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I originally bought this ML as a daily beater in Jan 2019 as a daily beater for just $1k. It was seriously neglected but I after looking up part prices and finding that they were not very expensive at all to fix and maintain I decided to pull the trigger and pick it up. I was in it $1,000 and about $500 in parts including engine mounts, fan clutch, window switches, headlights, tail lights, heater door control valve, ABS sensors, valve body conductor plate and all new fluids. It got a heavy cleaning inside and out. Then it got driven.
Day 1
Since the day I got it, I was rolling around the idea that it may do well off road especially snow which is the funnest. Independent front and rear suspension would give it great ground clearance. The 268hp 4.3 V8 would be plenty sufficient to host a set of 33s. The transfer case has a selectable LOW range.
It wasn't until October that I started to scratch the itch to build another off road rig. I was looking at 33" tires for a few weeks but couldn't commit to the purchase. Then a friend offered me a set of used 34s for $100! Hell yeah I took em!
Brings us into November and one of the cheap little tires that came with it decided to blow out a mile from home. Limped it home, tore all the wheels off, took all the baby tires and the 34s to the tire shop in the wife LR4. Long story short, I had no lift, and was able to get the 34s (315/70/17) on by removing the inner fender wells and hammering the rear a bit. They "fit" and I was able to get to work in the morning but they rubbed pretty bad on every bump. The mods were about to start kicking off.
34s on no lift
I made a set of 1" spacers for the rear, found one of the rear springs was broken so replaced all 4 corners with factory spec shocks and struts for $300. I got the spacers in and cranked the torsion bars to the max and that's how she sits now.
What good are off road tires if the ESP can't be turned off? I had the 3 lights of death on since I bought it and finally dug into the repair which was new brushes for the ABS motor and a Lateral Acceleration Sensor.
Used some more left over steel and got started on the rear bumper. Again, keeping as close to the body as possible only leaving a half inch of space between the body and tubes to allow for body flex. And yes, wiring got cleaned up and rear camera re-mounted.
Rear Bumper lower portion done
Had no projects going on so got bored and started on the Front winch bumper. I used the measurements from the big winch manufacturers to build it with the winch tucked as far in as possible so it would look good and not create approach angle problems. Front bumper done and 35s on
Before I got a chance to really test the off road capabilities, the used Mastercraft 34s, the rear ones got so bad that they had the rear end walking around on me in the corners so in concern of safety I found a cheap set of new 35s because go big or go home! Another $1000 in the project and I had a set of 35/12.50R17 Federal Coragias.
2020 brought us a big snow storm so I got a buddy in a 4Runner that I built to come with us to go play in the fresh powder in the Sierras, which are less than an hour away. It performed well but still has some meat on the bone. I was only down to 10psi in the tires as this was the first time with them. Target is 4psi to really get some traction. And 2 issues getting power to the ground. 1. Having open diffs sucks. 2. The ESP was OFF but would still interfere if I lost traction from a start. Blinky light, ABS pump trying to stop the spinning wheels but not working in the situation I was in. We were on a uphill slope that also banked to one side. If I really throttled it, the thing just wanted to fall sideways which is not where we wanted to be. Both of those are in the works.
Good place for the kids to sled Bashing through the snow Winch mounted
Expect to see some more progress on the ML4Dirty build. Skid plates, sliders, rear swing out tire/fuel carriers, better roof rack and rear locker or welded diff.
khomer2 - thanks! I can't wait to start on the rear swing outs. The front bumper and winch added about 100lbs. The rear probably weighs the same right now but will have another 100-150lbs hanging out there once complete.
Have damage to both my front and rear bumpers (Here in Australia) and have been thinking about similar mods for years.
Now might be the time. From what I can gather, nobody seems to be able to find https://www.benzworld.org/members/tonk.296376/ or anything about his ML http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB...p?f=10&t=60073
Are you keeping any details of your build?
Would really like to copy (if that's OK with you) what you have done.
Cheers,
Henry
ps Thank you to @khomer2 for bring my attention to this!
Let me start by saying, I'm extremely impressed with your ML build. Super nice, very clean, and appears to be quite functional. I was very happy to have discovered your site (https://benzoffroad.com/) and Youtube channel as well. I've been curious about improving the off road capability of my own 2002 ML500 and have a lot of questions around the products you sell and the lift specs on your ML. If you have the time, I'm hoping you can share some of your knowledge on the following questions:
1) HDP Rear Lift Spacers 1" - Is this the only modification of the rear suspension needed to fit 35" tires?
2) What size wheel spacers would you recommend for running 35x12.5xr17 tires on factory 17x8.5 OEM Mercedes wheels?
3) Will adjusting the front torsion bars to max allow for the fitment of 35" tires or is there any fender trimming needed?
4) In one of your recent videos you decided to go with 97 Toyota 4runner Rancho RS9000 rear shocks (13.5" compressed 20.5" decompressed) to replace the front shocks on the ML after the lift. Would you still recommend these and what shocks would you recommend for the rear?
5) With 35" tires - were you able to re-calibrate the speedometer to view the correct speed reading? Is this done via the computer or is there a mechanical speedo gear in the transfer case?
6) With 35" tires - have you had any issues with ESP, ABS, or the 4ETS traction control system? I noticed you do an ABS motor rebuild, do these tend to burn out quicker with larger tires?
7) Front bumper "Light Guard" option - Is this optional bar work to protect the head lights or is it something else?
8) Front bumper winch recommendation - From the photos it looks like you’re running a 12,000 X-Bull winch with synthetic line - I’m assuming this is because of the 4,874lbs OEM curb weight of the W163. Have you had any issues with the X-Bull winch in hairy situations?
9) Rear bumper - I don’t currently see it in your store for sale, but are you anticipating selling a final version of the rear bumper shown in some of your videos and photos?
10) Have you had any issues with busted CV shafts?
11) Do you have any knowledge on available differential lock solutions for the W163 or has the 4ETS system been adequate?
12) Have you done any transmission fluid temperature monitoring and/or considered adding an external trans temp cooler?
Cool stuff on this thread. Funny to see the multiple 4Runner mentions. I had a Gen 4 4Runner for a long time, and participated in the 4Runner fora. When I started reading this thread I felt like I was on the 4Runner site.
Really keen on your build. I've just picked up a ML270 and completed the lift (just need camber correction now). I researched front shocks as I heard that the Hilux ones may allow too much down travel. I found that Toyota Landcruiser 100 series IFS model front shocks basically bolt in (with some washer modification) and are for a much heavier vehicle. I can attest that the front of the ML feels so much better and handles rough roads/offroad with a lot more control.
Just need to sort out better shocks for the rear now.
Next plan is for camber correction and then get started on front and rear bars for better clearance and body protection.
Dang I love this build. Ive been watching your youtube videos and missing home. You are in Penn Valley? I grew up in Colfax area.
I have an '04 Ml350 which is my daily now and Ive got the itch to mod it, unfortunately there is nowhere to go off-roading here in Central Illinois.
01-31-2020, 03:42 AM
