W124 AMG suspension upgrade - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dieseldiehard · #31 09-20-2007, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsxr

LOL!

(cut) I have 400E Sportline springs on the front of my 300D... the tallest 6-cyl springs were still a tad too low. The V8 springs are just right. If the AMG springs were for 4-cyl models, the 6-cyl car would be slammed in the weeds and be sitting on the suspension stops all the time - it would look cool, but be horrible on the street. On a 1987 300D, you might as well start buying radiators by the dozen - the lower brace will kiss every curb and push it into the fan.

Second dibs if Eliot also dies in a bizarre accident, btw...

With some of the high curbs I've seen you can crash the lower radiator brace on the stock chassis! My blue '87 needed that from the start, as I was trying to install a new radiator I found it wouldn't fit because the PO had kissed a high curb. A friend called his buddy over with a Ox/Acet torch and he went to straighten it out and noticed it was loose at one side. It turned out the support bar part was not the original (it still had the MB tag on it

) so it had been replaced before and they didn't weld it back good initially. Then the PO hit another curb or something and bent the replacement brace duh!

And am I being stupid for planning to stick an intercooler under the license plate?

greasybenz · #32 09-20-2007, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

Ruben, here's one to make to want to put that exhaust in yours (just when are you going to roll the fenders?)
Zack- It does handle well now. I had the experience of riding in it before, when the rear suspension was about to fall out from under it

Its more like a roller skate now!
Reid

Thats exactly how im going to install my muffler! Im just going to have to save up im a little down on cash after all these repairs and still have to get the alignment done, its starting to pull to the left on the freeway.

greasybenz · #33 09-20-2007, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dieseldiehard

And am I being stupid for planning to stick an intercooler under the license plate?

Casey seems to be ok with his intercooler under the license plate.

But once i get to tuning the 603 i think im going to give up (my working) a/c and fit an intercooler behind the hood grill.

dieseldiehard · #34 09-20-2007, 07:11 PM

Yup, I've drooled over Casey's install before and will probably wind up with a similar looking car when I'm done. I've worked out the crossover and you need to route the cool air up to the L side of the intalke manifold where a large hole has to be cut in the intake manifold

Down low and out front like that is the best place for it. I currently have the AC condensor out and its inviting to try and fit the intercooler in there but I know that would then become a permanent location for it. I want to restore the AC someday, when I get the cash!

Down low under the bumper is a good place for the intercooler but man those high curbs can sure be a hazard and I'll never let my wife to drive the blue bomb if I put in that intercooler I showed you.

gsxr · #35 09-20-2007, 08:50 PM

My solution: Back into parking spaces.

Seriously, I do that quite a bit. I am also very, VERY careful when parking (forward) against any curb. I usually leave a good amount of space just in case.

I ordered an AMG Gen2 bumper (it's at the dealer, waiting for me to pick it up next week) which will hide the front mount intercooler, and also provide additional incentive to NOT kiss any curbs with the very $$$$ expen$ive $$$$ AMG bling in$talled up front. This also means I probably wouldn't let anyone else (besides my wife) drive the car, though....

gsxr · #36 09-20-2007, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by need2speed

Hey Dave, what did you manage to adjust the rear camber to? Was it within factory specs? If not, would a combination of the camber arms and K-Mac kit to the job? Cheers,

Hi Dean,

First, I got the ride height set where I wanted it, since that will affect the camber. Then, I asked the dealership to set the rear camber to -1.0°, with a half tank of fuel. Factory spec actually allows for more negative camber, but this wears the inside of the rear tires, especially if you have larger/wider rear tyres (it's worse on the 124.036 since we can stuff 285's back there.) So far, the -1.0 seems to be working great.

The K-Mac kit without the tie rods installed will get you to about -1.5°, while still staying within the limits of the specs for toe (with stock tie rods). With the K-Mac tie rod bushings also installed (these come as part of the kit, but it's more work) you can get to -1.0, or possibly less (maybe -0.5° ??).

I would not recommend the "heim joint" type of rear camber arms. If you use adjustable rear camber arms, get the type with the rubber bushings. I still prefer the K-Mac, even though it's a little squeaky on my one car (need to see if I can cure that with some extra lube).

EliotW · #37 09-24-2007, 12:48 AM

Squeeky? Mine as well... I was wondering what the hell was causing that.

Quote:

need to see if I can cure that with some extra lube

Anything special you were considering?

Quote:

My solution: Back into parking spaces. Seriously, I do that quite a bit. I am also very, VERY careful when parking (forward) against any curb. I usually leave a good amount of space just in case.

I really need to start doing that as well. I hate that lurch before the car catches itself in park. Likewise I have super chargering plans sketched out (although honestly not this year or the next) but which vehicle are you working on?

gsxr · #38 09-24-2007, 11:40 AM

I'm not sure which item is squeaking (LCA bushing or tie rod bushing), so I want to see if I can find that out first. But I'm not sure what lube to use. I would like to use the white grease that K-Mac supplies but I don't know how to add more without disassembling everything.

My E500 has the K-Mac LCA only (no tie rod bushing) and doesn't squeak.

My 1987 300D has the full K-Mac kit and does squeak. This is the car that will eventually be getting the AMG body kit installed, and hopefully a front mount intercooler as well. It's already got 500E brakes, seats, and a combo of Sportline and 500E suspension (basically the full Sportline package including steering box, but with 500E struts and rear sway bar, and the "limo" front sway bar. Oh, and a limited-slip diff too.)

EliotW · #39 09-24-2007, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsxr

Oh, and a limited-slip diff too.

That should be a lot of fun to drive albiet slightly absurd

what with the diesel engine. Share some pics when you get them!

greasybenz · #40 09-25-2007, 05:32 AM

Ive started noticing squeaks in the rear end on my 300D. My assumption is the rear adjustable camber arm that were installed. It looks like its lost its lubrication grease (maybe driving through the rain removed it?) so im going to try and re-lube them to see if it fixes the squeak.

Not sure if there is any relavance between my 300D and yours dave? especially since you have kmac bushings and i have adjustable camber arms.

gsxr · #41 09-25-2007, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EliotW

That should be a lot of fun to drive albiet slightly absurd

what with the diesel engine. Share some pics when you get them!

Actually, I think all Mercedes should have had LSD's. Both my diesel, and my old 300E, would spin the inside rear tire way too easily on wet or dirty pavement. Just trying to pull out on to a main road from a side road, in traffic, could be a real nuisance. With an open diff, the inside tire spins, and the car doesn't go anywhere. With LSD, even if the inside tire spins a little, the outside tire still moves the car - BIG improvement. Well worth the effort, IMO... wish I had done this a long time ago. My new 2.5T has ASD, which is basically LSD plus hydraulics to lock 100% when the computer senses wheelspin below 20mph.

Anyway, my stock diff started to develop some gear whine, so it needed to be replaced anyway. I decided to attempt LSD while I was replacing it. I basically took an ASD diff and converted it to LSD. Some photos are here - it's the 185mm diff. I'm working on the 210mm as well, for the E500, but that's not likely to be completed before next spring...

EliotW · #42 09-25-2007, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsxr

Actually, I think all Mercedes should have had LSD's. Both my diesel, and my old 300E, would spin the inside rear tire way too easily on wet or dirty pavement. Just trying to pull out on to a main road from a side road, in traffic, could be a real nuisance.

To the best of my knowledge I've never driven a sedan with a LSD so I suspect I'm just use to it. The V8 slips an awful lot though.

I've never taken a differential apart before. Swapped one and changed the oil but disassembling never. From your photos they don't look too complex mechanically... what sort of skill and time did the conversion require? Were you just transferring the gearing from the ASD diff into your 185 diff?

gsxr · #43 09-25-2007, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EliotW

I've never taken a differential apart before. Swapped one and changed the oil but disassembling never. From your photos they don't look too complex mechanically... what sort of skill and time did the conversion require? Were you just transferring the gearing from the ASD diff into your 185 diff?

Differential work is NOT simple, despite the fact that the mechanicals appear that way. The basic reason is that everything has insanely close tolerances, and a number of $pecial tool$ are needed to do any serious diff work. You don't want to mess with gearing if possible. You want to get the housing that fits your car, with the gearset you need already installed. Then swap the input & output flanges and rear cover (as necessary), and pop that into your car. That's what I did, which was not terribly hard.

The hard part was rebuilding the LSD itself, as the factory manual is pretty cryptic and leaves out a lot that I had to learn the hard way. With a diff out of the car, I could probably do it again in under 10 hours, if I had all the parts.

If you swap ring gear carriers, you need to adjust the gear backlash afterwards (special tools required) - but any decent rear end shop should be able to do this for you. Swapping gearsets is a whole 'nuther story - I would avoid this like the plague. You don't want to touch the pinion at all. Even messing with the input flange (which I had to do) is skating on thin ice - if the torque isn't set properly (special N-cm rotational friction gauge required), the diff can fail. I got lucky and it worked OK, but I was sweating bullets until I got it in the car and it actually worked. I was able to borrow the tool, but I was still nervous, because the nut didn't go back to the original position like other people said it should. (!!)

I still need to post a write-up on the whole project - haven't had time, d'oh.

EliotW · #44 09-25-2007, 08:15 PM

That simplifies things greatly

I'll ask around about specialty shops. I do have a 2.82 from Potomac German in my closet right now... If I was to troll ebay which differentials could I use for donors?

gsxr · #45 09-26-2007, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EliotW

That simplifies things greatly

I'll ask around about specialty shops. I do have a 2.82 from Potomac German in my closet right now... If I was to troll ebay which differentials could I use for donors?

You are talking about a 1994 E420, correct? If so, you need a 210mm diff. If your car does not have ASR, there is one possible solution that might be relatively easy/cheap (serious DIY - similar to my project, but possibly easier? Not sure.) If your car does have ASR... well, you'll need to swap carriers and have a rear-end shop set backlash, but it's still doable. Shoot me an email and we can discuss it in more detail offline... don't want to hijack this thread too much, lol.

BTW, more info on the diff compatibility is in this spreadsheet (PDF file).

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