They may have. The FSM lists a heavy duty towing/police wagon upgrade. This included a beefier sway bar (there are none of these left) and different springs. Not sure what else it included but you probably have far better access to hunting down the details of this setup.

ps-

You are everguys hero on here.

__________________
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

What is a FSM? May be I can fit something from the ambulance W123's, maybe they have heavier rear shockers which fit on a T modell.

I forgot to add, I also have 15 inch wheels now.

Like Dee8go said, the W123's and even older models keep on driving, and if it breaks, they fix it instead of replace it.
It's amazing what these W123's can handle, all over Africa you see these W123's, and also in some parts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Sometimes it's hard to see what they do to these cars, but at least they use them

The worst W123 I've ever seen is this one in Mauritania:



@Flounder: :-)

Remember when NASA spent millions developing the lunar rover? They could've saved all that money and just sent Jurgen up there with his W123.

__________________
'81 300CD - 180K, cannot be killed by any conventional means
'99 Ford Escort - good MPG

It's the Factory Service Manual.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

In fact, we were on Mars :-)

I'm not backing down on my statement.
Possibly THE ultimate W123 Rock Star!!!!!
I'm using the desert crossing pic as my desktop background, and in looking again at his Flickr account I will be rotating many more of his pics onto different desktop backgrounds.
The things that yellow TD has seen.........

BTW, do you undercoat your wagon with anything yearly, or prior to your excursions?

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

This is truly amazing an inspiring, I am sure Your pictures make most people wanna leave home, that's how I feel.
Very interesting places You've seen out there, great pictures and of course THE CAR. I was a little surprised when I found it's an automatic...

Keep us posted on Your journey

Hi!

I made a gallery of great moments of the "Saharagelber" on Flickr, I think my most interesting W123 travel are collected there in just one set.

Click on the image or here..


>BTW, do you undercoat your wagon with anything yearly, or prior to your excursions?

Well, this year I had it checked indeed, and they made it clean en added some where necessary.

Yeah, automatic but never had any problems, the automatic gearboxes from the W123 are in fact very good. Here, in the Netherlands they make driving very easy ;-)

@JimmyL: nice compliment!

This month, I made the decision, if all goes well, we'll go in the direction of Mongolia. Then we'll fly back and half a year later we continue from there through Siberia to the US, we then like to cross the USA. In fact we like to go around the world then. Maybe we can attend a W123 meeting then

I am still looking for a solution to the rear shock absorbers problem.
There is no way to replace them for heavy duty versions.

Regards,
Jurgen

Well done Jurgen,
If you make it to Florida look me up I have a Bed & Breakfast you can stay at that includes a deep discount. also I can hook you up with some Bio-Diesel.

__________________
Moss Gate Bed & Breakfast
1985 300 TD GG done in by a red light runner
1984 300 CD Sold
2008 Titian
2000 Cadillac SLS
1966 FLH Sold
2003 Harley Ultra

The W126 rear springs, like from a long wheel base SDL, would probably help more than changing the shocks, if you still have the SLS system in place. The accumulators take more of the bump pressure than the shocks do. And HD springs could ease the load on the SLS system.

__________________

Jurgen,
If your USA travel segment includes Texas, your family has an open invitation to visit/stay with us here at Berry Hill Farm in Central Texas.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Hey Jurgen,

Nice to hear from you. Looks like you're on to another expedition? Sounds good, if you'll ever pass by California I'll definitely attend any meets you'll be joining!

My expedition this morning consisted of bad drivers on the way to work...

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

Hi guys!

Thanks for all the invitations! Looks like I can couchsurf @ W123 owners through the US

@UriahT:
The thing is, I already have Heavy Duty Springs at the rear, but I want to raise the car a bit more. In that case, I need to extend the shock absorbers too. There are some ways to raise the car at the rear.

1. Place a rubber between two coils (of the spring).
2. Place something between the spring and the holder (difficult with the W123)
3. A longer coilspring

In all these cases it's (as I learned) better to lengthen the shock absorber too.

Jurgen

Time to relive this topic! Well, Jurgen found a very low mile 300TD.
Well, here's a chance to relive the dream, my fellow dieselheads!

Good tune-up, preventive maintenance, Elsbett kit and ready to go!

http://cgi.ebay.de/Mercedes-Kombi-W123-T-S123-300-TD-Baujahr-1984-/230495701421?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Automobile&hash=item35aa9d49ad

__________________
[GONE] - 1995 Mercedes E300 Diesel - 130k miles - Smoke Silver (702) over Mushroom leather (265) - Bladder blasting, coast-to-coast work machine.