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.
As I posted before my ride is rougher every time I replace parts . I’m just trying to get a smooth ride as a new vehicle . It has been going the opposite direction. It looks like what I purchased is not what MB puts on, or is it? What do I do ? I drive crap city roads . Where the Chicago mayor can’t fix roads , He allowed about 1,500,000,000.00 Billion to be spent this year on immigrants . Yea we broke 😬
As I posted before my ride is rougher every time I replace parts . I’m just trying to get a smooth ride as a new vehicle . It has been going the opposite direction. It looks like what I purchased is not what MB puts on, or is it? What do I do ? I drive crap city roads . Where the Chicago mayor can’t fix roads , He allowed about 1,500,000,000.00 Billion to be spent this year on immigrants . Yea we broke 😬
What is the cold tire pressure you are setting front and rear?
No matter what, your car does NOT have the suspension of an S or many E cars. It WILL be more harsh in the cold weather (and the roads there are crap).
As a solution for you, you can do what I (and anyone with a brain does) - leave Illinois. I was there again few weeks ago....yeah, never, not ever have a reason to go back :-)
As I posted before my ride is rougher every time I replace parts . I’m just trying to get a smooth ride as a new vehicle . It has been going the opposite direction. It looks like what I purchased is not what MB puts on, or is it? What do I do ? I drive crap city roads . Where the Chicago mayor can’t fix roads , He allowed about 1,500,000,000.00 Billion to be spent this year on immigrants . Yea we broke 😬
I noticed in the partial email you attached that they wrote those Sachs shocks were the only ones THEY OFFERED. Doesn't state that there are not other suitable or more appropriate versions, for your desired outcome.
Right So what’s smoother riding ? How did you find out ? Maybe genuine MB Sachs shocks ?? Doesn’t make sence . There are a lot of shocks sold , who knows what you get !
Right So what’s smoother riding ? How did you find out ? Maybe genuine MB Sachs shocks ?? Doesn’t make sence . There are a lot of shocks sold , who knows what you get !
I have no idea what is smoother riding, if anything. I simply noticed they wrote it was the only Sachs shock absorber they OFFER for the GLK. Someone can sell genuine Sachs parts but it doesn't mean it's the correct part for this or that car. But I agree, who knows what you get sometimes.
How about the springs are wrong ? That would make it rougher right ? It is ridding higher by 1-2”, those are autozone but factory I was told .
It seems the springs must be wrong if you notice such a difference in ride height. The fact that it rides higher rather than lower could certainly indicate too stiff a spring for the application. Autozone? hmmmm... The first priority of many is to make sales.
A taller spring is going to be a stiffer spring. I'd seriously suggest going OEM, or (my personal approach for things like this) go to eBay and buy a used but non-rusted set of rear springs off the same model and year of GLK, install 'em and fuhgeddaboudit.
Yes, the Sachs are OEM. I bought Bilstein B4 shocks and struts for my 2011 4Matic. I doubt there's a significant difference, but will do a semi-pseudo-scientific test in the not too distant future, as my 2012 "project GLK" is getting a new set of Sachs struts (though not shocks) in the next couple weeks. Not exactly apples and oranges, but it should be interesting to compare the ride quality between the two.
What I would say is that as far as measuring ride quality as "just riding along feeling the bumps", new struts and shocks are always going to make it worse. The more worn the shock, the better it is at not transferring the wheel's vertical movement to the chassis. I was shocked when I saw just how worn out my original struts were at ~180,000 miles, since the ride quality was really good, though I was feeling the lack of rebound control on washboard roads and speed bumps. Now I've got great rebound control, and the car is rock-solid on those bumpy roads - BUT I can feel more bumps and pot holes in the road with the new struts and shocks. That doesn't mean I did a bad thing swapping the suspension, since I value my life more than the tender sensitivities of my butt. ;-)
And having grown up in Illinois - though the other one that isn't Cook County - I can sympathize with the road conditions, both from the ridiculous weather, and from the inept government charged with keeping the roads intact. I once had an Audi A3 wagon (small, sport turbo wagon with the glorious dual-clutch tranny) and loved the way it rode until I drove it to the NYC area, where I needed a kidney belt to drive it.
FCP didn’t show me the correct shocks , so I used Autohauz Az. The springs were a rush order so autozone. It was actually fine before , we removed the 1/3, of broken coil and all was ok. And shocks were good , ok one a bit loose. I wish I did nothing !
and now I have squeaks !
I just checked fcpeuro.com (for your GLK) and they have a few options for struts (including the Bilstein B4 and B6, Mercedes (Sachs) but at Mercedes prices, and a loaded strut from Arnott (don't have a clue about that one). Rockauto has all the options. Springs are a bit harder to come by but they're available - depending on the option (like 4Matic vs. base, or sports suspension or not). Again, I'd no doubt go with a used spring from an "identical" GLK to avoid any change in ride height or characteristics. I don't know if your GLK is 4Matic or base, but there are a couple pairs of very nice springs there for a 4Matic for around $120 a pair, shipped. Kind of a no-brainer, even if they cost more than the Autozone "new springs"...
FWIW, I just swapped my rear shocks (4Matic, sports suspension) with Bilstein B4 shocks, and it's great - quiet and controlled.
Wow habby good idea , put the same nice worn springs back on! Thank you . When I was looking Fcp was out of a lot of parts . But broken in worn are the best way to go .
Wow habby good idea , put the same nice worn springs back on! Thank you . When I was looking Fcp was out of a lot of parts . But broken in worn are the best way to go .
Yeah, you CAN go with used, non-rusty springs, which will ride exactly like your original springs did before they rusted and broke, and they won't change your ride height. The vast majority of cars on the road will make that last, long trip to the boneyard with their original springs, because they'll still be working like they did when they were new.
Or you can go to Autozone, spend more, and get a harsh ride and 1-2" ride height increase.
I followed habbys idea and am looking at a clean set of used eBay springs for 120, that’s probably the route ! Getting Autozone to do anything would probably be unproductive.
I think most all my problems are the wrong springs , it rides 1-2” higher , that made my front suspension squeak , it’s all new a few years ago , lights need re aiming , and bad ride I thought tires were the roughness . Auto zone has 3 month free return I think . New springs are used Glk coming from eBay , what a headache . It was fine with a small piece broken , it will be near 1000 for my stupidity, everyone said “replace springs “ yea bs 😡
I too had broken rear springs. About 1 turn off one side and at least two turns off the other. I'm sure if I'd continued driving it something else would have eventually broken. Besides, the noises were embarrassing.
I too ordered Sachs springs When I installed them and went for an alignment, the shop told me they were too tall. Didn't give me a measurement, just said it was "off the scale". Said something about never buying anything other than Genuine Mercede$.
I measured all the important dimensions of the new springs, and the old ones as best as I could, given they were broken. They were virtually identical. (Free length, number of coils, wire diameter, spring diameter: all the things you plug into the formula to calculate spring rate.)
I looked in WIS to see how to check the rear height. You measure the angles of the rear drive axles. I didn't have the sophisticated tools or a flat table, but I estimated the measurements to be on the high side but within the allowed range. I don't know how it compares to a car with OEM springs because as far as I can tell, mine were broken for quite some time.
Yes I bought Sachs also. I thought I was buying MB factory springs ! The squeaks now worry me , things are being stressed, it rides bad , headlights don’t go very far now . I hope I bought old factory springs ! They said they are.
how can you know. I hope these new - old springs are not another mistake I make.
I hope I bought old factory springs ! They said they are.
how can you know.
The factory springs have color coded bands on them. Mine are were violet/white/blue, obvious even though they were rusted through. Not sure what yours would be given it's a 350 instead of a 250. I checked an arbitrary 2015 GLK350 and they were the same code.
If there's a good picture on eBay I'll take a look and tell you if the markings look the same.
If you have option code 485 then that should be what is installed. There are a couple of pairs on eBay that look pretty good, and a couple that are pretty bad... Also some really cheap copies.
How do I find code485, I didn’t buy Glk new. I gave the eBay guy my vin , he said they are correct . I thought there was only one type available. I know the eBay guy might just want to move a spring set . This is a lot of aggravation for a simple spring ! Thanks 😀
