Want 71 wrote, "wols, and SDL should have 15" tires. The stock size is 205/65/15. Brian's are one size up. Why would you want 14" tires? especially on such a large car? I think 15s are too small personally. A 17" would fit nicely to the eye."

Yes, SDL came with 15" standard size. I didn't mean to imply in any way that he should go to 14 inch wheels...just that my 300sd has 14's oem. I would like to get some 15 inch bundtcakes myself. Personally, I'm a little bit tired of the lower pofile tire look. Something about the taller, meatier rubber that apeals to me.

I'm sorry. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that your SDL has 14" tires. I knew the early 126's had 14's.

Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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if the offset is changed as in putting a wheel on the increases the track, it will have more more leverage and you will have more negative camber... note the guys who put the super wide wheels that stick way out of the fender have a lot of negative camber if the car has indy susp. on a solid axle of course this does not apply.

also in my experience on a 126 there should be a little negative camber on the rear. a little more than the front. i dont know what the spec is but i can see it. with some weight in there it would be more. i would think it might be as much as 3 or 4 degrees with weight. if it were mine i wouldnt worry about it unless the tires start wearing on the inside... and then i prob would just rotate them if it wasn't happening too fast.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

OK, I see where you are coming from on this.

The tires have a radius of exactly 13". So, the current distance from the centerline of the wheel hub to the inside of the fenderwell is 12.5" on a good day. Heavily loaded it drops to about 12.25".

The larger tire only adds about 1/8" to the equation (the radius increase above stock).

I don't see how you are getting more leverage on the spring with a wider track??

The leverage would come from the wheel moving further aft, away from the spring. How does moving the wheel outboard gain leverage? It's 90 degrees to the direction of the lever??

I would gues most of those cars with the wide wide rims also have lowered thair cars.......I would assert that the negative camber of those is due to the lowering and not due to the wider tires...

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Proud owner of ....
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1983 300D W123
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Brian could this place make a set of custom springs that would knock about 2in-3in off the ride height and not stiffin the ride to much? A slightly stiffer ride would be ok though.

I am tempted to get the H&R kit for my B day. I have talked to a few people that have it on their W126 and they say the ride isn't to much stiffer. One of them was running 18in wheels with the kit and didn't mind the ride!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have 14 inches from center wheel hub to fender. I'm guessing that if I put 150lbs in the trunk it would drop a couple inches.

They are a custom spring manufacturer. They can make anything you want.

If the old springs match the factory spring rate, I'm going to keep the factory spring rate and have them make the spring one inch taller.

You are going to get into severe camber problems if you try and knock 2 inches off the ride height. On the front suspension, I'm not sure if the range of adjustment will allow you to get back to spec.

I'm about 1" off the ride height (I'm guessing) and the camber is 3° negative.

That seems about right. 150 lb. will only drop it about 3/8" or so. It's like adding a full tank of fuel.

Could you do me a favor and put a 24" level on the outside of one of the rear tires? Hold the level vertically so that it is against both tire faces (above the rim and below the rim). Now, move the level off the tire (probably the top of the tire) until the level is plumb. With a small ruler, measure the gap between the level and the tire. Report back. This would tell me the camber in rough terms. Thanks.

the offset changing will change the leverage and cause more negative camber. a wider tire with no change in offset will not matter.

the attachment to the car is the fulcrum. the spring is the load and the wheel is attached to the lever. now lengthen the lever arm and the leverage will have more power. so changing the offset of the wheel making it further away from the spring will increase the leverage on the spring and cause the spring to be compressed more with the same weight in the car. if the spring is compressed more it will lower the car the same as if the car is carrying more weight, and will increase the negative camber. it will help picture it if you imagine that you make the wheel a foot further out instead of an inch.

if you mount a wheel that makes the center of the tire closer to the spring it will decrease negative camber.

now i am interested in the results of the level test suggested above. when you get your results i will check my sdl and see how it compares.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I agree. Thanks for the explanation.

I've got some interesting news.

The old spring (19 years old) was sent down to Coil Spring Specialties.

It was tested and the spring rate was found to be 344 lb./in.

This compares to the factory specification fo 344 lb./in. Amazing.

However, the "load height" was found to be 1/4" low. This would result in the vehicle sitting 1/2" low at the fenderwell.

So, my 25.25 measurement of the spring would result in a factory setting of 25.75 inches. I find this unacceptable due to the negative camber at this height. It would be approximately 2 degrees negative. The factory specification is 1 degree negative (+/- 30').

So, it appears that M/B has some conflict between the camber and the ride height. If you accept a ride height of 25.75" off the pavement, then the negative camber is too large. To reduce the negative camber to the factory specification will require the vehicle to sit at approximately 26.75".

I've asked Coil Spring Specialties to make me a set of springs that will allow the vehicle to sit 1.75" above the spring that I provided to them. This should be 1.25" over what the factory considers the "proper setting". The vehicle should sit at 27" off the pavement when I install the springs. If I don't like the height, I can always reduce it with a smaller rubber spacer (stock M/B item). This has the additional advantage of being able to raise the vehicle in the future if the spring softens slightly with age.

So, for everyone who is considering OE springs for the SDL, I doubt that they will do any better than the aftermarket springs (Meyle) that I recently purchased and will be returning soon.

Brian, I have used Coil Springs Specialties and will vouch for their ability to provide exactly what one wants, in terms of ride height or spring rate or both.
I even tried a set of rear springs that were built to OE specs but with stiffer wire (one wire size larger) yet the car was riding too low for my likings so they reworked them at no charge. CSS is a great resource if you want to fine-tune your suspension, now you don't have to accept some off-the-shelf springs that were made for retail business where a little compromise is to be accepted.
CSS has a large stock of wire available to do almost anything, even make springs with variable spring rate, that takes some experience, doesn't it?

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Reid, they definitely seem to know what they are doing.

I'm still perplexed at the stock ride height that results from the factory spring versus the negative camber. They simply don't correlate with each other.

In any case, I'll get exactly what I want, at a price that is 1/2 the cost of OE.