Cut one full coil off the front, tires are 225/50/16 with an 11 mm ET.




Used the El Paso clone tool, took about 25 minutes a side, and that's with disconnecting the shock. I'm not that good, it was just that easy.

Thanks again for the pictorial.


Jay

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1984 300D turbodiesel
1983 300TD

I've always thought the front was too high and the rear too low.

Can I cut some off the front and add to the rear?

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Not my opinion...

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

I lived close to Ol,Brenner and after taking a ride in his car, I can say I'm glad I didn't do this to mine! The ride kinda sucked and the wheels rubbed the inner fenders and if you were making a hard turn over bumps, your tires would grind away at your whell well outer ridge as well. I'm sorry, but there is a reason that lowered cars look ghetto! Go do that to a Honda and put a loud muffler on it. No one will car when it gets crashed or crushed. Hell, you might even make neighborhood hero!

I would take off 1 in rear and 1.5 in front. It all depends on how much weight is up front. We all have basically the same in the back. You can always take off more but you cant ever put any back on as my dad used to say.

Grinder and an oil bath.

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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

I am against cutting springs for all the reasons listed in this thread, and I do not feel its necessary to reiterate those points made.
What I would like to know is who is lowering their car properly with coilovers or air bags.
I saw one mention of coilovers, but that's it.

like this (eye candy time)
or at least my opinion of eye candy

WARNING!!! I AM NOT A PURIST

LOL no wonder it has for sale in the back window. You can safely cut 1-1.5 coils off the front.

__________________
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

I'm not sure if the car itself is dragging on the ground, or if their are metal blocks installed to make it look like it is.

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1980 Mercedes 240D, 0.5 miles on rebuilt engine
1970 Datsun 510, chewing through turbos
1987 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II, ready for V8

Unless one has a self leveling system the back end was probably designed to be level WITH luggage in the trunk...
Concerning springs pads.... I posted at one time the FSM chart on those.. MB was fanatical about getting the car level in certain ways... so it made different spring pads for a car with certain accessories.... so even if someone were really heavy at least when they got out of the car it sat level side to side... LOL
PEH, your car WAS lowered... by gravity and metal fatigue... just not by you intentionally... LOL
Having put many new springs into old cars... changing them from looking tired and sagging to sitting up proud and driving like a new car.... If I was going to cut the springs I would at least do it to a new set... not an already tired set...

Great point! Cutting a tired set of springs will only lead to other problems even faster!

Springs don't get "tired". They compress with age and the height of the spring is shorter than the design height. When checked, the spring rate can be identical to the factory rate.

Therefore, the performance of the old foreshortened spring is identical to the factory spring..........with the exception of the fact that the available travel is reduced because the vehicle is starting from a lowered position.

What problems.........??

There is no such thing as a "tired" spring.

I took 2 coils off the front and 1 off the back. It was one of the best things I have done to my car. Now, it looks like it's riding at a realistic height, and I believe it has improved handeling. No rubbing, lower center of gravity, doesn't look like it's on stilts.

I don't have a camera at the moment, but I need to update my pics.

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My Primary Driver - '85 300CD - 4-speed conversion, 2.47 rear, lowered, euro headlights, rebuilding (not restoring so much)

Wife's - '08 Saab Sportcombi Aero

Riding a '03 Yamaha Warrior

What problems? Being butt ugly for one.

There is no such thing as a tired spring. Metal fatigue.

Yes.........but ugly can certainly be defined as a problem.

Do you know of any spring that has failed due to metal fatigue? Do you understand the nature of metal fatigue?