 CLK 320.
11-19-2018, 03:07 PM
#6
Member
Thread Starter
Then I must have missed something here. It shouldn’t be clunking or handling poorly after the work I’ve done on it. I did notice the front tires are worn on the inner walls. I’ll try replacing them and see if that improves the ride. What brand of shocks did you replace with? Thanks for your input!
11-19-2018, 03:10 PM
#7
MBWorld Fanatic!
When I did the refresh on mine, I stayed with the car the entire time and the mechanic showed me the left/right play of the tire which affects camber and causes the inner or outer walls to wear. The major part affecting this is the lower control arm and its bushing so we took the whole arm and inspected it and since its ball joint was fine, we ended up only replacing the bushings on both sides. Also make sure the bearing cap is removed and the nut tightened which is known for getting loose with time.
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11-19-2018, 03:17 PM
#9
MBWorld Fanatic!
11-20-2018, 12:28 PM
#11
Member
i am in the same boat. swapped out everything i could think of. new shock assembly, mounts, and links. all lemforder kit, bilstein shorty.
i had this loose feeling in my steering. but now i finally got a reproducible clunk now at the wide range of my steering... going in reverse... lol, so i am hoping i can get it looked at today. let you know what i find...
i had this loose feeling in my steering. but now i finally got a reproducible clunk now at the wide range of my steering... going in reverse... lol, so i am hoping i can get it looked at today. let you know what i find...
11-20-2018, 02:06 PM
#12
Member
Thread Starter
I’m curious as to what it is. Did you also replace with bilstein b4? To me after they were replaced it looked at if the front end was higher than before. Might just be an illusion haha.
11-20-2018, 05:29 PM
#13
Member
Ok. My rack is bad... damn... knocking noise coming from the middle area inside the rack silver part. Also gives me play right to left.
i personally have the b8 short bilstein shocks with h&r springs.
i personally have the b8 short bilstein shocks with h&r springs.
11-20-2018, 07:00 PM
#15
Member
Ordered a new one. Cant have down time. Need fast reliable solution. I will report back tomorrow when completed. Hope this will solve the loose steering in my case. Need new tires too. Alignment and steering issues are costly! Lol...
