w123 front calipers, Bendix design, odd retaining pin and spring design
 

So, I ordered some Duralast (Bendix design) calipers since they were the fastest to ship. Does anyone have a picture of how these springs and pins go in?


http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...ining-pins.jpg

I can't resist saying it. I have noticed in like the last 4 years people seem to have stopped thinking they need a service manual/s.

Someplace in the forum is a link to a free online W123 manual and somewhere in the forum there are threads on Bendix Calipers. And hopefully with pictures.

This must be a pics of an assembled bendix brake caliper on eBay. There is one good picture with the springs but you will need to scroll through them to find it. :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254827320108

So, is this the proper allotment of time to replace the calipers as follows?

1/2 hour... remove old calipers.
1/2 hour... install new calipers
5 hours... get weird springs and pins installed

Put another way, many folks would prefer to be given a fish.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,
teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

The pic on that link does not look anything like the Bendix ones on my 300SD. I will look for a picture but the springs go on and the pin goes on top of the springs in the bend (at least as I remember after some seven or so years). Not a good description but I will seach for a pic.

Thank you for actually being helpful.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/attachments/diesel-discussion/112592d1371297046-1981-300sd-bendix-ate-screen-shot-2013-06-15-7.41.15-am.jpg

Best pic I can find. The springs are upside down but the bare ends fit into holes, the spring lies on top of the pads, and the pin is driven in above the bend in the spring with a cotter key to hold it firm

Guarantee it is quite intuitive if you get the spring close to the caliper.

Correction - the springs are not upside down; I looked again. And the bare ends go to the center of the caliper where you will find holes.

Thanks Tyl. The one on the right in your picture is the style that was on my car. (The correct one)The one on the left is the style that came with the new calipers. That style is impossible to get the pin in there with the spring mounted in there. I just wasted a Saturday on incorrect parts. I need the one on the right. Somehow, the one that was on my car has disappeared.

Does anyone know if I install these without the spring and drive the car for a week until I locate the correct springs, will it harm anything? The pins will hold the pads in place.

You shouldn't move the car an inch without having installed ALL the relevant brake caliper components.

I have never personally seen a Bendix W123 caliper and because I have front and rear ATE calipers, I never paid attrition to threads about Bendix calipers.

But if I wanted to know for sure I would have to drag out the paper manuals I have or get on my old computer that can access the old CD factory service manual I have to be sure.

I posted what I was able to find within the amount of time I was willing to take.

That is not a Bendix. You have ATE and it uses the flat cross. As I remember the pins are different and not interchangeable. The ATE does not have a hole or use a cotter key. The Bendix pin will not fit the ATE caliper.

I have read some threads that say some Bendix come with the flat cross but I have never seen it. And do not really believe that is true.

Let us know. Easy peasy with the correct pin. You should be able to do the entire job in ten minutes or so.

However if you are actually just installing a new caliper and it is really a Bendix, that is OK. ATE side has cross and Bendix side has springs. Bendix one side and ATE the other is OK. The only thing to remember is that one of them uses a slightly thinner brake pad (forget which) so just use the thinner brake pads on both sides when replacing.

A year ago, I replaced both calipers, (I would never change out just one caliper on an axle), when getting to the install of those @$^(* springs, I ended up using the old springs over. Actually much easier.
First time, I took a foto, printed a pic, & walla! Dont need a pic anymore.

edit: on my old 170 D, the (drum brake) mechanicals were, seemed to me, a can of worms. A pic was my salvation!

You can make a Bendix spring out of a coat hanger; ask me how I know.

Wire coat hangers are made of some pretty crappy metal these days. I guess better than no spring. In the OPs case he had never seen he springs before.

Agree. My dad used to use a coathanger for welding. Wonder if they are made of the same thing today.

The coathangers with a paper tube across the bottom, (not seen any of those in a while), are/were made of thinner wire. Were made of better iron/steel. will work in a pinch for welding.

The all metal ones are like bed frame metal, the "chorizo" of steel, including snouts & arseholess!

The wire springs won't go in. So, I ordered the good kind of springs from Pelican. They should be here Friday. I've been without my 300CD for 5 days now. The wire springs that came with my Duralast calipers don't fit in the calipers.

These are what I have ordered.
https://www.peachparts.com/shopforum...ake-spring.png

I haven't moved that car because I don't have the correct springs. Others have said that many calipers don't have springs and they do just fine. Are these springs just an optional add on? Or will they not function properly without them? I'm asking about actual function.

See the attached pictures. The last picture shows the springs orientations before the pins are inserted.


This has bendix calipers
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mercedes+W123+Brake+Pads+Rear+Replacement/21531

Those are good pics; I could not find any. If they actually shipped you Bendix calipers that flat retainer will not work (that new retainer that you - are ordering is for ATE and it looks substantially different from the old ones - but maybe will work)

If the supplier actually sent you a Bendix caliper, go back to the springs. If he sent an ATE, use the flat. The ATE calipers used to have ATE in the casting of the caliper but I do not know if the new ones have that.

Thinking you may have been shipped a Bendix as you requested, go back and try to install the springs as shown in the pics and let us know.

It is truly a five minute job.

Those springs won't fit as shown in the pictures.

Greg is correct. If you actually have Bendix, the flat cross will not work. Go back to the springs and install as shown in the pics.

Well, I got the cross style spring from Pelican. It installed in about 4 minutes. Would have been faster if I wasn't doing it for the first time. Obviously, Autozone sent me ATE style calipers with Bendix style springs. I have requested that they refund me the cost of the springs I got from Pelican. (Yeah, right!!) That was frustrating and it caused me to go a week without my car!

Go back to your fist post. All that I posted is trying to answer that. I see from post #25 you gave the wrong information in your original post.

And for some reason I am not having any sympathy or empathy for you going without a car for weekend.

A few people were helpful here. But, it was impossible for them or me to know that Autozone had mixed the wrong parts. Problem resolved now.

https://i.imgur.com/joqJ5ZXl.jpeg


https://i.imgur.com/Hdy3NMyl.jpeg

I found out what I did because I took the time to look up and learn the information. I answered your trigonal question.

Best of luck to you.

Diesel911, You didn't answer any questions. No one could have known that they supplied springs that didn't match the calipers that they sent. The pics posted by JHZR2 helped a lot though. Thanks JHZR2!!

We are all friends here. This was a useful thread because folks afterwards will be warned and informed about the difference between ATE and Bendix.

I am surprised no one else brought up the fact that one of them will not accept the slightly fatter brake pads. The fat ones will only fit one but the thinner ones can be used in either Bendix or ATE. This nugget might save somebody a few gray hairs.

You are good to go.

Wow, That's also a good point! I did order the fatter brake pads and luckily, they did fit in these calipers. I'm still just not sure what calipers they are. But, they do fit the flat cross springs and not the wire springs. FWIW

I come to this forum to get input because I don't have a manual. I also find that I run in to many unique problems that aren't necessarily addressed by manuals. For me, pictures of others' work usually helps me find my bearings. But, even in the pictures it was hard to come to the realization that they sent me the wrong springs for the calipers they sent.