Someone tell me why this W123 front spring removal method won't work
 

Hey Guys,

so I was chatting with a gentleman who has dismantled many W123s for parts yesterday and he shared his secret to removing front springs without a compressor. As far as i can tell it makes perfect sense but let me know if this is a terrible idea.

Step 1: remove shock (this can be done with the wheel on the car and the car on the ground)

Step 2: Jack car up

Step 3: Remove wheel

Step 4: remove fully extended spring

He had about 3 sets of springs front and rear sitting out in his shop yesterday and said he removed them all that way... Am I missing something?

That works for removing the spring. I don’t think you can put the front spring back that way because the spring perches aren’t parallel at full extension. You also need a way to keep the car down while jacking the control arm to get the shock reattached.

Sixto
98 E320s sedan and wagon
02 C320 wagon

Bro, the proper spring compressors are like $50 on fleabay.

Ehh.. I'm not gonna mess with those. Something tells me for them to be that cheap they aren't made that well.

I'll try to rent one from someone.

Glad to know this method is okay for at least removing the spring

What the man said is true. You may need pry bar to bump new spring in but this is an ez way to do it.

you will need a 4 or 5 ft prybar though.

doable, but a bit dodgy. I have seen this being done in person. but its a bit scary.

Also not mentioned is that you must remove the brake caliper because the brake line and brake sensor cable do not have enough slack to move with that amount of travel of the control arms.

Don't know if there is a real Klann compresser for rent.
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I am trying to figure out how the Spring can extend fully if the upper end of the Steering Knuckle is still attached to the Upper Control Arm.

Also bending down the Lower Control Arm with 30+ year old Lower Control Arm Bushings further then it is used to going might well finish the Lower Control Arm Bushing off.

How far will the Guide Rod allow the Lower Control Arm to go down?

The description sounds more like removal of the rear spring.

I agree. At minimum, the UCA needs to removed from the knuckle. And yes, I can't imagine the LCA bushing tolerating that much movement without being ruined. Maybe loosening the bolt will save it. The OP needs to add to the list: remove brake line and wear sensor wire, remove knuckle from UCA, loosen LCA bolt.

Well guys I ended up leaving this to my mechanic to do. I really enjoy doing all the work on my car myself but I really didn't want to mess too much with the springs. Gotta respect em ya know?

He was able to complete the job in 9 hours and had to pound out the guide rod mounting location a little. He also had the car aligned.