Hi Woody,
I'm right in the middle of chopping and changing the rear strut and trailing arm from a scrap 123 ambulance onto my 240td. I think that the stuff about weighting the car down when reinstalling only applies if you're using version 1: "Upper suspension of spring struts of 1 st version (up
to August 1982) consists of ball shell rubber mounts.
Assemble only at level specified for loaded vehicle!
If this assembly instruction is not complied with,
distortion of bearing and thereby of spring strut
piston rod involves the risk of rattling noises and
early wear both of bearing as well as of the spring
strut itself."
I take this to read that version 2 struts can be refitted more or less like a conventional shocker.. but if I mess up I'll let ya know!
I've also read that the struts don't change.. but I've got two slightly different ones on the bench here: 1 is like shown in the manual, the other has a threaded rod that takes a nut at the top and the hydraulic connections are different too....right now I can't remove the recessed allen headed bolt holding in the upper mount... why didn't they use a nut?
Take care
Giles