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Old 03-16-2012, 01:25 PM
Palolo Palolo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by socalbenz View Post
Jack one corner of the car up even the slightest bit and it ballances on the jack and the diagonally opposite jack stand. Almost no flex in the chassis at all.
It is the difference between that "slightest bit of lifting" when comparing MB car eras. My guess is that if one could see the difference in stiffness, you have chassis problems.

I believe he was referring to the "increase" in chassis stiffness (from one era of Benz to another) which is measured in lbft/degree (force needed per degree of twist) and we can't really tell by eye unless comparing really disparate vehicles (say an MG TC and a Benz 124 or Cabriolet/Sedan versions of the same car) since a car twisting an extra degree but requiring another 1000-2000lbft to get that twist wouldn't be evident. When the 123 came out, Benz touted the incredible increase in chassis stiffness, and then when the 124 came out, again, they touted another incredible increase in chassis stiffness. Somewhere, engineers were celebrating unseen degrees of movement (or lack thereof).

Coincidentally, I also have a very unstiff-chassis Mercedes, by design: a 1966 Unimog 411. Its chassis has triangulated mounts and circular floating cross members to allow for torsional twist. When I get back to see it, I will try the jack stand test to see how it does.
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