What is the stock w123 ride height? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Yak · #16 10-08-2009, 08:07 PM

I've searched the forum and looked at the W123 wheel pics and I can't decide if my car is abnormally high, or just looks that way to me. Some of the pics in the 123 wheels thread have a similarly large fender gap, but according to the specs, my car is more than 1.5 inches too high. My pics lack some perspective and appear even worse than it looks with the whole car in view.

I've got the stock "short" spring for the coupe with the red bottom coil. Everything else is as stock as can be. Goodyear 195/70-14's on Bundt's. 16.5 inches from wheel center to fender lip, 31.75 at hood and fender.
The FSM says to "Check level at front axle 40-300" Does anyone have the portion of the FSM that includes chapter 40 above job # 113? Mine stops at 113.

What am I missing to get the car back to it's stock height? My last best-guess effort will be to loosen the UCA, LCA and torsion bar bolts and see if it'll settle. I did that when I installed them thought, so I don't have much hope that will do much.

I still haven't got it aligned and I'd like to get the height sorted out before alignment. If I can't sort it myself, I plan on leaving it to the dealer.

katchung · #17 10-08-2009, 08:57 PM

my 82 300cd seems to be about a half inch to an inch high in the rear...haven't checked the front yet. Funny, because I was just thinking about this today...wondering if my springs were tired...guess not.

Brandon_SLC · #18 10-08-2009, 09:19 PM

That doesn't look right. They do sit high by todays standards, but not that high. Somethings got to be wrong.

But looks great for offroading!

charmalu · #19 10-09-2009, 01:37 AM

YAK, you said you have the stock front 4 nub pads.

I replaced my front springs on the 85 300D with 240D front springs. this is after the 4-spd swap, and the car had this nose high stance.

The 240 had 3 nubs, but when I removed the 300D pads, they are one nub`s. so I left the one nubs on and it looks good. maybe the CD`s are set up different.

Charlie

MBeige · #20 10-09-2009, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yak

I've searched the forum and looked at the W123 wheel pics and I can't decide if my car is abnormally high, or just looks that way to me. Some of the pics in the 123 wheels thread have a similarly large fender gap, but according to the specs, my car is more than 1.5 inches too high. My pics lack some perspective and appear even worse than it looks with the whole car in view.

I've got the stock "short" spring for the coupe with the red bottom coil. Everything else is as stock as can be. Goodyear 195/70-14's on Bundt's. 16.5 inches from wheel center to fender lip, 31.75 at hood and fender.
The FSM says to "Check level at front axle 40-300" Does anyone have the portion of the FSM that includes chapter 40 above job # 113? Mine stops at 113.

What am I missing to get the car back to it's stock height? My last best-guess effort will be to loosen the UCA, LCA and torsion bar bolts and see if it'll settle. I did that when I installed them thought, so I don't have much hope that will do much.

I still haven't got it aligned and I'd like to get the height sorted out before alignment. If I can't sort it myself, I plan on leaving it to the dealer.

An alignment would probably fix the front camber, which might make it look too high. I've had that problem before and the tire shoulders were wearing out too soon. Had new tires installed, alignment done and all was well. This was how my car stood around that time with stock setup after getting new tires and the alignment (2 nub in front):

After getting the 15" Bundts and new Michelins (205/60/15), but still with 2 nub in front. Not much difference. Now that I travel light without much in the trunk, the rear end sits slightly higher than it is in the image below.

This is TheBenzBar's 300CD with new shocks all around installed and 1 nub in front I think (or 2)

I'm not sure if 4 nub is the standard setup, I think those are for the heavy duty suspension setup or lang (long) version. Mine is stock with 2 nub front pads. The 81 300TD we had before had 1 nub front pads on KYB shocks, but sat lower:

http://www.majhost.com/gallery/legomech/MercedesBenz300TD/June-3-2006/p1010027.jpg

Sev · #21 10-09-2009, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon_SLC

That doesn't look right. They do sit high by todays standards, but not that high. Somethings got to be wrong.

But looks great for offroading!

nope that's normal ride height for w123's. that's why i want to lower mine so bad. yeah, same deal with my 190e--when i first got it, it had like four inches of fender gap before i billied it down

Yak · #22 10-09-2009, 03:37 PM

Per the FSM, the only options for the 123.153 were short/long springs. No changes were required for extra equipment. Pre-1982 there were more combinations.

The FSM says 23 mm is the stock pad height for the front spring. EPC says 4 "burls" = 23 mm. The rear pad is 14 mm and that's two "naps". (I don't make up the words, I just repeat what I see written: nub=nap=burl). This is for the "short" spring with the red end. The "long" spring with the blue end uses an 18 mm pad and a 9.5 mm pad (3 and 1 nub/front and rear, respectively.

I'll do a before/during/after pic series with the car in profile.

No one has the book answer on how to measure the height at the front axle?

MBeige · #23 10-09-2009, 09:26 PM

I happen to have one with a red end, but as I mentioned earlier I have 2 nub/burl/naps on the front spring pads.

Do you have a side photo of your car?

I have another blueprint, but not of the turbo model:

Brandon_SLC · #24 10-09-2009, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sev

nope that's normal ride height for w123's. that's why i want to lower mine so bad. yeah, same deal with my 190e--when i first got it, it had like four inches of fender gap before i billied it down

You're joking? My comment was in reference to the silver/blue car - posted by yak. The other cars in this thread look more normal. But the car in question, is obviously, much higher than normal.

Sev · #25 10-10-2009, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon_SLC

You're joking? My comment was in reference to the silver/blue car - posted by yak. The other cars in this thread look more normal. But the car in question, is obviously, much higher than normal.

joke based on the ridiculous fender gaps i've had on my stock benzes in the past.

mbeige's car. again. i'm going to steal his wheels. not really though. followed by a coupe that has the nicest color i've ever seen on a w123 other than surf blau--what is that color anyway?

MBeige · #26 10-10-2009, 03:09 AM

Did a quick look at Detali.ru with EPC diagrams. It looks like the 300CD (123.153) in turbo form has 4 front spring pad options (1/2/3/4 nubs).

8 A 123 321 13 84 SHIM
AS REQUIRED; NUMBER OF BURLS:
1 (8 MM) 002
8 A 123 321 14 84 SHIM
AS REQUIRED; NUMBER OF BURLS:
2 (13 MM) 002
8 A 123 321 15 84 SHIM
AS REQUIRED; NUMBER OF BURLS:
3 (18 MM) 002
8 A 123 321 16 84 SHIM
AS REQUIRED; NUMBER OF BURLS:
4 (23 MM)

DeliveryValve · #27 10-10-2009, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBeige

I happen to have one with a red end, but as I mentioned earlier I have 2 nub/burl/naps on the front spring pads.

Hey Patrick,

I was wondering why you had the 2 nub. But now it is clear, you have different springs than mine (got the blue mark). I thought we basically had the same optioned car, different color.

Anycase, when you get a chance I am curious as what the wire size is on your car's coils. You should take some measurements when you get a chance.

.

MBeige · #28 10-10-2009, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Hey Patrick,

I was wondering why you had the 2 nub. But now it is clear, you have different springs than mine (got the blue mark). I thought we basically had the same optioned car, different color.

Anycase, when you get a chance I am curious as what the wire size is on your car's coils. You should take some measurements when you get a chance.

.

That is interesting Richard. It makes sense though, thinner pads give more room for longer springs. But is ride height affected that much?

Looking at the lovely photos you took of the differential DIY, I have the red marked rear springs. Been a while since I looked at the rear spring pads, but it may be 2 or 1.

So similarly optioned cars can have different suspension setup (in terms of spring and/or pad options). I wonder how to figure that out other than taking a look? I know they can be swapped but it would be nice to determine what should have come with the car when they were new. I don't think the VIN decoder has that info.

DeliveryValve · #29 10-10-2009, 03:37 AM

Yes it would be nice to figure that out.

Another note, I remember you saying you had Bilsteins shocks as originally installed on your car. Mine came with Boge shocks. I wonder if that means anything.

MBeige · #30 10-10-2009, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeliveryValve

Yes it would be nice to figure that out.

Another note, I remember you saying you had Bilsteins shocks as originally installed on your car. Mine came with Boge shocks. I wonder if that means anything.

When my uncle and I replaced the front guide rod mounts, we had to disconnect the shock absorbers. I had a chance to take a good look to realize they were Bilstein, and had the MB logo on them. Probably the originals, and still very strong too.