When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My neighbor's 2006 E350 4Matic just broke a front-right suspension spring. I told him I could do the job if "loaded" struts were available. So far I'm finding them for the RWD application, but not 4Matic. Anyone know if there's a solution here?
On a related note, does replacement of the strut assembly get anymore complicated on the 4Matic? I've watched videos for the RWD cars and it's prettystraight-forward.
I guess I need to actually take a look into the front wheel well. But is the RWD car a strut while the 4Matic is a spring/shock setup?
While doing that, take a look at the driver's side B pillar, copy the VIN, and post it. I am sure Konigstiger (apologies for offering your contribution w/o consulting) will provide you the documentation you will need.
While doing that, take a look at the driver's side B pillar, copy the VIN, and post it. I am sure Konigstiger (apologies for offering your contribution w/o consulting) will provide you the documentation you will need.
With all the work I've already done on this car, I've already got that handy... WDBUH87J36X200828
I did the springs/struts on my 2008 4matic not too long ago. There basically aren't any loaded/quick struts available. For the spring, you go by the color code on the springs, there's like 3 different kinds of springs for the car and I think that may be due to whatever combination you have, 4matic, luxury/sport options etc. They're very narrow springs so they really need to be compressed, get a good spring compressor or have a shop do them for you. The replacement struts are cheaper if you get Bilstein, but there's a ring that you use to set the ride height, it comes at highest setting so if you don't put it on the lower settings, either the 2nd or 3rd ring out of 10, it's going to be too high. You match it up with the old one to get the right height, maybe in your case the side that doesn't have the broken spring. I think Sachs was OEM but they're about double the price of the Bilstein and Bilstein also has a lifetime warranty on the part.
I did the springs/struts on my 2008 4matic not too long ago. There basically aren't any loaded/quick struts available. For the spring, you go by the color code on the springs, there's like 3 different kinds of springs for the car and I think that may be due to whatever combination you have, 4matic, luxury/sport options etc. They're very narrow springs so they really need to be compressed, get a good spring compressor or have a shop do them for you. The replacement struts are cheaper if you get Bilstein, but there's a ring that you use to set the ride height, it comes at highest setting so if you don't put it on the lower settings, either the 2nd or 3rd ring out of 10, it's going to be too high. You match it up with the old one to get the right height, maybe in your case the side that doesn't have the broken spring. I think Sachs was OEM but they're about double the price of the Bilstein and Bilstein also has a lifetime warranty on the part.
Thanks for the details. I was hoping for simple, but this doesn't seem to be that. I initially saw lots of loaded struts and thought it could be simple, but those were all for the RWD cars.
Thanks very much for the details. Perhaps if I got a used strut from a 4Matic with Blue-White-White-White stripes I could do a plug & play swap. Are the struts right & left handed?
Thanks very much for the details. Perhaps if I got a used strut from a 4Matic with Blue-White-White-White stripes I could do a plug & play swap. Are the struts right & left handed?
Yes, they're left and right side struts, probably because there's a clip on one side and it won't be facing the right way if you have it on the other side. To do the plug/play swap, you're going to need a few other parts like the strut mount and the cover/bumper stop. Sachs sells a kit that comes with the bumper stop and cover. If you don't have the spring compressor I would just get all the parts and have a local shop compress the spring for you and build your own loaded strut, I've heard around here it's anywhere from $20-$40. I did both sides of mine a while ago but I think once I factored in the spring, strut and all the other parts for the strut like the mount and bumper stop etc it was more like $700-$800 for the fronts including labor. The Bilstein struts I think for your car is a standard suspension and I wouldn't get used struts. No way of knowing what kind of mileage was on them and mine were gone after about 120k. They are about $118 each on rockauto.com and then there's always a 5% off discount code you can find on retailmenot.com which makes up for the shipping charge. You could also get everything from FCPEuro which has a lifetime warranty on all the parts they sell but their stuff is a little more. They do sell a kit where you just add springs and struts to complete it and then you could just bring all that to a shop to build your own quick strut. Bilstein already has a lifetime warranty so that's why I'd spend $118 at rockauto instead of $159 at FCPeuro. And after all that I hope the balance shaft in that car is ok.
And after all that I hope the balance shaft in that car is ok.
It's still on the original balance shaft. That'll probably fail tomorrow. I actually advised him to punt on this car awhile ago - it's got over 200K miles now and has had some big repair bills recently - driveshaft, steering rack, fuel pump, intake manifold, etc.
I try to be more conservative in what I'll do for a friend's car vs. my own. I don't want to get into a big time-suck. I'll have to give this one some more thought before agreeing to it.
It's still on the original balance shaft. That'll probably fail tomorrow. I actually advised him to punt on this car awhile ago - it's got over 200K miles now and has had some big repair bills recently - driveshaft, steering rack, fuel pump, intake manifold, etc.
I try to be more conservative in what I'll do for a friend's car vs. my own. I don't want to get into a big time-suck. I'll have to give this one some more thought before agreeing to it.
Well that's pretty good, maybe he got lucky on the balance shaft then. Seems like most people come on here complaining about it going. I suppose you could look at those youtube videos and check to see if it's still lining up.
Taking the struts apart is pretty straightforward. The project is basically getting the strut built with the spring on it. That spring is pretty strong, when I had my mechanic do it, he mentioned it was one of the toughest he had worked on, had to compress it a lot so I'd be real careful with it. That's probably why it's best to just get all the parts and take it to a shop to have it compressed for you. Although mine was a sport suspension and I think yours is the standard one, the sport suspension was lower by an inch so maybe stiffer springs. It does ride nice afterwards so it's worth getting all new parts. Any used strut probably already has 50-100k or more on it and probably not good for much longer. Surprised he got 200k on original struts, they were probably gone a long time ago. The strut makers usually say to replace them after 50-60k. I used to do that on other cars, get Monroe quick struts and then with their lifetime warranty just pay for labor to swap them out again after 60-80k. I've replaced a bunch of other items in there too, ball joints, tie rods, sway bar links, CV joints, upper control arm, etc. I think the sway bars will probably go next along with the bushings.
09-16-2021, 02:47 PM
