SL-Class (R230) 2003 -- 2012: Discussion on the SL500, SL550, SL600

SL/R230: LOWERING LINKS ?

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Old 05-13-2009, 07:10 PM
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So who's Ride/wife would this be



Old 05-13-2009, 07:26 PM
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His wifes head hard into the headboard nightly!!
Originally Posted by m4xm1l10n
So who's Ride/wife would this be



My ride. My wife. We are sitting I it right now on bcferry on my iphone coming back from victoia,bc. Went and gf abed my passport w/jammers and my lidatek le30 jammers to get installed
Old 05-13-2009, 10:15 PM
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Originally Posted by VendettaMB
My ride. My wife. We are sitting I it right now on bcferry on my iphone coming back from victoia,bc. Went and gf abed my passport w/jammers and my lidatek le30 jammers to get installed
LOL -- ok, ok, looking at the typos, I think you need to get your attention off the headlights and back to the road....
Old 05-13-2009, 10:23 PM
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His wifes head hard into the headboard nightly!!
Originally Posted by mlandis
LOL -- ok, ok, looking at the typos, I think you need to get your attention off the headlights and back to the road....
its the damn iphone! lol
Old 05-13-2009, 10:44 PM
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hold up !! that photo is your wife ? the actual wife you were mombuling on your last post lol

Last edited by m4xm1l10n; 05-14-2009 at 08:41 AM.
Old 05-13-2009, 11:08 PM
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His wifes head hard into the headboard nightly!!
Originally Posted by m4xm1l10n
So who's Ride/wife would this be



Originally Posted by m4xm1l10n
hold up !! that photo is your wife ? the actual wife you wer mombuling your last post lol
that's correct. Wife,my old lady, all of the above.
Old 05-14-2009, 12:45 AM
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Originally Posted by VendettaMB
that's correct. Wife,my old lady, all of the above.
Um, m4xm1l10n, I think you need to work on those mouth exercises. Your foot needs to fit somehow...
Old 05-14-2009, 08:43 AM
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Originally Posted by mlandis
Um, m4xm1l10n, I think you need to work on those mouth exercises. Your foot needs to fit somehow...
HAHA Here u go again . Man i could never thought the guy would actually post his old lady pics with a drop like that lol HHAHAHA !!!! Well since you at it where is the rest of the pictures ?


Last edited by m4xm1l10n; 05-14-2009 at 08:46 AM.
Old 05-14-2009, 01:55 PM
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His wifes head hard into the headboard nightly!!
Originally Posted by m4xm1l10n
HAHA Here u go again . Man i could never thought the guy would actually post his old lady pics with a drop like that lol HHAHAHA !!!! Well since you at it where is the rest of the pictures ?

on my phone! lol
Old 05-24-2009, 05:08 AM
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Back to the scheduled program... I received my lowering links today and was able to install them in about 1 hour.

I didn't have to remove my tires, just jacked up one wheel, popped out the stock link, popped in the new one. Took a few tries to get the height correct. Dropped it 1" in the front and 3/4" in the back. Thinking about dropping it another .25" in the front.





Attached Thumbnails LOWERING LINKS ?-lowered.jpg   LOWERING LINKS ?-lowered1.jpg   LOWERING LINKS ?-lowered2.jpg   LOWERING LINKS ?-lowered3.jpg   LOWERING LINKS ?-lowered4.jpg  


Last edited by neomonkey; 05-24-2009 at 05:15 AM.
Old 05-24-2009, 05:12 AM
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Last edited by neomonkey; 05-24-2009 at 05:16 AM.
Old 05-24-2009, 01:56 PM
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Neomonkey, I have links on order that should arrive this coming week. May I ask how much longer at front and shorter at rear you went with the new links to produce the drops you quoted and show in the photos?
Old 05-24-2009, 02:37 PM
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Originally Posted by cyberay
Neomonkey, I have links on order that should arrive this coming week. May I ask how much longer at front and shorter at rear you went with the new links to produce the drops you quoted and show in the photos?
On the fronts I went 5mm longer. On the rears I went 3-4mm shorter.

You should do it on a totally level surface. The easiest way to do this is to measure the height of your wheel well on all 4 surfaces. Mine were 71cm high. Then install the links and measure them again. Mine ended up around 69cm, but it changed a few mm depending on how I parked on my driveway since it was sloped slightly.
Old 05-24-2009, 02:58 PM
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Originally Posted by m4xm1l10n
It says on the instruction sheet !!!! Here is a picture of arrow showing side up .

I think I placed one of my links upside down. But can someone explain to me why this matters at all? I know the instructions same to put the longer side up but I can not figure out why this would even matter???
Old 05-24-2009, 03:02 PM
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Neomonkey, thanks for the info. Previously I had taken the measurements you suggest. Converted to metric, the wheelwell height is 68.9cm front and 69.5cm rear. The car is an 09 SL550. I would like to reach 67.3 both front and rear. That would mean a reduction of 16mm front and 22mm rear. If I use your experience as a benchmark, lengthening the front link by 4mm and shortening the rear link 5mm should get me there. Do you agree with this calculation?

I will do it in my garage which has a very slight slope of approximately 1" over 24' front to rear. Thanks again.
Old 05-24-2009, 03:08 PM
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I haven't received my links yet but as for placing the long part of the link at the top, the only reason I can think of is to make it easier to adjust, especially in the rear, as the jam nut would be more accessible. There shouldn't be a clearance issue and I believe the inserts at either end are the same as well.
Old 05-24-2009, 03:42 PM
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Originally Posted by neomonkey
I think I placed one of my links upside down. But can someone explain to me why this matters at all? I know the instructions same to put the longer side up but I can not figure out why this would even matter???
Well it is hard to answer this question, but it seems that matters. I installed my links 2 months ago, at first try i made the same mistake and ABC went wrong, after installing it in the right way everything went perfect.

But time to time I get this ABC warning message on my board computer, just don't know why... Not in red, yellow color, just in ordinary blue/white color as manually it is. Anyone knows what it could be? It says to check vehicle...
Old 05-24-2009, 08:52 PM
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Sounds weird Arty , as i have never had and error on mine . How low did you go ?
Old 05-24-2009, 10:38 PM
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Originally Posted by VendettaMB
that's correct. Wife,my old lady, all of the above.
damn u posted a pic of ur wife like that lol,

what nationality is she?
Old 05-25-2009, 04:02 AM
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Originally Posted by cyberay
Neomonkey, thanks for the info. Previously I had taken the measurements you suggest. Converted to metric, the wheelwell height is 68.9cm front and 69.5cm rear. The car is an 09 SL550. I would like to reach 67.3 both front and rear. That would mean a reduction of 16mm front and 22mm rear. If I use your experience as a benchmark, lengthening the front link by 4mm and shortening the rear link 5mm should get me there. Do you agree with this calculation?

I will do it in my garage which has a very slight slope of approximately 1" over 24' front to rear. Thanks again.
That sounds good, measuring mm in pretty tough. You are limited to the threading, so its a matter of starting at what you think is correct and then going by number of turns after that.

If you already know where the links are, you'll see that adjusting it is very easy. I made both of mine about 10 mm longer. I installed them and it was too low. So then and took them out and counted the number of turns. Installed again, then uninstalled and adjusted a few turns.

Once you do this, you'll get a feel as to what one turn will do to your ride height.

I used the Mercedes jack and I would be able to jack up a side, pop out the link, adjust it and reinstall the link in about 1 minute.
Old 05-25-2009, 04:13 AM
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Originally Posted by m4xm1l10n
Sounds weird Arty , as i have never had and error on mine . How low did you go ?
Well, as I remember I went down like 6mm in front 7mm in back. If my mind don't get me wrong...

Maybe an issue is ABC fault because of it's long use term, already...? But anyways, as I take my car back to the highest position, stay for 15sec and get to normal it works fine.

Once I came back to my car and one side of it was a little bit higher, so I made the same process with height and it came back to normal again...

Don't know, I'm a little bit confused about this ABC, because as I read lots of threads here it is an expensive s*it.. And I have got no warranty..
Old 05-25-2009, 12:14 PM
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That sounds good, measuring mm in pretty tough. You are limited to the threading, so its a matter of starting at what you think is correct and then going by number of turns after that.

If you already know where the links are, you'll see that adjusting it is very easy. I made both of mine about 10 mm longer. I installed them and it was too low. So then and took them out and counted the number of turns. Installed again, then uninstalled and adjusted a few turns.

Once you do this, you'll get a feel as to what one turn will do to your ride height.

I used the Mercedes jack and I would be able to jack up a side, pop out the link, adjust it and reinstall the link in about 1 minute.


I'm using a floor jack and will be able to do the same.

From what I can tell, the pitch of the screw is 1mm so each full turn will change the overall length by 1mm. From postings and from speaking to John at Adjustable Air Ride, a 1mm length change of the link will cause a 1/8" change in ride height. This is useful info for somebody like me who hasn't done this before.

I have a minor concern about the plastic sensor arm and whether it can be broken if the link is hard to disconnect. Maybe it should be supported with pliers when doing this?
Old 05-25-2009, 02:14 PM
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Originally Posted by cyberay
I have a minor concern about the plastic sensor arm and whether it can be broken if the link is hard to disconnect. Maybe it should be supported with pliers when doing this?
I never felt that this arm was in danger of breaking.

I did it the same the instructions said, I put an adjustable wrench on the link, you are using the wrench like pliers. Then twisted the part off at the top joint first by turning the link. I did not pull the link off the ball, rather torqued it off.
Old 05-25-2009, 03:12 PM
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I'm sure you're right. I'll twist it off like everyone else did without a problem. Btw, you're car looks real good.

Did you bother to remove any of your wheels for the instrallation or adjustments?
Old 05-26-2009, 03:37 AM
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Originally Posted by cyberay
I'm sure you're right. I'll twist it off like everyone else did without a problem. Btw, you're car looks real good.

Did you bother to remove any of your wheels for the instrallation or adjustments?
I just realized that I've been posting in this thread under 2 names: biophase = neomonkey Hope I didn't confuse anyone. My work computer and home computer cookies are different so I log in as different people. And since I have it autologin I never noticed it until right now.

Anyway, to answer your question I did not have to remove any tires at all.

Just jack up the fronts enough until you can clearly see the link.

On the backs I jacked it up about 7". Lay down, slightly under the car and then reach behind the tire to get to the link. (Make sure you put something else to hold up the car, don't just rely on the jack) You can only see about half of the link. You can't see the lower ball, but you can get to the top one and twist off. It's a little tight doing the back, I had to use a pair of pliers to twist it off.


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