nsupra

can someone give me some advice as to which spring pads i should go with?

Car has 18 inch AMG E55 Mono blocks take offs.235/40/18 up front and 265/35/18 in the back. H&R sport springs and bilstein sport sport shocks.


Right now it has spring pad #5 up front and spring pad number #4 in the back(Or vice versa i forget). I have a 3.5 inch gap between the tire and fender up front, and i have a 3 inch gap between the tire and the fender in the back. I am trying to drop the car at least 2- 2.25 inches.

What springs pads should combine with my new shocks and springs. I believe the h&r spring give about 1.25- 1.5 inch drop.
Any help appreciated.

MARK CUMMINS

I Installed One Bump Spring pads with Bilstein Sport shocks and H/R springs on my W210 Estate..It looks good and Still rides Great!

http://www.mymbonline.com/forum/uplo...c06714_140.jpg

You might have to try several combos til you are happy

ohlord

springs are not installed as of now ,correct?Leave the pads as they are for now after you install the springs.Let the springs settle in for 6 months then adjust final ride height with pads you only gain or lose 4mm per pad bump so if you install all #1's now you will only drop about another 1/2 inch.The reason to wait for the springs to settle and then adjust is that after you do that it is time to spend the big money and install the front camber eccentrics and the rear camber links,so you can hold the proper alignment you will be needing Mercedes to complete after the drop.No reason to have it done right after the install,when the car settles you would have to spend the money again.
ohlord

Eurosport

springs don't take 6 months to settle in lol, where do you get this stuff?
they settle in just fine with a week of spirited driving...

ohlord

installations on cars,doing springs on factory new cars,installing new springs on my race cars.One week?Where I ask you,do you come up with that stuff?Measure a new spring install and 6 months later it can be an inch lower than the installed height,that is worth throwing off camber settings to the negative side by over a -1.5 degree.Why do you think so many members complain about poor tire wear and handling when they do new springs and pads and alignment right away and then start going through tires in half the time they used to? 6 months later they are looking at camber bolts and speedybenz link kits.
My advice to you would be instead of questioning where my stuff comes from,is what are your credentials to inquire?From a general perusal of your posts most show little to no knowledge about any particular model and mostly posts about bumping post whoring threads.Or childish posts about OMG so and so lost a tennis match

A week of spirited driving?You would not know what that was if it hit you in the face
ohlord

Eurosport

woaaaah there! i must have touched a sensitive neuron
you still sound upset at me that i didn't agree with your 100k spark plug change intervals last year 2 options: get over it already, seek therapy to get over it.

"general pursual of your posts"??? you've looked at the last thread i started out of 12,000 posts and you call that general?

you call my posts childish, yet you have to resort to low blows and big assumptions?

here i'll make you happy and bite, i'll play childish just for you:

what you're saying, when doing a drop from stock to lowering springs you need to do a first allignment 6 months after the drop, to let the springs settle in? gooooood one even a bum on the corner will laugh at that one.
springs these days are not the same sagging springs that you had in your "racing days" Model-T in the early 1900's.

now you know how i drive? you must be psychic, i should stop wasting all that money on Miss Cleo for a free reading, and just call you

thanks for the laughs, seriously i mean it, i needed it, not really, but if it makes you feel better sure why not, maybe you can save a few bucks and not seek that therapist for the time being.

to OP: i apologize for my childish post in your thread

raymond g-

i'm far from being a reputable source on this sort of thing, but i've had
some hands-on with lowering springs the past 2 yrs. in my experience
break-in of springs is motion/stressed based rather than a measure of time.
truth be told, it's probably a mixture of both, as well as a whole host of
considerations.

as simple physics is involved. one could argue that if the Richard/E320 had
to break in springs, it would take him 2-3 years, given the low mileage placed
on his garage queen (I think he has about 5k miles on his 2001 car). compare
this with someone who drives daily, traversing over industrial parts of town,
irregular pavement, blah blah, would be able to get their springs to settle
within weeks of installation.

ohlord

has as much time on his hands to post the drivel
that you do has got to be a child,so your childish banter is well understood.Not since Tommyboy left our mist has there been a member that contributed less in the way of meaningful posts than you.Well maybe you and the guy with the folding at home posts
h/r ,eibach,chassis engineers will all tell you it takes time for springs to settle,one week of spirited driving will not do it.My 6 month rule has proven,time and again enough time to attain max drop and then you do the final adjustments.We just happen to be on different pages,mine born out of experience,yours out of off topic posts .To each his own and anyone reading your posts will know very quickly the quality of the information spewed out.
BTW my SCCA racing days and NHRA days are all current
A casual glance of one page of your posts will give a clue as to the tommy reference
The only thing missing from your idle chatter is the kill stories,then again I did not dig all that deep through all the the crap
At least if you can't post helpful,pertinent,Mercedes related information,you can sure take claim to the king of the off topic idle chit chat throne
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ht=#post773355

SoCalCLK

Take it easy, there, pal. This is just a disagreement in spring settling time, no need for all the hostility!

I have heard 6 months is the usual time, back in the 1990's, but more recently, especially when dealing with good quality springs, 5-7 days is usually about right. To each his own, but I agree with Eurosport.

raymond g-

as a point of reference, i was just on the phone with H&R tech person. they
maintain that their springs have been conditioned pretty much to where they
will be statically set for years to come. in other words, not one week, two
week.....six month settling is going to change much in drop vis a vis, the spring
itself.

now.....having made such a statement they continued by saying that other
accouterments swapped out may undergo a bit of a settling process, e.g.
shocks, bushings, spring pads, etc. the more of these components changed,
the more their accumulative compression and settling will occur.

springs from different manufacturers will vary, natch, (final manufacturing
process, metalurgical make up, etc) and all these fractions of an inch will add
up to some degree of settling that we notice in the end.

in the end, H&R maintains, it's not worth arguing over unless you're specific
as to which spring you're arm wrestling over. in the case with H&R springs,
the settling is hardly noticeable.

suicidal4life

Without trying to add too much fuel to the fire I will post my experience. When I installed my H&R springs I could barely notice any drop. After about a 20 minute drive the first day it had settled quite a bit and I took a baseline measurement. Over the next week it settled about 1/2" more. Months later it had not settled any noticeable amount from where it was after one week. I did purposely drive some rough roads that first week so maybe that helped.

If the issue is bad alignments and tire wear wouldn't it be worse to drive around for six months with no alignment then to align it after one week and then re-check in 6 months. If its way out of alignment after 6 months do it again and if its not then that's even better. 6 months of wear with no alignment on a set of good tires is probably more $$ then an extra alignment that may or not be needed.

ohlord

has been a steady drop over a period of 6 months,resulting in a track measured camber change from -1 all the way to -2.5 degrees.I find alignment more costly than waiting for it all to settle and then set the camber eccentrics and the links when all settled in.Since most owners that drop a mb don't ever take into consideration the added necessity of camber kits and links,maybe your suggestion is a fair compromise.I do a lot of track driving and alignment and suspension setup are more important than tire wear.

nsupra

Thanks for everyones input. I am really undecided as to what i should do. Should i keep the stock #5 and #4 spring pads in or replace them with the #1 pads once i swap the springs. Wouldnt it be more money to take out the shocks again just to replace the spring pads?

How long should i wait till i get an alignment if i dont change out the spring pads? Months?
And if i do change out the spring pads how long should i wait? Instantly?

ohlord

here's the compromiseYou are not going to get a 2.5 inch drop without special springs. install the springs you have picked out with the best guesstimate of final gap that you can measure per rays directions on pads.Then go get it aligned at the dealer for what they charge.If you require camber bolts and link kits they will let you know and you will need to install them in order to get to the proper numbers.In 6 months if you want to drop the car the other 1 inch cold cut 1/2 coil out and have it aligned again.By that time the springs,pads,shocks will all have settled in and cutting 1/2 coil will only increase spring rate 10% Running 18's with that set up should leave you with a fair ride quality and waiting 6 months will let you decide if it is wise to go that low on the street.
Does that seem like a fair compromise between the let them settle for a week and the let them settle 6 months camp
peace

E420White

I have a similair question.

Background:
My car has bilstein HD shocks that I've had on the car for 2 years, and recently cut stock springs: 1 full coil in the front, 3/4 coil rears. The fronts have #3 pads.

Issue:
I seem to have a 3/8 inch height difference from left to right. The Right side is just under 3/8's inch higher than the left. The rears have approx. 1/2 less of the same difference.

General Question:
Considering I only weigh a buck sixty, could the lower left be from regular driving?

Next Steps:
I'll remove the right side this weekend and make sure it's set properly.

nsupra

Nevermind the 2.5 inch drop. im good with anything between 1.5 inches to 2 inches. Im in no rush for the springs to settle.I think i will put the #1 pads in all around.
So i should go get it aligned right away? Or let it settle for few weeks or something.

ohlord

seems to wait a few weeks take your check book along and go have it aligned.1.5-2 inches is going to require camber bolts and most likely a rear link kit or k-mac units.
good luck

nsupra

Alright thank you! I appreciate everyones help

raymond g-

what city are you in?

what i dont like is the reverse rake of the vehicle. i think it looks goofy, though
nearly all cars, unaltered, are this way from the factory. to spend the money
on lowering and not correct this seems like an unfinished task.

if you install 1) H&R springs, 2) thinnest pads, 3) Bil-SP shocks, it will probably
still have that front high look. if you're no concerned about this look, then
just install all the new parts, put several hundred bouncy miles on it, then bring
in for 4-point Hunter alignment. if the rake of the vehicle is important to you,
then you may need to reassess how things settle down the road and decide on
a Plan B: how to lower the front end some more....which may involve cutting
a coil, or raising the rear while keeping #1 in the front.

what do you think, ohlord?

ohlord

I'm in enough trouble for saying (from experience wait 6 months)
However you are correct that floaty reverse rake looks silly, maybe he needs to keep the current pads on the rear and go to #1 or #2 on the fronts and then get it on the hunter machine as soon as he can afford the kmac kit or the speedybenz or the camber bolts or the lensolo links
If he is worrying about cost of getting it right the first time out of the box,that may be the best average he can hope for.Or start learning to diy and become a spring /shock/pad addict
ohlord







0

nsupra

Good point brought up I am a bit concerned about the rake of the vehicle. Would #4 pads (stock) in the rear and #1 pads in the front work you think? I think thats a good plan. Cutting the springs is not an option for me. I just want at least a 1.5 inch drop with a nice stance and ill be happy. Doesnt matter how long it takes as long as everything gets done right. With two passengers in the back of the car with stock suspension the rear is lowered just right.