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  #1  
Old 02-10-2006, 12:08 AM
Surf-n-Turf
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1989 420SEL ride height?

Just spent $1100. today on new tires, shocks, and alignment on my 420SEL. It still seems to be riding low. I had stock 205/65/15 tires put on. I passed another 420 on my way home and it seemed to be 2-3 inches taller. Does anybody out there know what height it should be say from the ground to the wheel wells or bumpers? Don't know if I should replace springs as well. Thanks.

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Old 02-10-2006, 12:22 AM
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Do you have any photographs of the car that we can view to see the height? Most I have seen ride a little lower in the back anyway. How does it ride now?
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Old 02-10-2006, 12:27 AM
Surf-n-Turf
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Rides fairly decent. Actually rides level, just low. Will post a pic here shortly.
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Old 02-10-2006, 12:39 AM
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It's 12:40am. Not very good light.1989 420SEL ride height?-420-night.jpg
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  #5  
Old 02-10-2006, 02:53 AM
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It looks like your rear is too low.

It is not unsual for 126 cars to need replacement of rear springs.

The front looks too high.

The proper attitude is for the rear (car with full tank of fuel and no passengers or luggage) to be slightly higher than the front, as veiwed from the side.

My old 82 300SD was what I called an "ass sitter" and absolutely needed the rear springs replaced. Afterwards the car felt transformed.

There was recently a thread all about this. Use the search feature. Try using my user name and ass sitter.

Haasman
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  #6  
Old 02-10-2006, 03:44 AM
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what kind of shocks

did you install?

tom w
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Old 02-10-2006, 03:47 AM
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Bilstein.

I always only install Bilsteins. Bilstein HDs are my preference.

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  #8  
Old 02-10-2006, 08:40 AM
t walgamuth's Avatar
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it really

doesnt look all that low to me.

could be the angle of the pic but the tires look kindof small in diameter to me.
which would make it sit low, too if they are.

tom w
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Old 02-11-2006, 12:50 AM
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It appears fine to me as well.

The tires do seem to appear to be to small. Are they the correct size? Perhaps that is why it looks differently? Really though, it looks fine to me. Nice car BTW !!
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  #10  
Old 02-11-2006, 02:01 AM
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It looks fine. Looking from the picture, your car sit on an incline so that's why it looks a little weird. But from looking at the gap between the tire and the arch. they apprear to be fine.
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Old 02-11-2006, 01:16 PM
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Judgeing by the gaps between the fenders and tires it looks fine. A few things can cause the suspension of a W126 to sag:
Tired springs.
Tired bushings.
Tired shocks.

Since you already replaced the shocks how picky are you? You could replace the rear sway bar bushings, diff mount, and swap in a set of OE springs. This may help.
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  #12  
Old 02-11-2006, 01:44 PM
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I wanted the rear of my sdl to sag less when loaded w/ extra fuel so I got
1)hd springs....no gain in height, just less loss of height w/ load.
2)hd bilstein shocks...about 1/4" gain measured at bumper.
3) 19 mm (thickest) spacer...gained 1 3/4"


then much later I replaced subframe bushings and gained another 1 3/4 inch....I had to remove the 3 nub spacer w/ the 1 nub.



does yours have sls?
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  #13  
Old 02-11-2006, 04:29 PM
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I went through all those issues with the '86 SDL. Spent quite a bit of time documenting all the heights of the fenderwells.

Check out this thread:

rear suspension ride height


I'm going to take a guess and say that the fenderwell height in your photo is about 24.75". This is not normal. You will find that the vehicle has far too much negative camber at this ride height. The proper height so that the camber is in range is about 25.75" to 26.50".

Mine had the exact same ride height and I certainly didn't like the look of it.

And, as an aside, putting OE springs in it or changing the swaybar bushings won't do anything to improve the height.

You can PM me for any additional questions that you may have.
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  #14  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:50 PM
Surf-n-Turf
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Brian, Brian, Brian. Sorry my man but it seems that you need to get your eyes recalibrated. Just jokin' it's actually 25.25". Not bad for looking at a photo of a car, in the dark, on a slant, taken by a slight to moderate drunk at 12:40 AM. Next step will be springs. Now it's stuttering on takeoff likes it's missing. NEXT ISSUE.
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  #15  
Old 02-13-2006, 06:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Surf-n-Turf
Brian, Brian, Brian. Sorry my man but it seems that you need to get your eyes recalibrated. Just jokin' it's actually 25.25". Not bad for looking at a photo of a car, in the dark, on a slant, taken by a slight to moderate drunk at 12:40 AM. Next step will be springs. Now it's stuttering on takeoff likes it's missing. NEXT ISSUE.
LOL, not bad for a blind man................

Can't help you on the stuttering.........don't know jack about the gassers.

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