Hi Guys,

Does anybody know where I can get some lowering springs for my '77 300D?

Thanks, Andrei

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With Regards

I have to ask, why do you want to do that?
You're going to have a heck of a time with your front and rear camber settings.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

search in the forum about springs....there was a post that was pretty huge about this issue,....with a little bit of fighting from an old senior dude and a 20yr old kid about lowering springs....kinda entertaining to read about the arguments but full of info about lowering your 300D...

laterz

Look in the FSM, there are a blue million different springs of many rates and lengths abailable, along with the spacers.

Do search..

But the ride height and being able to roll over most anything on the road is really nice..

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

Use 'leathermang' in the right box when searching... I am pretty sure I have posted a picture of the page with all the spring specs on it...

" OLD senior dude" ? WHAT ?
How about " Mechanically Conservative Senior Dude" ?

I am assuming this is the thread you were referring to...

Found W123 Lowering Springs

yup thats the one...

a lot of information to allow one to make the choice that is correct for them....

read on / decide on
Jake

hey leathermang....sorry about that!

I really don't care about ride height. As a Mercedes owner, I can appreciate the classy look of a tall W123 sitting on 14" rims.

While our cars offer a very comfortable and liesurly ride, I think they are down-right-dangerous in emergency maneuvers. If I pull a hard turn at 25mph, the car feels like a 80' yacht breaching a huge wave. Really, really bad body roll, corner bounce, and understeer.

While the understeer is a fact of life, the body roll and bounce could be virtually eliminated with stiffer springs, stiffer shocks, new suspension bushings and larger sway bars. And as long as the control arm is not in a drastically different resting position, there will be no geometry and alignment problems.

I am going to do it. I don't know how yet, but I will.

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Cassidy
1982 MB 300DT - Running Great @ 104K!

1972 MB 220D - RIP @ ~200K (Dropped prechamber)
1992 MB 190E 2.6 - SOLD @ 145K

True, it is that way, but it's more a function of weight and the design of the car.

If you eliminate the spring movement, something else will give, be it tires or whatever, there just too much car that's too tall physicaly(not ride height) to ever snap around like you want it to.
I'd love it if it would, but I don't see it happening. I believe also that I've read MB designed in that body roll for a reason, something about the w115 cornering *too* flat and oversteering badly. I don't recall.

One thing you could do, is find a TD rear sway bar(1mm larger), and correct from bar mounting brackets from a TD, they have fewer holes in them and are stiffer, acording to the FSM. Little bits someties help.

I do know what your talking about, but it's just the way things are in a car like this. I went through a c3 corvette awhile back, kyb's, poly bushings, oversize sway bars, the works. Handles great, except that 70 series tires now feel like there made of marshmellows. Have a go at it, but don't expect a porsche.

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

I suggest just moving up to 16" rims with a wider tire. I cant break traction these days. Makes it GREAT fun to ride in the mountains.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

good advice, but might take note this is an old thread..

A note for wagon owners: my non turbo wagon handled much much better than my turbo wagon (both w123's) . Then I switched to front springs from a non turbo car and used smaller spring pads and the turbo wagon handled like a champ.

vogtland will make 123 springs, but a minimum of 10 or 20 sets is required. I am not quite sure which, but I never was able to get enough interest in the past to do this for my 300cd

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

Bringing life back to this old thread. I noticed in the FSM there were "police" issue springs and shocks. Anyone know what was different about them? Stiffer? Longer travel? My Euro used to be a taxi and I wonder if it had other "specialized" equipment.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

On the W123 chassis, the rear 'sway bar' is roughly 3/8" in diameter and, IMHO, does little except transmit the body/ground (load in cargo area) relationship to the SLS valve.

I doubt if it would be worth the effort to change.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.