Quote:
Originally Posted by mbzman
I don't believe any of the shocks are leaking. There is a bit more body roll than I would like. I was thinking after 22 years they could do with replacement. I don't really know what one of these cars drove like when new so it is hard to compare. Perhaps I will wait a bit longer before I replace them. When I do need to replace them I will go with the Bilstein Comforts. The dealer wants well into the three figures to do an alignment (even on special). There is a local shop with the latest equipment that can do it for much less.
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Chances are you don't need new shocks. High pressure deCarbon shocks don't slowly degrade like conventional shocks. They maintain their damping characteristics until end of life and then completely fail. This is often evidenced by a significant oil spill from the shock.
"Shock absorbers" is a misnomer. They are dampers that provide a resisting force proportional to velocity. They don't have anything to do with steady state body roll.
Find a dip in the road and hit it at speed. If the car rebounds without significant oscillation, the shocks are okay. Mercedes (base suspensions on most models) uses relatively soft springs and modest anti-roll bars. Jounce/rebound travel is very generous and the damping rates are well chosen for normal road speeds. That's why they have such a good reputation for ride and handling - swallowing huge bumps and dips that send a lot of cars bouncing off the jounce and rebound bumpers.
I had the RF strut completely fail on my '88 190E 2.6 circa 1993 after the warranty expired. It left a puddle of oil on the ground, and it was clear that the oil came from the strut. In addition it was obvious that the RF had no damping. I replaced the strut with an OE replacement from Bilstein, which looks exactly like the original, and it was easy to replace because you don't have to deal with the spring. The other three are original.
The sudden onset of severe front end shimmy is often a result of a failed steering damper, which is also a high pressure deCarbon type damper, and failure is often evidenced by loss of oil. It's easly to disconnect one end and test it for resistance. I've had to replace my steering damper twice, but it's relatively inexpensive and easy to R&I.
Duke