A trip to the mountains was in order. This one is getting lifted as soon as I can get parts to do so. I gotta say, I wasn’t prepared for how primitive this one feels after driving the new one for a few years. It’s so small feeling inside. Awesome though and it actually feels faster as it’s more noisy. Very cool. Sintered Bronze is nice. I think.
Nice but kudos to you! Personally I could not go back to an older one after driving the new (2019+) one, which is just barely civilized to me as it is!
Me neither, Bob. I’m keeping my 19 as well. This one is gonna be the winter off road driver.
I would have been saddened had I traded my 19. Having both allows me to smile when I drive the 18. It’s cool for countless reasons, as well.
I think I would have appreciated the older ones if I had owned one for a while but I just had a couple rides a few years ago! I will tell you though my wife would have never wanted to drive the older one but she loves the new one.
A trip to the mountains was in order. This one is getting lifted as soon as I can get parts to do so. I gotta say, I wasn’t prepared for how primitive this one feels after driving the new one for a few years. It’s so small feeling inside. Awesome though and it actually feels faster as it’s more noisy. Very cool. Sintered Bronze is nice. I think.
Great looking truck. The new model definitely is WAY more refined, but hopping back into the previous generation doesn't feel bad. Less refined, but still very nice. I have a complete suspension system for that generation if you are interested. Brand new in the box and includes springs, spring spacers, castor bushings, and Fox adjustable reservoir shocks. What size tire are you going to run? Going to reuse the factory wheels, or go aftermarket?
Thanks, Butcher. Unfortunately for me, I already purchased it all. I went with King shocks and 100mm lift. I bought the radius arms and both panhard bars. I’m using the stock wheels for now with 31mm spacers. All I’ve researched led me to that combo. It’s been difficult to find people with experience in these lifts. This is a vehicle my wife will be driving and I wanted to get it as stable as possible. I told her that your wife still enjoys the ride and drive of the 65 even with the mods, so she should be just fine. My wife doesn’t like the technology, so she won’t drive the 19 unless she has to. This 2018 is more her style. Thanks again for the offer. I wish I could have helped.
No worries at all. Just thought I would throw it out there in case you hadn't bought it yet. I did a few G65s last year, and had this one kit left over. I'm sure I'll do another one at some time so I'm not concerned about sitting on the parts for awhile. I think you will like the 100mm kit. Did you get the extended brake and locker lines? I have found with the 70mm-80mm lifts you don't need them, but they get close with a 100mm kit. Alternatively you can make a bracket to relocate the lines some. That usually lets you get away with the factory lines if you aren't doing crazy off roading. What tires are you going with? Can't wait to see some pics once you get it all installed!
I didn't get the extended brake lines as I will never crawl over any rocks with this vehicle. It will be on snow and forest service roads, but not off-trail. I can't stand the thought of beating the thing up. I went with the BFG Mud-Terrain 3 in 35x12.50. I just realized I need to order another one of those. I only purchased four.
If you are running the 100mm lift you can easily clear a 35" tire. 33s might actually look kind of small Still plenty of power without regearing when running 35s. If you get the 5th tire for a spare you will obviously not be able to run the spare tire cover, and unless you get the flip mount you are going to see the inside of your spare wheel, not the face as it hangs off the back of the truck. It's kind of unsightly. There are several flip kits available, the least expensive of which appears to be the 911motorsports mount. $380 I think.
This is the 100mm kit with control arms that you got. It's a G65 sitting on 35" tires with aftermarket wheels and wheel spacers (31mm like you got for your factory wheels). No clearance issues with this set up.
If you are running the 100mm lift you can easily clear a 35" tire. 33s might actually look kind of small Still plenty of power without regearing when running 35s. If you get the 5th tire for a spare you will obviously not be able to run the spare tire cover, and unless you get the flip mount you are going to see the inside of your spare wheel, not the face as it hangs off the back of the truck. It's kind of unsightly. There are several flip kits available, the least expensive of which appears to be the 911motorsports mount. $380 I think.
This is a G63 on a 70mm lift with the same wheels and wheel spacers on 35s. It rubbed a tiny bit on the heat shield near the exhaust but we were able to bend it back some to prevent any rubbing.
Hey! That blue 65 is one I saw for sale somewhere, and was inspiration for me to do the build. Funny.
I meant to write 35x12.50. I edited the thread but you saw it first.
the pics are exactly what I needed to see. I feel confident now. Thank you! Sincerely.
As far as the spare, I’m planning on the Brabus adventure style rear carrier. That combined with black roof rack, ladder, and bull bar should complete the look.
have you ever installed the front 4x4 squared visor?
Hey! That blue 65 is one I saw for sale somewhere, and was inspiration for me to do the build. Funny.
I meant to write 35x12.50. I edited the thread but you saw it first.
the pics are exactly what I needed to see. I feel confident now. Thank you! Sincerely.
As far as the spare, I’m planning on the Brabus adventure style rear carrier. That combined with black roof rack, ladder, and bull bar should complete the look.
have you ever installed the front 4x4 squared visor?
That's going to look sweet with the rear Brabus carrier, roof rack, and ladder! The blue one was for sale at BJ Motors (along with the black G65 I did which I posted above, as well as the white G63 and the other black G65 on their site). Glad you like the look! Funny thing is a husband and wife actually bought the black and blue G65s so they could each have one.
I have not done the 4x4 square visor yet. I kinda of feel like these trucks look better without the visor unless you are running a 37" tire or larger. It just sort of makes it top heavy (aesthetically) in my opinion. It's possible with the roof rack, etc. it won't be that big of a deal, but I only like the 4x4 visor on an actual squared.
Yep, I finished it. Took longer than I would have wanted, but pandemic issues slowed it up. There was a lot of custom work needed as it turns out the 2018 G class is ever so different in many aspects than the 2017 and older. The rack had to be widened 3/16 of an inch, the wiring is all MBUS, so fiber optics made things a challenge, but in the end, I like it. I did switch to King shocks and they ride so much smoother than stock AMG. Way nicer ride. I ended up tossing the spoiler last week actually. The most difficult thing I have ever thrown in the trash as it was $900 in paint work just to get the matte perfect, but it didn’t look good when I put it on. I ended up changing light bars to one that fits between the rack and has a really cool daytime running light glow behind the bulbs that makes the G look cool and really squared off when looking at it coming down the road. I do have to turn off the trac control if I am going to pass someone or accelerate hard as the vehicle gets dangerously unstable otherwise. You lose your cruise control in a a unit with Distronic plus as well. Otherwise, it’s by far the coolest G I have driven. I currently have a 19 and 21 as well, and while the 18 does not have the ease of driving and comfort of the newer ones, it’s way cooler looking. I will post some pics of the custom work I had to do. It’s dirty, but it’s daily driven.
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
