Can anyone enlighten me on springs:

I believe Lemforder is OEM supplier for springs for the Mercedes 123. Am I correct?

Can anyone tell me if rear springs are interchangeable on Turbo and non-Turbo models of 300D?

The reason I am asking is because rear spring prices vary from $50-$125.

I would like to use the 123 324 36 04 - rear spring for the 123.133 model on my 123.130 because I can get those for $50 each as opposed to the 123 324 35 04 which are specified for 123.130 bodies (at $125 each).

Some shops sell the 123 324 36 04 for all diesels '78-'85. Does anyone have experience with this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

__________________
'06 E320 CDI 51K miles
'02 VW Jetta GLS TDi 120k miles
'99 Ford E350 7.3L Powerstroke 200k miles -sold
'84 Euro 300D 5 spd manual 317k miles - sold

MB makes their own springs! MANY folks like Lemfoerdor sell re-packaged OE parts!
The W123.133 springs will work just fine!! ALWAYS be very careful working with SPRINGS!!

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MBDOC,

Thanks for the reply. After a little further digging in the CD-ROm, I found the test values for all the different springs. Specs are as follows:

As specified for 123.130

Spring Part#: 123 324 35 04
Spring Travel/1000N load: 17.9
Wire dia: 15.2
Unload Length: 369

As specified for 123.133

Spring Part #: 123 324 36 04
Spring Travel/1000N load: 19.1
Wire dia: 16
Unload Length: 371

Looks like I will be getting 1.2 mm travel per 1000 Newtons of force (224 lbf). If the rear of the car weighs 1000 lbs, that's roughly 5mm lower, but the spring is 2mm longer. So, overall I would be lower by 3mm ( 0.118 inches) I estimate this can be compensated for with shims?

I assume the wire diameter and the longer unloaded length won't cause any installation problems?

Was the Turbodiesel lighter in the rear by chance?

Does anyone know where I can get the specs for Lemforder springs?

Thanks,[CODE]

__________________
'06 E320 CDI 51K miles
'02 VW Jetta GLS TDi 120k miles
'99 Ford E350 7.3L Powerstroke 200k miles -sold
'84 Euro 300D 5 spd manual 317k miles - sold

Well, I had the new springs installed and I have a problem. The front end is way too high and the shocks are against their upper limits. My front end looks like a 4x4. My mechanic ordered a set because we thought there was a mixup. His springs did the same thing.
It turns out, we both ordered 123 321 36 04 springs (Lemforder equivalent) which should work on 123.130 and 123.133 models (I have a 123.130 Euro spec car). It turns out we also ordered our springs from the same shop that Fastlane uses.

All three sets of front springs (original + 2 sets of new) are the same height (within 0.5inches) and have the same wire diameter.

Has anyone out there had problems with front springs on the W123 being the wrong compression factor?

I should also mention that I chose 123 324 36 04 springs for the rear because they were more than 60% cheaper. MB officially calls for 123 324 35 04 for the rear. I doubt the spring mismatch would cause the front end to be so high, but I am open to any comments. HELP!

Thanks in advance,

__________________
'06 E320 CDI 51K miles
'02 VW Jetta GLS TDi 120k miles
'99 Ford E350 7.3L Powerstroke 200k miles -sold
'84 Euro 300D 5 spd manual 317k miles - sold