Precisely:

Mine sits up like a dome; not down like a bowl, which is what you're saying. Don't you think my installation is incorrect? And that, as a result, the compression down on the rubber bushings is not tight enough?

Try it . But i don`t think its the shocks. More likely the sway bar attachment or a missing bump stop.
These CD`s are great. I have a burner..........?????????

John

Guess what, guys--

unless Bilsteins have changed in recent years, I've got no plastic sleeves above the main schock body - so about 6 inches of the upper metal shaft shows through. And according to John's shock diagram, there's supposed to be a rubber auxiliary spring within that plastic sleeve. I've got none of these, and two upper mounting plates that apparently were reversed (convex, not concave) in installation. I can't believe it. What should I do?

Where the heck is a bump-stop?

I`d go back to them and have them do it right.
A bump stop is a piece of rubber attached to the frame that stops the suspension travel.It can be mounted on an A-arm but usually it`s on the frame.If it`s missing the wheel can move up or down more than it was designed to

John

Robert,

I don't know if there are other bump stops, but there should be a metal upsidedown U welded to the fenderwell preventing the upper control arm from dropping below a certain point. One on each side, of course.

I doubt if the orientation of the washer has an effect on how much the wheel drops when you raise the car.

Something's definitely not right with your shocks. Did they do the rears, too?

Sixto
91 300SE
81 300SD

Yep-did the rears with HDs, as well. I think they're fine.

Saw the upside-down "U". This morning when I jacked up. Funny thing, looks like the wheel would never reach the U. When jacked, Upper control arm stops about 1 inch above it.

Funny. When I lowered the car, front end was higher and where I think it should be. Now, about 3 hours later, its lower again. Coould be spring strength? Could be the poor shocks installation?

That`s normal. when you jack up a car and then let it down, the weight dosen`t settle all at once. You can see another example of this, if you take a sharp turn and immediately stop the car. the weight transferes to the opposite direction of the turn. If you make a sharp turn to the right and stop the car will lean to the left. As soon as you move the it levels out. This is because the weight transfered,but by stopping the motion and energy stops and the car takes a "set".This is especialy noticable if the car is traveling down/up hill just before the turn.

John