SL/R230: LOWERING LINKS ?
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Joined: May 2010
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SL65
You can adjust the links to any height you want. Obviously if you slam the car so low it will barely drive, you'll have excessive camber/outer tire wear, rub over bumps, and every other known issue related to being too low (including a dash error of car too low). A more reasonable (yet lowered) ride height with alignment at the final height should minimize any issues.
My 2 cents
My 2 cents
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 69
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03 SL500
Anyone else have their lowered car seem to raise after time goes by. When I first lowered it I had probably <1" tire clearance. Now it's about 1.5". It seems like my car is now higher than it was before after a year.
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From: Pinehurst, NC
2022 AMG SL 63. 2021 APR stage 1 Audi SQ7.
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 46
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From: Montgomery, AL
99 Corvette (heavily modded), 2018 Sonata Sport, 2016 Silverado 2500HD LTZ, 62 Nova Pro Street
I've already done the wheels and am not sure if I can use the lowering links as the front aftermarket wheels I put on are .7 of an inch taller than the stock wheels/tires. If you feel your hand on the inside of the tire at the top of the front wheels, there's only about 3/8 inch clearance from the end of the suspension bolt to my tire as it is.
Does anyone know if the links would affect this gap or would the clearance on the suspension bolt be maintained if I used the links to lower it another 1/2 inch or so?
By the way, my tire sizes are 245/40/19 on front (and 285/35/19 on back).
Jon
Does anyone know if the links would affect this gap or would the clearance on the suspension bolt be maintained if I used the links to lower it another 1/2 inch or so?
By the way, my tire sizes are 245/40/19 on front (and 285/35/19 on back).
Jon
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 269
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From: New York
03 SL500(Sold), 09 C300, 11 E550
Brought the 500 into the dealer to get an alignment done today and they told me that it could not be properly aligned because the car is too low? I didn't drop it all that much but they are saying that there is a beam that needs to go under the car that apparently wont fit?
anyone had this issue?
anyone had this issue?
Thread Starter
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BMW F02 (750Li) F10 (550i)
Brought the 500 into the dealer to get an alignment done today and they told me that it could not be properly aligned because the car is too low? I didn't drop it all that much but they are saying that there is a beam that needs to go under the car that apparently wont fit?
anyone had this issue?
anyone had this issue?
No worries man I am going on 15K no tire wear issue .
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 24
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SL500
Once you lower it you can't get the camber correct and your tires will wear out fast.
m4xm1l10n, when you check your tire wear be sure to check the inner tire corners, not the threads. Mine had so much thread left, but when you got it on the lift you could see the inside corners of the tire wearing down to the belts.
I made the mistake of only checking the thread on the inside most thread thinking everything was fine. Turn your wheel facing outward and get under the car and look at the inside walls.
I have some rubbing on my wheel wells, but I'm not sure how it's rubbing. I put a mark on my wheel well with black marker and I can see it getting rubbed off very slowly, like over the course of a year. Maybe its just road grime constantly hitting it??
m4xm1l10n, when you check your tire wear be sure to check the inner tire corners, not the threads. Mine had so much thread left, but when you got it on the lift you could see the inside corners of the tire wearing down to the belts.
I made the mistake of only checking the thread on the inside most thread thinking everything was fine. Turn your wheel facing outward and get under the car and look at the inside walls.
I have some rubbing on my wheel wells, but I'm not sure how it's rubbing. I put a mark on my wheel well with black marker and I can see it getting rubbed off very slowly, like over the course of a year. Maybe its just road grime constantly hitting it??
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 269
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From: New York
03 SL500(Sold), 09 C300, 11 E550
Once you lower it you can't get the camber correct and your tires will wear out fast.
m4xm1l10n, when you check your tire wear be sure to check the inner tire corners, not the threads. Mine had so much thread left, but when you got it on the lift you could see the inside corners of the tire wearing down to the belts.
m4xm1l10n, when you check your tire wear be sure to check the inner tire corners, not the threads. Mine had so much thread left, but when you got it on the lift you could see the inside corners of the tire wearing down to the belts.
So can anyone confirm that there is no way that the camber can be adjusted? not even by the dealer?
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Joined: Feb 2011
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From: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
1971 300SEL 6.3 #4789, 1991 560SEL, 1999 CL600, 2003 S500, 2005 SL500
Help needed
I installed the links on my sl 500 (with 19" wheels) and there is a 1/2" difference in height on the passenger side (higher than driver's side). This 1/2" height difference in on either the front wheel or back wheel. It changes from time to time after I raise the vehicle and re-lower it. For example today the front heights matches but the in the rear I have a 1/2" difference in height. yesterday it was the other way around.
Any ideas how to fix this problem?
Thanks
Steve
Any ideas how to fix this problem?
Thanks
Steve
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Joined: May 2007
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sl55 AMG
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 20
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From: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
1971 300SEL 6.3 #4789, 1991 560SEL, 1999 CL600, 2003 S500, 2005 SL500
Help Needed with Lowering links
I finally got the car lowered to where i want it to be; however i have a problem. every time I drive it and come back and re-measure, the car sits higher by 1/2 - 3/4 inches on all sides. I have to reset it by raising it to the highest setting and re-lowering it in order to go back to the original height I set but it never stays at that height. The minute I drive it out of the garage it goes higher and stays higher than it is supposed to. Anyone had the same problem? Please let me know.
Thanks
Steve
Thanks
Steve
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sl55 AMG
I managed to break one of the small plastic servo legs on the front right f the car taking the OEM link off. For some reason this link was a real ***** the others popped off easily!
I now have to order a new hight servo from Merc. Also I need to tweak the car on a very flat surface to get it at the height I want.
I now have to order a new hight servo from Merc. Also I need to tweak the car on a very flat surface to get it at the height I want.
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Joined: Dec 2004
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I managed to break one of the small plastic servo legs on the front right f the car taking the OEM link off. For some reason this link was a real ***** the others popped off easily!
I now have to order a new hight servo from Merc. Also I need to tweak the car on a very flat surface to get it at the height I want.
I now have to order a new hight servo from Merc. Also I need to tweak the car on a very flat surface to get it at the height I want.
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 9
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2003 SL 500
I'm new here but I am about to do the drop. I unbolted the ball post to avoid breaking the link. I recently purchased a 2003 SL500 and the inner tires are worn through the cord with one blown out and the other ready to go and the car had new tires and was not lowered. I can only figure the alignment was done with the suspenion at the highest setting and since I drive with it at the lowest setting it wore the inner tread. Either that or the alignment guy put exactly the same amount of negative camber on both sides of the car. Now since I am going to have to do an alignment I figured I might as well drop it. I will probably make my own setup as I am in the auto fab business but I'm a bit concerned with all this talk that you can't adjust the camber. I have seen a lot of talk that the camber is not an issue and I can tell you for sure it is on any car. If the tires are running on the inside edge they are gonna wear down and relatively quickly. I've gone through enough sets of tires on dropped cars to know. So if you can't adjust the camber what do you do. I have looked at the upper ball joint and I'm thinking I can make that adjustable.
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Joined: Oct 2011
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2003 SL 500
Here are some pics. I made my own links. I added 6mm to the front and reduced by 4mm in the back
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
By crpdiablos at 2011-12-10
