i searched and searched but couldnt find anything on this.

my wife has a 00 ML320. i installed eibach lowering springs on the rear, no problems. when i lowered the front with the torsion bars, it rides like crap. i only lowered it about an inch and a half . are there bump stops up front and where are they? i think we are basicly riding on them. if so i think if i trim them it might be better. any other suggestions?

thank you for any help

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I cant really help you with your problem. All I know is that youve changed your suspension's geometry and the shocks/springs aren't happy with that.

I am sorry but I just cant see why one would lower their SUV but thats just my 2 cents.

anyone else

lowering it improved the looks and it doesnt sway as much now

Known consequence. I have not heard of any spring kits that maintain or improve the ride. Everyone that has lowered their ML says the same thing.......harsh ride.

You could spend about $5,000 for an air suspension. There are only a couple in the U.S. that have done this.

You could put the OEM springs and shocks back, and get oversized rims and tires to fill in the fender and install H&R sway bars to help with the body roll.

The ML is a 4 wheel drive truck. If you really want a sporty ride SUV get the Infiniti

Interesting - from other posts I came to the conclusion that lowering the front resulted in a softer ride. Not sure what to think now.

My 99 ML430 is about 1 inch lower in front than factory settings, so I assumed it has already been adjusted to ride softer.

BUT instead it rides very hard in the front.

If raising the front indeed softens the ride then I will be doing it.

Which is it?

As a general rule, if you lower a car by shortening the springs....the spring rate must be higher, therefore a harsher ride. Look at it this way, you have only so much suspension travel available. If you shorten the spring 1 inch, you have to have a stronger spring to keep from bottoming out the suspension (and that is not a good thing). A rougher ride is inevitable.

Now the benifit of a higher spring rate is generally less body lean, once again due to the stronger spring. The downside is that if only one end of the car is modified, you have upset the handling geometry and the end with the stiffest sprint generally is the end that slides first.

For a vehicle like an ML, the reduction in body roll is insignificant unless the vehicle is pushed to it's handling limits on a routine basis. Basically, if you are not sliding the car sideways on dry pavement, you have gained nothing by changing the suspension.

__________________
Litton
'90 420 SEL (sold)
'72 280 SEL 4.5
'98 ML320 (for sale)
'86 560SL
'05 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd (offroad in style)
'87 Chevy Blazer (AZ Pin Strips)

Hey that is a Mercedes and not a rice mobile. If you want that look, why don't you buy a Xterra or something? Engineers in Germany did not spent all that time to craft out a SUV for people to lower it.

Now that you did it. Good luck fixing your own stupidity.

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95 R129
04 Infiniti G35.5 BS
10 X204

Litton,

I do not fully understand the mechanics of how the front suspension of the ML works since there are torsion bars that can be adjusted to raise and lower the front (and upon quick look, I could not find a coil spring up front). I can only assume that there is something else that provides the vertical spring motion up front.

Anyway just to clarify, are you saying that the spring rate is increased when the torsion bars are adjusted to lower the front end? Thus causing the harsher ride?

Yes, adjusting torsion bars could cause a harsh ride if it's done by changing the preload. Torsion bars act as a spring by simply twisting the bar. These were first commonly used in the US by Chrysler in the late 50's early 60's.

If I remember correctly, one of the big advantages is that the spring rate is progressive which means that the further you twist it the higher the spring rate. Conversly, decreasing the preload would soften the spring rate letting the car ride lower but would allow the suspension or the shock to easily bottom out causing a hard ride on an uneven surface. This was a common problem in the old hot rod days when folks lowered cars by heating the spring with a torch. Very possibly this is what is happening in your case.

__________________
Litton
'90 420 SEL (sold)
'72 280 SEL 4.5
'98 ML320 (for sale)
'86 560SL
'05 Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd (offroad in style)
'87 Chevy Blazer (AZ Pin Strips)

design. We modify then to suit our different tastes. If being constructive means deriding others' adventures with their rides, don't respond. There are others who have lowered their ML successfully, so it's not some impossible thing to do - all vehicles can be lowered as long as you take some necessary precautions to maintain proper suspension geometry. The ride will change from original - that's expected. If it's too harsh, that can also be fixed, so give him a break!!!