Replacing the Rear Shocks & Springs
on the W126 1985 300SD
http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W126RearShocksSprings

DMV stores too much info about you with the license plate, like name, address, etc.

My father rec'd a phone call at his place of work by some psycho that did not appreciate his fast driving.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

Took some more pics. I couldnt find my level, so I put a square against the tire instead. I think the pic from the rear with the square the shows the camber pretty well. To get a good reading I really need a level, Ill have to continue searching for mine or grab one from work later.

Before I took these pics I checked the tire pressue and brought it up to 32. The tire size is indeed P195/70 R14. I remeasured the ride height, it is about 25.5"-25.75" to inner fenderwall. Hopefully these pics are better and helpful to everyone trying to help me...the one of the whole car was taken in the fall...we have 12" of snow outside right now so I cant take a perfect one from the side till later.

Does anyone know the W123 ride height and camber spec?

Brian, I dont know if Ive shown what would best here, once I get my level do you want me to lean it against the face of the tire and snap a pic from the rear? Whats the best way to meaure camber?

Thanks again,
dd

Attached Thumbnails

         

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

With a height of 25.5" and the photos that you've shown, I don't see how the camber can be positive.

Put the level against the face of the tire. It will be out of plumb. Pull the top of the level.........or the bottom of the level.......off the face of the tire until the level is perfectly plumb. Measure the gap (you need a helper) between the level and the face of the tire. Note whether the gap is at the top or the bottom.

Report back with results of where the gap is located (top or bottom) and the size of the gap.

Repeat for the right side.

Brian,

Got a chance to do this yesterday:

RR tire looks like this tire -> / | <- level

Measuring on the face of the tire I get a .75" gap over a 20" span. Meaning that the tilt is arctan(.75/20) = 2.14 degreees tilt. I don't know what this would be in % camber.

LR is the same.

Does this make sense? I think this is way out of spec.

-dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

How it is with the E-Brake applied, front wheels chocked and the tranny in drive? My car sits a bit high in the rear like other 123's but "squats" or levels out when in drive.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

Will try tonight.

__________________
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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Please confirm whether the gap is at the top or the bottom of the tire. From your sketch, it appears to be at the bottom of the tire.

If this is correct, the camber is heavily positive and something is definitely amiss.........as you originally suspected.

Brian - the gap was at the bottom, positive camber.

On a whim before trying rrgrassi's test I checked tire pressure. it was about 24 psi on each tire. i hadnt touched it since owning the car since it has only been in the garage. but i thought this couldnt have that big of an effect.

inflated just the RR to 32 psi, started the car, backed it out of the garage and turned it around in the driveway to rest the suspension.

measured again, and now I have a gap of maybe an 1/8" at the bottom of the tire - very small amount of positive camber. the LR tire remained the same, .75" of positive camber. i bet once I get all of the tires at the correct and go for a drive the positive camber will be gone. hopefully this is the end of the 'problem'.

So, lesson learned: Inflate your tires before making any judgements about your independent suspension. I feel quite silly. Im surprised that a 20-25% tire pressure deficiency could cause over 2 degrees of camber. At lest I didnt take anything apart...

Thank you for all of the help, Ill update again when I inflate and go for a ride. Brian, thank you for stessing due troubleshooting process before tearing into my rear suspension, like I was sort of convinced I was going to need to do. I have learned a lot from this experience for a total cost of $0.

FWIW, this made a very small difference, I couldnt measure it. I got caught up in my other findings...


dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

I thought I had solved the issue by putting the tires to the correct pressure, but I looked at it again now that I'm driving the car and both rear wheels still have roughly equal positive camber. The shocks, springs were recently put in by the idiot PO. So it must be one or the other. I will try removing the shocks this weekend.

Anybody follow this guide for rear spring removal by Mr. Hunter? Any comments on it? I probably need a little more detail to get through it.



Should I just buy Bilsteins and replace the shocks? I can tell they are not Bilsteins, some generic brand.

Any way to check springs while still in the car?

thanks,

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

If you have that much camber, I doubt if it is the shocks. Gas charged shocks provide only a small amount of spring rate. It is more likely the springs are incorrect. It sounds like they are too stiff or too long. I am not aware of any defining marks on the springs that let you identify them. Land Rover use to mark their springs with different colored stripes to indicate the spring rate. I never heard of MB doing such a thing.

TimK

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EPA 609 & 608 HVAC Certified
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83' 300D Turbo - 300K + Miles
00' 1.9L TDI Beetle
85' 6.5L Turbo, GV-OD, GMC Suburban,
67' 2.5L Diesel NA - Land Rover Series IIA

Here's what you do if it's so cold your diesel fuel gels. Smear some on some toast and stay inside until it warms up outside.

I used that from Whunter to do the springs on my W126 and it worked fine. Not too sure if it would be different for the W123 though. I don't think it would.

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No matter how many times you explain it to me, I'm still right.....Surf-n-Turf

How many bumps on the spring shims?

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Looks like its time to pop the springs out. Grrr.

What do you mean winmutt?

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

Popped out the shocks, two different types...they are both gabriel, but with different PNs and diefintely different amounts of force needed to press down.

Looks like Bilsteins are in my future.

I need to try and identify if my springs are original or correct...

dd

__________________
-------------------------------
'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car