Yeeks! Changed out Rear Coil Springs and now my W123 looks like a 60's musclecar!

[Carrameow]

Yeeks! Criminey! I changed out the Rear Coil Springs and now my W123 looks like a 50's musclecar! The butt end sits so high, it looks like one of those Camaro's or Transams that the kids in my high school had where they raised the rears because it looked cooler that way.
I used the stock Lesjofors Springs from Shop Forum FASTLANE. I thought they would settle out Saturday night but after piling my entire collection of heavy tools and 45 pound weight plates into the back seat and trunk and driving the car for 4 hours nothing has changed.
If anything, i thought the car's butt would ride even lower because of these springs. But actually now the Tails sits some 2 inches higher!
Has anybody used these springs before?
Do they eventually settle out?
THIS IS ONE GOOFY LOOKING MERCEDES!

[boneheaddoctor]

New springs do settle over a period of months.........

[Brian Carlton]

Richard, sometimes that happens with brand new springs. The SDL is sitting a bit high in the back...............with no fuel and no load.

If it really bothers you after a month or two, you can reduce the thickness of the rubber spacers above the spring. I believe the W123 had three different thicknesses available.

[Carrameow]

If it really bothers you after a month or two, you can reduce the thickness of the rubber spacers above the spring. I believe the W123 had three different thicknesses available.

I considered that but 19mm- 5 mm= 14 mm;
there are 10 mm in one centimeter; so that gives me 1.4 cm
there are 2.54 centemeters in one inch; 1.4/2.54 = approximately 5/8 "

Also the new springs looked exactly the same height as the old springs, so I guess I will use the GRAVITY technique. I'm not repeating that job again! The second time, I couldnt get the spring seated correctly and I had to redo it 2 or three times to get it to sit in the spring cavity perfectly....There was no way I was using a pneumatic wrench out of respect for your tool so I had must have cranked that rachet some 1000 strokes...Finally on one side I got the spring out, but I couldnt get it out from underneath the car! It took me 1 hour to remove the rear brake hub...what a job!!

[boneheaddoctor]

Put a set of big meats under it and say you are going retro.......EG Starsky and Hutch.....

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Carrameow

I considered that but 19mm- 5 mm= 14 mm;
there are 10 mm in one centimeter; so that gives me 1.4 cm
there are 2.54 centemeters in one inch; 1.4/2.54 = approximately 5/8 "

Also the new springs looked exactly the same height as the old springs, so I guess I will use the GRAVITY technique. I'm not repeating that job again! The second time, I couldnt get the spring seated correctly and I had to redo it 2 or three times to get it to sit in the spring cavity perfectly....There was no way I was using a pneumatic wrench out of respect for your tool so I had must have cranked that rachet some 1000 strokes...Finally on one side I got the spring out, but I couldnt get it out from underneath the car! It took me 1 hour to remove the rear brake hub...what a job!!

The ratio of spring length to body height is approx 2:1. So, if the spring is 5/8" shorter, the body will drop by double (or more) of this amount.

The trick to all that work is to get the vehicle as high as possible. Otherwise, you struggle with the shock, you struggle with the spring and it generally makes the job a PITA. I get the SDL up at the full height of the jack (19" on the diff).

[Nate]

Do you have any pic's of this? Looks like it would be fairly intereasting to see

Sorry I dont have any added tech, but I think pic's would be a nice touch

~Nate

[Kill_Nazi_Now]

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

New springs do settle over a period of months.........

Are you really Bonehead or are just a tricky nickname??

Thank you for all!

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Kill_Nazi_Now

Are you really Bonehead or are just a tricky nickname??

Thank you for all!

The bonehead is very quiet lately. I wouldn't bank on a response.

[Carrameow]

that was like 2 years ago...I remember I actually changed them back..that was before my big DIY paint job....and rust repair Triaathalon that aged me 10 years in 1 summer...seems like 5 years ago....boy this forum is like a Time Machine

[Carrameow]

Originally Posted by Brian Carlton

The bonehead is very quiet lately. I wouldn't bank on a response.

I could just see a vanity plate with the four letters begininng N____. I think it would be a hoot watching all the dirty looks that guy got

[JimmyL]

Brian, can you tell by IP address or other ways if the idiot from post #23 is really somebody else on here?
Are there any limits on forum names that can be chosen? We are getting more like some "other" forums every day........

[RUN-EM]

With the nose down attitude, you are now ready to go Bonneville Salt Flats racing...just add a little duct tape for streamlining and run it

Regards

Run-em
1983 300 S D-aka.-SPARKY THE DIESEL