300D 85--Are my rear springs too low, what should I do?
 

Does anyone have a spec for rear spring height (say rear bumper to ground, etc.)? I think my rear springs are riding low after 320K miles. Whats the best way to fix this problem? Buy new springs ( I already have new Bilsteins) ? Or use those rubber cups to raise the car?

16.5" from floor to bottom of rear bumper

Wow, how did you know that?
 

Did you replace yours? Was it worth the trouble? we were up in New England this weekend, my daughter was driving and I was sleeping like a Baby in the back seat with a blanket on me , all stretched out , when we started to hear a horrendous sound at 2 am and when it was raining bad and hard. I was woken up by the words..."....Daddddddddddddd" and soon i was out in the rain with the car jacked up--turns out the exhaust was hitting the pilot shaft or something,

I have no idea when or even if the springs were replaced. The car sits level and looks the same as the pictures in the original sales literature so I'm assuming its correct or pretty close.

My SDL does the same thing. I measure from the road to the inside of the fender well. The front is 28". The rear is 25" on a good day. No way the rubber bushing is going to make this up. New springs are the only way to go once it gets this bad.

I'm not sure new springs is necessarily the answer. I installed new springs in my 240D and it's still way too low in the rear (or maybe its too high in the front). I have changed ALL the suspension rubber on that car (except the diff mount and I'll be doing that soon as well) so I'd like to know the answer too! Maybe I need spring pads? It still seems "soft" in the rear - unlike the 300D that has a definite wedge appearance.

First off, if you had any hint of how few miles makers of automobiles considered normal life for springs you would faint. I am going to be conservative and say ' less than 100,000 miles' .... although what I had read 30 years ago was almost half that.

There will be specs for four places on the underside of your car which are meant to be used on a flat pad to determine if your car is sitting at the right height.

Some honest/good front end alignment places have those specs and will refuse to align the car if they don't meet them because they know they can not set the alignment properly until the car is at the correct height... but these days few are that honest and/or knowledgeable.

Those specs should be in one of the two ' 123 chassis manuals '.

A good 'spring shop' may also have specs for the proper lenght the springs should be after rearching... but that is clearly in the 123 chassis manual also..and I have posted pictures of that chart in the past. At least for the wagon if my memory serves...

The MB springs are even more prone to needing rearching or replacement than normal springs because they used more smaller wire and more coils to get the luxury ride for the same amount of weight. This is the reason you need a special spring puller to get them out... very closely spaced coils.

In other words, New springs, or rearched springs are the answer... however, MB new spring cost is comparatively low.... so I would opt for new springs...

Then you can look to see if the associated rubber needs to be tweaked to make it sit level. But remember, unless you have Self Leveling on your car you have to choose for ' level' at a certain weight of load inside the car.... including the trunk.

Well, I could put 205 Tires in the rear
 

and 195 tires in the front...

The difference in ride height from the tire change is about 1/4 of an inch. Remember that you only get the benefit from the increase in radius (not diameter).

It won't come close to compensating for weak springs, but, I'm quite sure you already know this. :D

Sagged springs also have a different ' spring rate'... in addition to a different ride height.
At 300K plus miles New Springs are the answer.

When I replaced my rear shocks with the Bilstein comforts, the rear went up slightly. Keep in mind that NEW rear shocks will exhibit an upward pressure of about 50lbs per shock.

Dump your average 11 year old in the trunk and measure the ride height reduction. That will be the ride height INCREASE after you change out your old and worn shocks (besure to remove the 11yo :D ).

I can tell by looking at my 300D that the rear is lower than the front. The ride and handling seem good, but it doesn't look quite right.

As I'm planning on storing the car for the winter, would it work out if I jack up the rear end and just let the springs relax for the winter? Just wondering if the springs may go back to their correct length on their own.

Dave

'76 300D W115 "Pearl"

Carrameow it is not just how low the car sits, it is how it sits. Do your rear wheels squat out? I have seen a few MB with the rear camber(sp?) way off that were sitting low. The inside edge of the rear tires should show more wear.

My rear went up slightly when I did the rear subframe mounts.

At over 300k miles I think new springs, and as many new bushings as you can replace would solve the problem.

Yes,Mr Hatteras Guy, springs would help ...
 

miracously the car survived running 87mph with no water pump for 30 minutes plus, it seems fine. I put the belts back on nice and loose this time with plenty of play so i wont sheer the crankshaft pulley again...so maybe one of these days I will get around to taking a shot at the springs...even though I said i was Phasing this approach to transportation and life out and I go to pick up the Corolla--which as you guess it will go to my teenager and wife anyway---
maintaining four used cars each with 150 k plus as a full time transportation/ motor pool was too much..........the one that really killed me was the wife's Volvo breaking down in mahnhattan witha plugged catalytic--I had to drive up to the City and retrieve the car at 3 am and break the exhaust bolts before the city towed it

I understand what you are saying I am getting tired of always working on my SDL as well.

How is the new Corrolla? Their nice little cars but they grew! The new ones are almost as big as my 1993 Camry was!

Are you going to keep one of your MB? If you have the room they do make a good weekend car.