Strut Repair
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Joined: Jun 2018
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2017 GLS450, 2013 GL450, RIP 2011 GL450 (totalled)
Strut Repair
I'm nearing 130k on all four original air bags. What an improvement from the x164.
As my day is coming, has anyone repaired the front struts vs. replacing them with OEM or Arnott ones? Thought I had seen mention of that on this forum but can't find it.
If so, any details on the repair would be great in preparation.
As my day is coming, has anyone repaired the front struts vs. replacing them with OEM or Arnott ones? Thought I had seen mention of that on this forum but can't find it.
If so, any details on the repair would be great in preparation.
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Joined: Jul 2019
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From: New Orleans
2014 GL450, 1992 W140 300SD, 1993 W140 300SE, 1987 E30 Convertible
I rebuild one a year ago. Bought air bag and swapped it. I had to pull rubber sleeve out to get it cleaned - somehow mine was full of dirt, probably from handling. It was a hassle to put it back in. Probably blowing with air makes it easier.
Anyway works fine, but that won't make your absorbers last longer.
The procedure is straight forward - pull the stop ring on aluminum cover, take it off, unscrew shock nut, replace airbag, put it back together. Might need a through socket.
Anyway works fine, but that won't make your absorbers last longer.
The procedure is straight forward - pull the stop ring on aluminum cover, take it off, unscrew shock nut, replace airbag, put it back together. Might need a through socket.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jun 2018
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2017 GLS450, 2013 GL450, RIP 2011 GL450 (totalled)
Thanks, so you purchased something like this? https://suncoreindustries.com/produc...lass-w166-x166
So much cheaper than complete replacements.
So much cheaper than complete replacements.
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 733
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From: New Orleans
2014 GL450, 1992 W140 300SD, 1993 W140 300SE, 1987 E30 Convertible
Shocks on gl is short stroke heavy duty, don't die that easily...
Plus 1k vs 100 dollars meaningful difference...
Anyway - all the brands for bags is used housing with new rubber sleeve pressed on. Doesn't matter.
Plus 1k vs 100 dollars meaningful difference...
Anyway - all the brands for bags is used housing with new rubber sleeve pressed on. Doesn't matter.
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E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
Haven't had experience with them on X166 struts but my experience with them on a 164 strut was not pleasant. Had one of their rebuilt struts fail and they tried to charge me $100 since the part could not be rebuilt. My response was "WTF, you have a lifetime warranty and the fact that it can't be rebuilt is not my problem." So, after some more pointed language and threats to turn them in for, what I thought to be deceptive practices, they waived the $100 but it took around a month for them to ship me a new one. I purchased a new but cheap one off ebay for $100 and had it installed while I was waiting for the RMT unit to come back.
Three years later the $100 airstrut from Ebay was still performing well so I never installed the second RMT unit. It was still in my 164 when it totaled. Would I use them again? Don't think so.
Three years later the $100 airstrut from Ebay was still performing well so I never installed the second RMT unit. It was still in my 164 when it totaled. Would I use them again? Don't think so.
Last edited by BlownV8; Apr 3, 2022 at 10:55 AM.
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Haven't had experience with them on X166 struts but my experience with them on a 164 strut was not pleasant. Had one of their rebuilt struts fail and they tried to charge me $100 since the part could not be rebuilt. My response was "WTF, you have a lifetime warranty and the fact that it can't be rebuilt is not my problem." So, after some more pointed language and threats to turn them in for, what I thought to be deceptive practices, they waived the $100 but it took around a month for them to ship me a new one. I purchased a new but cheap one off ebay for $100 and had it installed while I was waiting for the RMT unit to come back.
Three years later the $100 airstrut from Ebay was still performing well so I never installed the second RMT unit. It was still in my when the 164 was totaled. Would I use them again? Don't think so.
Three years later the $100 airstrut from Ebay was still performing well so I never installed the second RMT unit. It was still in my when the 164 was totaled. Would I use them again? Don't think so.
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Yes, that's what I said I would do if they tried to stick me with the $100 charge. Many negative posts online that share similar experiences to ours.
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Arnott remanufactured are about $550 ish. Why try to save $150 on a strut that’s lesser quality than new while running into the potential of spending more time and money replacing a faulty one, shipping it back, waiting for a replacement, and paying the reinstall labor is not worth it.
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I have used both rebuilt, new, and really inexpensive struts. My 63's stock struts lasted around 110k miles which is better than the stockers did on my GL450. Arnott's lasted around 150k miles so with that data point they were more reliable than the factory struts. The only ones I had that were not more reliable than the factory units were from RMT and they lasted about as long as the factory struts. As far as rebuilt vs new cost, I wish the price was that close on my 63.
Then again, what do I know. Between my two GL's, the last data point was around 370k miles. Others may have more or different experience so the data may vary. After 15 plus years of GL ownership, would I say that the struts have to be factory new? For me, it is a no. I will do rebuilt or aftermarket new. The only factory part that I've found to be absolutely critical are MB wheel speed sensors since the replacements fail far too often.
Then again, what do I know. Between my two GL's, the last data point was around 370k miles. Others may have more or different experience so the data may vary. After 15 plus years of GL ownership, would I say that the struts have to be factory new? For me, it is a no. I will do rebuilt or aftermarket new. The only factory part that I've found to be absolutely critical are MB wheel speed sensors since the replacements fail far too often.
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I have used both rebuilt, new, and really inexpensive struts. My 63's stock struts lasted around 110k miles which is better than the stockers did on my GL450. Arnott's lasted around 150k miles so with that data point they were more reliable than the factory struts. The only ones I had that were not more reliable than the factory units were from RMT and they lasted about as long as the factory struts. As far as rebuilt vs new cost, I wish the price was that close on my 63.
Then again, what do I know. Between my two GL's, the last data point was around 370k miles. Others may have more or different experience so the data may vary. After 15 plus years of GL ownership, would I say that the struts have to be factory new? For me, it is a no. I will do rebuilt or aftermarket new. The only factory part that I've found to be absolutely critical are MB wheel speed sensors since the replacements fail far too often.
Then again, what do I know. Between my two GL's, the last data point was around 370k miles. Others may have more or different experience so the data may vary. After 15 plus years of GL ownership, would I say that the struts have to be factory new? For me, it is a no. I will do rebuilt or aftermarket new. The only factory part that I've found to be absolutely critical are MB wheel speed sensors since the replacements fail far too often.
Arnotts remanufactured struts have a good reputation and you like many others have had great success, but it’s also not uncommon for some faulty to slip through the cracks (based on first hand experiences on boards I’ve read) and you have to go through the whole uninstall/return shipping headache (even though their customer service is great).
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Correct on the new Arnott ADS struts. They do not adjust dampening and only have a resistor as to not induce an error message. Their rebuilt units maintain the ADS. My GL450 didn't have ADS so that was not an issue.
The only return I had with Arnott was pain free. They sent me a new one, returned the old one in the same box, and they paid shipping. It was painless. They don't sell directly to consumers anymore so I have no idea what it will be like with their chosen vendors. Though Arnott was painless, RMT experience was painful. Point is, not all rebuilders are the same so choose wisely.
I did not go factory new with my 63 struts and got them on Ebay for 1/5 the cost of new. The inexpensive replacements, so far, are working great. No one had any rebuilt shocks for my 63 and the factory/Bilstein new ones were around $2.9k for the pair but none were in stock. There was no other option that I could find other than the route I took to avoid excessive downtime. I still have the AMG struts, in my garage, and I will rebuild and reinstall at a later date. Keeping fingers crossed that these hold up. They appear and feel to be high quality and the ride and handling is great.
The only return I had with Arnott was pain free. They sent me a new one, returned the old one in the same box, and they paid shipping. It was painless. They don't sell directly to consumers anymore so I have no idea what it will be like with their chosen vendors. Though Arnott was painless, RMT experience was painful. Point is, not all rebuilders are the same so choose wisely.
I did not go factory new with my 63 struts and got them on Ebay for 1/5 the cost of new. The inexpensive replacements, so far, are working great. No one had any rebuilt shocks for my 63 and the factory/Bilstein new ones were around $2.9k for the pair but none were in stock. There was no other option that I could find other than the route I took to avoid excessive downtime. I still have the AMG struts, in my garage, and I will rebuild and reinstall at a later date. Keeping fingers crossed that these hold up. They appear and feel to be high quality and the ride and handling is great.
Last edited by BlownV8; Apr 7, 2022 at 10:59 AM.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 150
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2017 GLS450, 2013 GL450, RIP 2011 GL450 (totalled)
Correct on the new Arnott ADS struts. They do not adjust dampening and only have a resistor as to not induce an error message. Their rebuilt units maintain the ADS. My GL450 didn't have ADS so that was not an issue.
The only return I had with Arnott was pain free. They sent me a new one, returned the old one in the same box, and they paid shipping. It was painless. They don't sell directly to consumers anymore so I have no idea what it will be like with their chosen vendors. Though Arnott was painless, RMT experience was painful. Point is, not all rebuilders are the same so choose wisely.
I did not go factory new with my 63 struts and got them on Ebay for 1/5 the cost of new. The inexpensive replacements, so far, are working great. No one had any rebuilt shocks for my 63 and the factory/Bilstein new ones were around $2.9k for the pair but none were in stock. There was no other option that I could find other than the route I took to avoid excessive downtime. I still have the AMG struts, in my garage, and I will rebuild and reinstall at a later date. Keeping fingers crossed that these hold up. They appear and feel to be high quality and the ride and handling is great.
The only return I had with Arnott was pain free. They sent me a new one, returned the old one in the same box, and they paid shipping. It was painless. They don't sell directly to consumers anymore so I have no idea what it will be like with their chosen vendors. Though Arnott was painless, RMT experience was painful. Point is, not all rebuilders are the same so choose wisely.
I did not go factory new with my 63 struts and got them on Ebay for 1/5 the cost of new. The inexpensive replacements, so far, are working great. No one had any rebuilt shocks for my 63 and the factory/Bilstein new ones were around $2.9k for the pair but none were in stock. There was no other option that I could find other than the route I took to avoid excessive downtime. I still have the AMG struts, in my garage, and I will rebuild and reinstall at a later date. Keeping fingers crossed that these hold up. They appear and feel to be high quality and the ride and handling is great.
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Mayback
Correct on the new Arnott ADS struts. They do not adjust dampening and only have a resistor as to not induce an error message. Their rebuilt units maintain the ADS. My GL450 didn't have ADS so that was not an issue.
The only return I had with Arnott was pain free. They sent me a new one, returned the old one in the same box, and they paid shipping. It was painless. They don't sell directly to consumers anymore so I have no idea what it will be like with their chosen vendors. Though Arnott was painless, RMT experience was painful. Point is, not all rebuilders are the same so choose wisely.
I did not go factory new with my 63 struts and got them on Ebay for 1/5 the cost of new. The inexpensive replacements, so far, are working great. No one had any rebuilt shocks for my 63 and the factory/Bilstein new ones were around $2.9k for the pair but none were in stock. There was no other option that I could find other than the route I took to avoid excessive downtime. I still have the AMG struts, in my garage, and I will rebuild and reinstall at a later date. Keeping fingers crossed that these hold up. They appear and feel to be high quality and the ride and handling is great.
The only return I had with Arnott was pain free. They sent me a new one, returned the old one in the same box, and they paid shipping. It was painless. They don't sell directly to consumers anymore so I have no idea what it will be like with their chosen vendors. Though Arnott was painless, RMT experience was painful. Point is, not all rebuilders are the same so choose wisely.
I did not go factory new with my 63 struts and got them on Ebay for 1/5 the cost of new. The inexpensive replacements, so far, are working great. No one had any rebuilt shocks for my 63 and the factory/Bilstein new ones were around $2.9k for the pair but none were in stock. There was no other option that I could find other than the route I took to avoid excessive downtime. I still have the AMG struts, in my garage, and I will rebuild and reinstall at a later date. Keeping fingers crossed that these hold up. They appear and feel to be high quality and the ride and handling is great.
Makes sense. In your case you really had no better option.
I have a 550 with ADS. When they fail hopefully it’s within CPO!
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E55, GLS450, GL63, GLE350
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MERCEDES AMG GT, MERCEDES CLS63 AMG, MERCEDES G63 AMG, MERCEDES CL63 AMG
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2014 GL63
Resurrecting an old thread to ask Blown V8 about how the chinese struts have held up after another 1.5 years. Left front strut on my GL63 is gone after 135k miles, first one of the original struts to go. Not sure how much longer I'm keeping it for and would prefer to not pay $1K+ for the OEM one.
Anyone else use Vigor or any other struts from Shockmasters on an X166 and have any thoughts?
Thanks everyone.
Anyone else use Vigor or any other struts from Shockmasters on an X166 and have any thoughts?
Thanks everyone.
