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Hi guys, new to my 2007 GL450. 120K miles on it, but in really great shape. I woke up the last two mornings to the front end sitting much lower than normal. After starting the Benz it raises to normal level and stays that way. I'm able to raise the vehicle even more for "off-road" mode and that seems to be working just fine as well. Any ideas as to what is causing this issue?
Thank you!
i just had my front left strut replaced with a rebuilt from Arnott. Cost me about $900 for parts and labor (from local Tuffy). Of course the MB people wanted to replace all 4 (front and rear). Sadly i do not have $4-5k to spend with MB right now.
Hi guys! I fixed my broken air spring myself two weeks ago. I ordered both Arnott front air spring replacements through RockAuto. They were $311 each. There is a shop here in Phoenix where you can rent a full service bay (including lift) for $25 per hour. I would not recommend doing this job in your own garage with just jack stands. I decided to replace the front rotors and pads as well while the wheels were off.
My problem was that once I pulled the old air spring/strut assembly out, I found out that it was not original equipment (I am the second owner and it now has 130K miles on it), but was an already replaced Arnott strut assembly and that the strut has already gone bad as well....it was leaking oil once I removed the Air Spring. Now I needed to order the entire strut assembly, and we were able to find it locally since the Benz was already disassembled. Problem...it cost about $600 each even though it was an Arnott. I should have not tried to save 50-80 dollars and I should have ordered the entire strut assembly directly from Arnott for only $405 each.
Putting it all back together was not that difficult including the front brakes. While job took me almost 7 hours.
Now have a new problem and that is when the upper control arm was disconnected, the bushing was bad and should have been replaced at the same time. Now I hear a clunking noise and need to order either new bushings or a whole new control arm and replace.
Still saved well over $1500 by doing these jobs myself over the 3-4 quotes I had received from independent shops.
I called strutmasters. They allow you to completely get rid of the air suspension all together an you do not have to ever worry about maintenancing the air struts again or having them rebuilt. The convert you over to conviential style coil springs from a big eibach company in california. I now am back at a good ride height. THEY EVEN HAD A WAY TO GET THE SUSPENSION LIGHT OFF!!!! Which was a big deal because no one else offers this option
I called strutmasters. They allow you to completely get rid of the air suspension all together an you do not have to ever worry about maintenancing the air struts again or having them rebuilt. The convert you over to conviential style coil springs
Good job, how does the ride feel now? Almost like a Honda Pilot?
Often times the clunking sound is the front sway bar link(s). Make sure and check those too. They are fairly inexpensive AND if you are going to have things apart again, might as well add those to the list.
I was under the impression that Arnott springs/shocks had a lifetime warranty. Maybe it doesn't transfer to another owner.
Good job, how does the ride feel now? Almost like a Honda Pilot?
Actaully it has a double action spring made by Eibach on my cl-55. So it actually makes it firmer. I use the vehicle for performance but it is also a daily driver as well. And I would actually have to say that im happy with it. Just imagine if that particular vehicle didnt have air suspension it would have a Eibach spring which is a manufacturer for all high end suspeions such as Jaguar, Mercedes, etc. I also seen them as a sponsor for nascar at a race i attended at zmax in charlotte,nc
Actaully it has a double action spring made by Eibach on my cl-55. So it actually makes it firmer. I use the vehicle for performance but it is also a daily driver as well. And I would actually have to say that im happy with it. Just imagine if that particular vehicle didnt have air suspension it would have a Eibach spring which is a manufacturer for all high end suspeions such as Jaguar, Mercedes, etc. I also seen them as a sponsor for nascar at a race i attended at zmax in charlotte,nc
You lost the ability to ride level, but you got it stiffer and now you can go 60k miles without changing out an air bag. To each his own, but it's not what I would have done.
Steel springs are linear, meaning they have constant stiffness. Twice the force is twice the compression. Gas springs are non linear, meaning they are progressively stiffer the more they are compressed. Twice the force gives less than twice the compression. This means the ride is smoother and more comfortable and small bumps are absorbed better.
By the way, don't get too excited about springs. They're steel wire, wound into a coil, and heat treated. Then painted a spiffy color.
Progressive (including double-action) springs are kind of cool, but there's nothing magic about them. The point of a progressive spring is to try to get the metal spring to be more like an air spring.
You lost the ability to ride level, but you got it stiffer and now you can go 60k miles without changing out an air bag. To each his own, but it's not what I would have done.
Steel springs are linear, meaning they have constant stiffness. Twice the force is twice the compression. Gas springs are non linear, meaning they are progressively stiffer the more they are compressed. Twice the force gives less than twice the compression. This means the ride is smoother and more comfortable and small bumps are absorbed better.
By the way, don't get too excited about springs. They're steel wire, wound into a coil, and heat treated. Then painted a spiffy color.
Progressive (including double-action) springs are kind of cool, but there's nothing magic about them. The point of a progressive spring is to try to get the metal spring to be more like an air spring.
Your correct except these springs are made by eibach. Which are cold wound which is why there is a significant price jump. They are made with a highly expensive machine that can coil them cold steel. also they dont lose any spring rate when you do it this way no need to cool them which actually is the only negative side of heat treating the spings. But like you said to each is his own and im a gear head by nature an i jus love to hear other experiences. Thanks
Your correct except these springs are made by eibach. Which are cold wound which is why there is a significant price jump. They are made with a highly expensive machine that can coil them cold steel. also they dont lose any spring rate when you do it this way no need to cool them which actually is the only negative side of heat treating the spings. But like you said to each is his own and im a gear head by nature an i jus love to hear other experiences. Thanks
To each his own. I never liked stiff springs; in Datsun 510s, all the respectable racers put 1,000 lb/in cut Roadster springs in the back. I was stubborn and cut the stock springs, and the back squatted down like crazy on acceleration. If it hadn't been a semi-trailing arm rear suspension, it wouldn't have such a problem, but the result was the car promptly understeered when I punched it.
Do you mind sharing why you "would not recommend doing this job in your own garage with just jack stands"? Thank you very much!
Originally Posted by backdoc4you
Hi guys! I fixed my broken air spring myself two weeks ago. I ordered both Arnott front air spring replacements through RockAuto. They were $311 each. There is a shop here in Phoenix where you can rent a full service bay (including lift) for $25 per hour. I would not recommend doing this job in your own garage with just jack stands. I decided to replace the front rotors and pads as well while the wheels were off.
My problem was that once I pulled the old air spring/strut assembly out, I found out that it was not original equipment (I am the second owner and it now has 130K miles on it), but was an already replaced Arnott strut assembly and that the strut has already gone bad as well....it was leaking oil once I removed the Air Spring. Now I needed to order the entire strut assembly, and we were able to find it locally since the Benz was already disassembled. Problem...it cost about $600 each even though it was an Arnott. I should have not tried to save 50-80 dollars and I should have ordered the entire strut assembly directly from Arnott for only $405 each.
Putting it all back together was not that difficult including the front brakes. While job took me almost 7 hours.
Now have a new problem and that is when the upper control arm was disconnected, the bushing was bad and should have been replaced at the same time. Now I hear a clunking noise and need to order either new bushings or a whole new control arm and replace.
Still saved well over $1500 by doing these jobs myself over the 3-4 quotes I had received from independent shops.
Getting the existing airstrut out requires raising and lowering the vehicle several times, the lower control arm has to be pulled WAY down in order to get the strut out, and then pushing the new strut back into the wheel well requires some serious effort in addition to raising the lower control arm back to have everything align is not easy. Being able to change your position and angle at different times during this process is fairly critical. I've had one of my replacements go bad on me again and did the same procedure with a new replacement form Arnott and would not have attempted it in my garage the second time even though I had done it once and have Jack stands, floor jack, and airtools.
Getting the existing airstrut out requires raising and lowering the vehicle several times, the lower control arm has to be pulled WAY down in order to get the strut out, and then pushing the new strut back into the wheel well requires some serious effort in addition to raising the lower control arm back to have everything align is not easy. Being able to change your position and angle at different times during this process is fairly critical. I've had one of my replacements go bad on me again and did the same procedure with a new replacement form Arnott and would not have attempted it in my garage the second time even though I had done it once and have Jack stands, floor jack, and airtools.
Compressing the strut with a $3 ratchet strap make all the difference. No need to raise/lower multiple times... no need to pull the control arm way down... the strut will come right out.
So you can compress the strut before removing it? Like in the attached picture, use ratchet strap in position like the red line to compress the struct and then remove it?
Thank you very much!
Originally Posted by DennisG01
Compressing the strut with a $3 ratchet strap make all the difference. No need to raise/lower multiple times... no need to pull the control arm way down... the strut will come right out.
12-30-2016, 01:10 PM
