Shock Absorber Dust Shield - MB Part Number: 115 323 04 38

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78 W116 300SD 'Desert Rose' new as of 01/26/2014
79 W116 300SD 'Stormcloud' RIP 04/11/2022

THANK YOU Alex ! .

Ordered .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Maybe I am missing something, but vwnate1 is talking about front shocks on his 240D. The bump stop image is for a 560. When I look at front Bilsteins for the 240 on Pelican, the dust boot and bump stop are included. If the bump stop is crushed as in one of the images, the whole shock may be worn out.

THANK YOU for paying attention ! .

I bought the HD Bilsteins and they didn't come with bump stops nor the dust shields so I now have them on order and will install soon I hope .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

The "Comfort" shocks supposedly come with the bump stop as well as the dust cover, however the "HD" shocks do not. The 123, 126, 107, and 124 cars all use the same bump stop up front. When installing the HD's, you have to reuse the dust cover from the old shock and purchase the bump stop separately.

The bump stop is extremely important. It's all that really limits lower suspension travel. Without it, it's very possible to whack the oil pan on the pavement, even with new shocks if the speed and gradient change is right.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

This is getting seriously off topic of if 240D's are drivable in modern times but...

I wouldn't start throwing bump stops on Bilstein sports or HD's without calling them. A good number of those models (maybe all) are internally bump stopped.

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1985 300SD - 1987 911 Carrera - 1956 Austin-Healey 100

There, back on topic for you .

I neither thrash nor baby my vehicles , this was the first time I ever bottomed it out .

I already ordered the parts so we'll see how it goes .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

The B4 "HD" shocks sold for these cars are firmer valved than the B4 "Comfort" shocks. They are OE style shocks with firmer valving, nothing else. They are NOT the same thing as the B6 "HD" or "Sport" or the B8 shocks that *DO* have bump stops internally due to the shorter travel of the piston. As Nate discovered, without the foam bump stops, the piston travel is enough to whack the oil pan on the pavement with the B4 shocks.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Yes the 240D with the 3.69 rear end is noisy at freeway speeds which is why I swapped a 3.07 into mine last winter. Now very quiet at 65-70 and top speed is now over 90. A little slower on acceleration of course, about like an automatic. Economy went up about 2 mpg. easy swap and worth doing.

I would agree - Bilstein B4 Heavy Duty shocks are the way to go with these cars. OE quality with European handling and no added harshness at all.

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Why I will never do business with "DieselKraut" again

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-used-parts-sale-wanted/378935-why-i-will-never-do-business-dieselkraut-again.html

Dust shields are available new from Mercedes for the front and rear. Very inexpensive.

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Why I will never do business with "DieselKraut" again

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-used-parts-sale-wanted/378935-why-i-will-never-do-business-dieselkraut-again.html

Oh man.

How crucial are these dust shields?

Been running HDs for a few years now. I believe they came with the bump stops (because I have them and they don't look ancient) but I do not have dust shields.

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1981 240D 4sp manual. Ivory White.

Shern ;

I've been driving my 240D sans dust shields for many years now so no apparent need but then I don't drive it much on dirt roads or where there's road salt to attack the chromed piston rod and so cause leaks...

I trust the Engineers who design vehicles more than I trust the average bubba who simply has to change things just to put their own stamp on it so I have ordered the missing parts and will install .

I expect that living in an Urban environment wouldn't make those shields critical however for me they're important .

As far as the noise, I recently spent some time on the rear tranny mount and engine to cross member mount, if not properly assembled and adjusted they will telegraph serious noise into the passenger cabin .

My car is much quieter now, I don't over speed the engine and never need to touch the floor ~ if you need to do that you're driving the wrong car and will never be happy with a 240D .

The higher ratio (lower numerically) final drive sounds great if you have no hills ~ I have enough trouble reaching 50 + MPH on freeway on ramps so I cannot consider this .

If I had a 5 speed manual box I'm sure I'd love the 3.07 final drive .

Not looking at the big picture is why so many modify their vehicles then sell them on shortly thereafter .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

It occurred to me yesterday that maybe I find my 240 more drivable in modern America because.....
It has a 150 mph speedometer!
I hope the person who installed it was laughing as they did it. It appears to have been done by the importer when it was new.

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1985 300 TD 448K
1984 300 TD 278K

1983 240D euro 240k
1994 f-250 idi turbo 330K
1986 f-350 IDI
1987 F-350 IDI

1985 JD 1050 4wd
1965 IH 3660

Interesting topic and thread. I drive mine on the freeway regularly and have no problems. Most traffic is faster and simply passes. These cars are not built for flying around, in a constant hurry, driving 20 mph over the posted speed limit. That's for sure. We have nice long "on ramps", here in the rust belt, with no traffic lights at the end/merge point(?).
Mine will do 60 mph just fine. She's my first so not too familiar with the characteristics of freeway driving with a 40 year old Mercedes diesel.
I'm assuming I have the "shorter geared" rear end as the the engine seems to be revving fairly high. I'd sure like to know the approx. rpm's while at highway cruise. Would also like to know what a reasonable, safe cruise speed would be on this engine/trans combo?
She'll definitely do more than 60, no problem. But, is this a "healthy" place for this engine to live? Do these engines like screamin down the highway, at high rpm's, with no relief (think blown/turbo'd Detroit Diesel)? Maybe they can handle it just fine. I simply don't know.
Definitely interested in the differential swap. Wondering how difficult and expensive it would be to FIND one? The actual r/r seems simple enough. Naturally my main concern, should I be able to locate a unit, would be how worn out the "new" part would be.