Rough ride

Other than shocks, what would make a car ride rough. Maybe because my other car is a Jaguar, which is very smooth, my 73 450sl seems to ride rather bumpy. It's got Bilstein HD shocks, which appear to be the right application. It's only got 112,000 miles, so I can't imagine the springs are bad. Some people have said to use Boge, and others have said not to. I also understand there is no Bilstein Comfort shock for the 107 sl. When I have the tires pressured up to the right pressures, and the road isn't smooth, it can be a bumpy ride. Other than that, though, the suspension is great. The car corners flatter than any car I've ever had.

[pmizell]

If your SL doesn't seem to absorb those little bumps like it used to or if you hear "clunks" in the suspension when hitting bumps then you probably should try to change as much rubber suspension bushings as you can.

Brittle rubber does not make for good road absorption. I have no idea what type of suspension you have in your '73 SL but I would begin by changing the front sway bar bushings. These bushings absord alot of the little bumps that the shocks and struts can't compensate for.

Good luck!

~Paul

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'91 300E, 207k miles

pmizell, thanks for the reply. I actually have had most of the rubber changed already. It's hard for me to compare the ride to anything, since the shocks were really badly worn when I got the car, and one of the first things I did was to replace the shocks. There are no clunks, just a rough ride over bad road.

[Mark Herzig]

i think it't the nature of the beast. I recently put bilstein's and new springs on the rear. I've had all suspension work done. Over rough roads, it's kinda embarassing. On smooth roads and freeway driving, it's a dream. On rough roads, there are a lot of rattles and moans and groans.

When I was shopping for a good example of the 450, this seemed to be a characteristic.. If there's something I'm missing, I'm all ears!