All (especially if your Mercedes-Benz is lowered):

As I just learned (the not so hard way), no matter how strong/good/effective one's front sway bar is, it is only as effective as its weakest (2) links:

Specifically, the OEM (steel) sway bar brackets have a tendency to shear off (usually one side at a time).

I replaced both brackets, yesterday evening. After doing so, I e-mailed Bob Brady at RENNTech and made the suggestion that they might want to offer titanium (or equivalently strong) sway bar brackets for sale with their front sway bar. In so doing, performance-minded/spirited drivers might be spared the iterative expense and inconvenience of replacement.

Bob's e-mail reply (received 08MAY01) follows:

**********
I just spoke to the mechanics, and in twelve years they have never had that problem, and Hartmut (Feyhl) does not remember the problem at AMG.

Do not know why we have not had a problem. But we seem to have a lot less problems than a lot of dealerships...hmmm.

Bob
**********

This is, as ever, just my $0.02 - but I recommend taking a peek at your sway bar brackets, just to play it safe.

Kind regards,

[Edited by run.exe on 05-09-2001 at 12:47 AM]

I too had a broken sway bar bracket last year. It was cheap to fix and I didn't think of it at the time, but perhaps this is a real issue if its that common. Should be easy to design a stronger bracket. But on the other hand Scott, perhaps it has more to do with the awesome Berkeley hills drives that we have in common?

Eric

Eric:

You may be right...

: D

I will plead "no contest" on the hill-billy drives of which I have been accused, implicitly!

OK - I DID IT! WHO CAN RESIST???

(I still want stronger sway bar brackets, though.)

Sorry to implicate you in high speed hilly billy running, but now that you have confessed, I confess too!

The worst news of all is the realization that it wasn't the famed Berkeley hills runs that broke my sway bar bracket, but rather the crap pothole strewn roads around town!

Eric:

Have you tried driving in downtown San Francisco, lately?

I will venture to say that it has the WORST streets of any city in the United States of America!

My advice: load your trunk and back seat with spares - or get some Dunlop SP Sport 9000 run-flat tires - because you're going to pinch/pop something, sooner than later!

I recently replaced the right sway bar bracket on my 88' 300E. It was an easy DIY job and I purchased the part from the FastLane parts shop throught this web site. In talking with other MBZ owners this does seem to be a fairly common issue.

__________________

• 2001 E320

Does anyone know what a(ny) automotive parts machine shop would charge to make (stronger than OEM) sway bar brackets with customer-provided materials?

For example, if I had some heavy-gauge titanium sheeting, how much might it cost me to turn it into a pair of sway bar brackets?

Are such projects billed for parts and labor - or turn-key?

I would guess a small fortune! Titanium is a B---h to work with, and it is pyrophoric (burns! normally welded or machined in an argon atmosphere). Be lots less expensive to use steel.

BTW, dumb question time. Regarding the failure of the mounts, is there any possibility that they were designed to fail to relieve extreme cornering forces that might otherwise tweak the Porssche modifications to the car? I know it isn't very likely, but it seems like such an obvious area to beef up when Porsche modified the car, I couldn't help wondering if there was a reason for not doing it.

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

The cost to replace a bracket is low cost compared to other things that POP in the night. You are speaking of the front brackets, correct, as on a 201 or 124 chassis? To make your own from 'stronger' steel or reinforce them would be difficult. First, they are made to flex with the suspension movement and second, they are made of spring steel to do so correctly. Take a close look at the design.

Tobias MB
4 MBs

Scott,
You may wish to contact Delsing Motorsport. They should be able to make what you are asking for.
http://www.delsingmotorsport.com/

Good luck!

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial or other interest in Delsing, in fact, I'm not even a customer yet. I've just been eyeing some of their products!

__________________
Glen Tokuhara
Beauty & the Beast and the wagon that could!

Thank you, everyone, for your informative replies.

I will investigate this, further; moreover, I will ask AMG for their (collective) opinion, ASAP, for the sake of comparison/diversity.

Kind regards,