Now that had me thinking...

...I wonder if the caster settings for a W123 with a manual steering box are different from the power steering versions...

...and does the manual steering box contain oil? Chapter 46-070 reconditioning of manual steering box doesn't seem to mention it.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

As far as draining the power box, I found that letting it drain that way with the wheel all the way to the left doesn't get it all out -- after it was done draining with the wheel turned all the way to the left, I turned it all the way to the right and, to my surprise, more stuff started coming out! Once that was done, I went back to the left again and got a bit more out. Also, when the front end is slightly inclined on jacks, fluid WILL hit a steering component once the flow starts to ebb -- maybe the Pitman arm, maybe something else, I don't remember -- and get splashed all over the area under the car! So be careful .

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Oh don't get me wrong I don't think you'll get absolutely everything out of a steering box this way but you will get quite a lot more than just sucking stuff out of the top of the system at the power steering pump.

Here's a picture of the amount of fluid you'll find in the steering box when you pull it to bits



Still quite a bit!

(Taken from this thread W201 steering box refresh and adjust)

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

So deliveryvalve sent me 4 lightly used preposterously non rusted california shocks which I've installed. Also swapped out a front caliper to match both sides, repacked bearings, and put a brand new rotor on the passenger side. (Did a new rotor driver side 3 months ago before body work). Existing rotor was warped and causing a lot of vibration. Also weirdly pitted with rust in places

Thing feels like a new car with the shocks though, I can't believe the ride difference. Its amazing how used you can get to bad shocks.

I figure I had one good shock, driver rear. The fronts were tired, driver front had a worn lower connection, making noises, and passenger rear was entirely blown.

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I think I saw a bit of rust on the shock bodies?

Glad they worked out despite some missing bits.


.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

here was the existing rotor, causing considerable vibration, and the nice new one

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This post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

How do you tell if the shocks are "tired"? Appearance? Bouncing the car? Something else?

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Bouncing the car is a good start - that will show really worn out units if there's a 1970s American land yacht bounce to them (<= don't know how to check shocks on those 1970s cars - how could you tell?!). When driving, a submarine diving effect under hard braking is also a good sign. Excessive leaning / weird handling might also be apparent (when you've really left them on the car for too long!)

Visual inspection => leaks or stickiness, rust on the shiny bits, heavy rust on casing, rubber attachment parts with cracks and broken dust boots etc etc etc

Excessive noise => if you start hearing swishing noises for small lengths of travel then that could be a sign that it is on its way out.

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

This is a simple guide.. Though for trailer shocks, it still has pertinent info
http://www.hendrickson-intl.com/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=42eeb9c5-8871-4bea-b764-d5db4f3c9a67

__________________
1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

Right, my point was more that one should watch out for a fluid spill .

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

some are obvious like this one-



this one was less obvious, but this particular connection was making a ton of noise, rattling any time you went over anything.

Hard to see in this pic, but the bolt flange section could swing back and forth more than half an inch. There was nothing left of the bushing



also this piece had been chewed up-

what its supposed to look like, and what was left after being destroyed-

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Congratulations are indeed in order!

__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

Thanks everybody!

more manual steering commentary-

Just put on my snow tires (thanks gatorblue for the steel wheels!)

What an incredible difference the rubber compound of the tire makes in steering ease, with the soft snow tires, the steering has bumped up to nearly that of power steering for ease of turning. Just shy of being able to parallel park one handed.

I am amazed. Its so different that for a few minutes I thought something was broken, and after checking over all parts of the steering, its all in the soft rubber. What I find really weird is I had this exact brand snow tire on my manual steering VW as well, and summer and winter snow tires made no difference on that car, but its a huge difference on this one.

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Anytime!

How does it look with the wheels sans hubcaps? Those wheels I sent are better suited to running naked than the ones with all the holes in them.

Its militant looking, ill take a pic for you soon, they are nicely coated with salt, getting seasoned

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