ABC pump took a big dump today... Zero pressure, car is on the ground. Time to go with coilovers so we can road trip this car without having to worry about needing a tow for the suspension ever again. I keep telling the Mrs we should have gotten a Corvette. These old ones are a headache, but damn, when is runs, it runs good. New ABC pump is $1,300 and there are still plenty of more parts to fail. Strutmaster kit is $1593.31 shipped and never have to worry about it again. I have a neighbor with an SL.. He had a shop put a Strutmaster kit on his and swears by it.

Who's done a Strutmaster kit in the driveway??

 

What about the kit from Ceika? Does anyone have that kit on their car? I'm think Strutmaster is going to be the better option since it's what they do..

 

Strutmaster's are extremely over priced and have zero adjustability compared to the competition. Go with BC or Ceika but just remember, none of these options come with sway bars or power steering conversions.

 

Silver's Neomax and VVK front and rear sway bars. I was there when one of my mechanics installed CEIKA and he and the car's owner would not installed CEIKA again if they did it from start. i strutmasters are not the way to go if you want real adjustability and handling.

 

I had Strutmasters on mine and the ride quality and noise was so bad that I went BACK to abc. Please please please please stay away from strutmasters. So many better options out there.

Neomax has a lot of good reviews and Brandon who lives in Ohio has been installing them for customers for a long time now. He's a good guy and will answer all your questions. People from all over the country are shipping their SL's to him to get Neomax installed. If I ever decide to purchase an SL again, the first I will do is ship it to him to get rid of ABC.

Check out his youtube and hit him up. He's installed hundreds of these by now. he really knows the ends and outs of this car and will install and adjust the new coilovers properly.

https://www.youtube.com/@goldelementautoworks

 

Brandon is a legit dude. i believe this is his side gig and he is or may be a first responder by day.

 

Yea- he knows Mercedes very well. He's built a good reputation. He even has videos installing coilovers in case you want to do it yourself.

He removes the entire ABC system from your car. Pump, lines etc....customers from what I see and hear have been very happy.

 

I did mine in my driveway. Pretty straight forward. I didn't go hard at it and took about 6 hours. Getting the old strut bottom out of arm was tough. I went with strutmaster. The car does not handle corners as well and it's much softer and smoother ride. I don't drive mine hard around corners, just love to launch it. I could use sway bars. But very happy with the confidence my wife and I have to drive it now without worry.

 

Strutmasters are not noisy. I don't need adjustments but just calibrated to the SL500. And A front sway bar makes any handling issues moot.

 

We have a Corvette & still appreciate the SL
now that it has Coilovers & VVK sway bars.

Couple positives not mentioned ditching the ABC are 100-125 lb weight loss, mostly off the front end and the power bump from an AMG PS pump swap over the parasitic draw of the ABC pump
The front end lift? I don’t miss it. It’s not a problem Our car is lowered on 20’s and doesn’t bottom out on large speedbumps

 

What were the issues with the CEIKA setup?

 

the ride quality wasn't there according to my buddy who first installed it on his. that's why i went with Silver's neomax because he did all the research and i just learn from his experiences.

 

how do you like the handling with the VVK sway bars and was it an easy install? (since the VVK sway bars were fabricated using a SL55 r230)

what coilover did you use?

 

I went with Silver's Neo Max coilovers which went on without any trouble. Quality is a little better than a BC of comparable prices.
The upper mounts are engineered to a higher level, specifically on this application. Not to say that the BC's might function just as well
I have BC's on our 86. I've never seen Ceika in person or used them
Nobody mentioned you will need to cut a hole in the trunk carpeting unless you feel like dismantling the best part of the the entire trunk enclosure for mounting and each time you want set the adjusters on the rear
Regardless of the brand.
I found automotive carpeting the was a solid match and now I can remove my foam backed patch whenever needed. You can't even tell it's there.

VVK bars are really nice. The mounts are CNC'd Billet. No noise, just solid fit and work very well.
You have to use an engine support and drop the front subframe to get the bar in place and the rear must be lowered also.

 

One thing i did opt for is the SWIFT spring upgrade on the Silver's Neomax. That install will be the next project. I'm going to remove the hydraulic lines and all the ABC hardware, do it right instead of a half assed install job and have the ABC weight still in the car.

 

We did ours in our own shop. Not a huge deal. But the ride sucks. Tech told me to drive it for a few hundred miles so the springs could settle in. It sat for a month before it came out of the shop so I disagreed, but have driven it anyway. No improvement. Tomorrow I will call again, but since there is no adjustment, I do not think anything can be changed? Can anyone give some advice?

 

strutmaster?

 

"We did ours in our own shop, Tech told me to drive it so the springs can settle in" ???
Huge red flags. ^^
If you are part of this shop you should've been aware that setup is the crudest/cheapest possible suspension available. You did although got what you paid for. A low cost, entry level shock designed only to facilitate a dead suspension removal with no adjustment and a considerably short lifespan.
Whoever the "tech" was also knew it was not up to the chassis level standards but I'm sure his thoughts were; WTH it got the car at least somewhat drivable and out of the shop.

I don't envy You, having the uneasy choice of driving a < enjoyable Mercedes or putting the suspension right (removing the pogo sticks and re install decent coilers/sway bars) to enjoy a sussed out car; Or selling it and let someone else pogo down the road
Good Luck whichever way you go

 

HOPEFULLY YOU WILL OFFER THE LINES TO THOSE OF SUCKERS WHO ARE OPTING TO RESTORE THE ABC. FEW PEOPLE SAVE THEM. I HAVE ALREADY CHANGED ONE.

 

You gotta love a Purist!

 

Reusing 20 year old rubber part that is subject to 3000 psi doesn't seem worth the risk.

 

When 9X% of them have converted to struts the still functioning original ABC cars are going to be worth a lot more. JMO

 

That is an interesting prediction which I don't see happening. When I purchased my 2004 Sl500 I was thrilled knowing I didn't have to spend 2 grand on top of the price of the car to make it a safe reliable car without worries of a collapse on the interstate. Let's face it the car has a terrible reputation with that ABC Suspension. .

 

you picked the wrong car for investment purposes, the only SL cars worth anything after the 60s are low mileage cars. The rest aren’t worth much

 

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