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To the people that have lifted their ML's to fit 33"+ tyres. What have you done to correct the camber issues. I have indexed the front bars 2 teeth and fitted 20mm spacers on the rear. The wheels look to have fairly aggressive camber (tyre shop couldn't print me a copy of the alignment and I was in a rush to get to my holiday).
To the people that have lifted their ML's to fit 33"+ tyres. What have you done to correct the camber issues. I have indexed the front bars 2 teeth and fitted 20mm spacers on the rear. The wheels look to have fairly aggressive camber (tyre shop couldn't print me a copy of the alignment and I was in a rush to get to my holiday).
k-mac-camber-kits.com had a complete set of bushes to correct camber for my ML320 that has been lifted. The bushes are excellent quality but the tool provided was not the best. Some bleeding involved.
Thanks for the reply. Went to a better tyre shop for another alignment. They got the camber to about -1.2 degrees but they say it should be more like -0.5 degrees each side. I'll look into those K-Mac bushes.
This thing has been so much fun and it gets all the attention on the trail. Not just because it's the only Mercedes most have seen out here in the mountains but because of how well it does and has been the recovery vehicle on countless occasions.
Front was made by Brandon Shaffner - Aurelius Mercedes. He was supposed to do the rear as well but wasn't able to. I designed and made the rear myself with the help of a local metal shop. I though Brandon having a ML to do all the design work was a good idea but in hindsight, I wish I would have done the front myself as well. The rear is perfect whereas the front has imperfections. Still a very good effort though.
Thanks, would you be kind enough to send me a few pics of both bumpers as I live up in Canada and would show the pics to a metal fab shop so they would have an idea how to go about making them. I have a 2000 ML 430 with only 28,000 miles and want it to look like yours!
Beautiful car. If mine was that clean and low mileage I would have left it as is. Mine was a family hauler that got neglected and left outside to rot and I brought it back to life.
Actually I haven't touch the torsion bars (yet)... changed the springs, shock absorbers, and fit the spacers under the back springs (made in a lathe) to raise the height. The size of the rims and the tires help a lot to gain height.
The pictures look great! What springs and shock absorbers did you getting?
List of parts on my ML320 lift. Bilstein front shocks 25-187618. Mount kit for shocks. 11-176015. Bilstein rear shocks B6. 24-029858. King Springs Australia rear springs. OTC rear shock spacers. Torsion bar pads spf2844k Australia but available in USA. Hope this helps someone. Not sure if anyone has done a body lift on this forum. I would like to know if this affects the steering column. All Bilstein parts from Amazon. Thanks. Phil.
If you will search for legit street cars on YouTube he has a video of body lifting his ml55 (they used hockey pucks)!! Great to see them do it and take notes!! Infinite blessings
I wouldn't touch that ML430 with such a low mileage - if you look after it and keep the mileage down in another 20 years it will be very rare indeed and one of the few MLs to make into posterity as most of them are trashed now!
Remarkable that this thread is almost twenty years old and still active. I have a 2001 ML320 which I have been using as a daily driver for perhaps 15 years, We are moving from the States to Central America where the roads are a bit less...how you say...predictable. I have been doing a lot of body work (see pics) to preserve the exterior, but would appreciate any suggestions as to how to make this car more off-road friendly. I don't need it to be a rock climber, but dealing with harsh, sometimes washed-out roads is the goal. The cheaper and simpler, the better. Thanks.
The cheapest and simplest improvement is just to fit good all terrain tyres like BF Goodrich KO2s. They are still expensive though and would be more than $200 each I guess. They are not noisy on tarmac and would be capable in poor road conditions and last quite a long time too. Some say you can fit 265/75/16 tyres without rubbing or needing a lift or spacers but if your country's testing regulations are strict, like in UK, any rubbing at all on full lock is not accepted. A full size spare would be handy if you went larger than stock size. Any sort of lift will be expensive and badly affects the ride and handling. Other types of vehicle seem more suited to off road mods, or have more ground clearance to start with, like a Landcruiser, but that might be heretical!
List of parts on my ML320 lift. Bilstein front shocks 25-187618. Mount kit for shocks. 11-176015. Bilstein rear shocks B6. 24-029858. King Springs Australia rear springs. OTC rear shock spacers. Torsion bar pads spf2844k Australia but available in USA. Hope this helps someone. Not sure if anyone has done a body lift on this forum. I would like to know if this affects the steering column. All Bilstein parts from Amazon. Thanks. Phil.
This thing has been so much fun and it gets all the attention on the trail. Not just because it's the only Mercedes most have seen out here in the mountains but because of how well it does and has been the recovery vehicle on countless occasions. Watch is kick *** in the snow
did you body lift any too?
Last edited by ChrisVannoy; Jul 20, 2021 at 09:43 PM.
personally I don't think the ML or the X5 or the RX was ever meant to go off road. I think they were just meant to be a stylish mini van. I really don't know anyone who takes their utes off road. I do know people who take their landrover disco's and defenders off roading.
this is probably why you don't see these trucks lifted... also if someone wants to go off roading, i don't think the ML or the RX are going to be their first thoughts
my bad if i offended any of the hardcore ML fans..this is just my 2 cents.
I've been using mine to go to so many places for about a year now. The larger tires help a lot as do indexing the torsion bars for lift and the rear strut plates. My car is quite heavy with all the gear and the rear springs are getting upgraded. The current springs, despite being new Bilstein units are not able to handle the weight and the bottom three coils actually sit on top of each other. I finally found the correct heavy duty springs and they are coming to me from Germany very soon. If I could do it all over again I'd use the W163 chassis for a similar project but I would want a ML500 or ML55. With all the weight, the V6 struggles a bit. I've upgraded to the V8 hubs/discs/calipers. Compared to any Toyota or Jeep I've driven, these cars are really comfortable and quite durable actually. I really don't know where all the ML horror stories come from. It'd be good to change control arms with worn bushings or ball joints. I carry spares with me - things like an extra fuel pump, water hoses, belt, tensioner, pulley, fuses and relays etc.
One thing I may do is to change the ten chassis mount rubber bushings. They are 20 years old by now. And I may even do a one inch body lift by using two mounts with a longer bolt.
Someone asked about my bumpers. They're all custom made. You can't just walk into a 4x4 shop and pick anything up for these cars off the shelf.
Even if I didn't want an expedition vehicle, I would make these chassis upgrades to the ML and use it as a really capable off road truck.
Gary
Last edited by gkrumian; Jul 19, 2021 at 12:15 PM.
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