220SEb 111 Chassis rear sway bar?

[Gregg Bambo Jr.]

My 1963 220 SEb needs a handling improvement. The nose tends to lean/dip too much in turns. I think it could be corrected by installing a rear sway bar which at present is absent. Has anyone made this improvement on their 111 chassis? If you did, what year/model MBZ did you salvage a rear sway bar from or did you buy one from an aftermarket supplier? If you did salvage it from another MBZ, was it a bolt on or an exercise in fabrication? I installed a rear sway bar on my old Vovlo 122 and it also quickened the steering in addition to creating flatter turns.

[kpb]

Gregg, can't help you in the least on the sway bar but, my next toy is gonna be a 122S. Shoulda NEVER gotten rid of mine. Awesome sidedraft carbs, snickety-snick gearbox with that big honkin' truck shift lever, super simple suspension adjustments, etc...

BTW, mine was white too -- a 1966 model

[wbain5280]

Only rear swaybars came on W109 and W112 air suspension cars. It is possible to adapt one but would require welding a new lower shock mount onto the rear axle tubes. If you really want better handeling, put wider tires on.

You might think about adapting a W124 300E rear suspension setup to your car. It comes as a complete assembly

[JMela]

Have you replaced the rubber bushings on your front sway bar recently? Assuming the setup is similar to the 108s', a new set of mounting bushings and lateral stacked bushings could make a big difference.

Here's a rear swaybar for the 109-series, might be adaptable...

http://www.big-toys.net/detail.cgi29.htm

[Gregg Bambo Jr.]

JMela,
Thanks for the suggestio but Yes, the bushings on the front sway bar were replaced with modern poly within the last year. Also all the old shocks were replaced new Bilsteins.

[Gregg Bambo Jr.]

JMela,
Thanks for the suggestion but Yes, the bushings on the front sway bar were replaced with modern poly within the last year. Also all the old shocks were replaced new Bilsteins.

[wbain5280]

OK Greg

You need to look at www.300sel.com, and they really jazzed up the site now.

W109 parts table

http://www.300sel.com/index-4.html

Actual pages...

http://www.300sel.com/ppb/32.htm

The second panel shows the rear sway bar and the mounts. You need to check out a 6.3 to see how the rear bar is mounted. The compensating spring would need to be removed as the air suspension cars don't have one.

[JMela]

Another possible solution might be new or aftermarket springs. Pricey, sure, but I was thinking this over...

http://www.slmarket.com/springs.htm

There's a bit of commentary on these particular springs over at:

http://www.sl113.org/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

[FMM]

I did this modification on a car several years ago. I had a 220SE coupe with a Ford V8 that I was trying to keep it on the ground with the tires then available.

The mod isn't that hard to do. I used rear bar, shock mounts and links from a 300SE. I cut off the existing shock mounts from the axle, made plates to match the 300 shock mounts, and welded these on the axle tubes. The existing shocks work fine. Also had to make attachment points for the links, and weld these to the body. You have to leave the compensating spring on, it's needed for correct ride height.

Unfortunately, while the cornering power increased, the car was very 'twitchy'. As the body rolled into a curve, at some point it crossed a threshold and transitioned into a fairly abrupt oversteer. It made it uncomfortable to drive. I only had it this way a few months, eventually took out the Ford, and put in a 6.3 with it's air suspension. Maybe a little more suspension tuning would have helped.

Fred

[Q45Denver]

http://www.coxracingroup.com/projects3.html

[wbain5280]

I forgot about the ride height aspect of the compensating spring. Silly me. BUT, the poly bushing would be a great addition.

[Tony H]

I'm rebuilding my front end and using Poly bushings from Cox racing. Will be curious to see what difference they make. I bought a rear sway bar from a 109 to install on my coupe. I discussed it with Andrew Cox of Cox racing because he made the same mod on his fabulous coupe. He said he removed the rear compensator from his car. He didn't mention what that did to ride height. I would think the compensator would have to be removed to obtain the desired handling improvement since the 109's don't have the compensator and the combination of the sway bar and the compensator may produce undesired results. Will find out when I get that far.
I did install 16X8 wheels with 225/55/60 tires on my coupe. That mod produced an incredible improvement in cornering and stability.
Tony

[wbain5280]

Tony, what wheels did you buy and do you have some pics? I'm buying a W111 220S and it'll need some 'improvements'.

[Tony H]

Warren,
If you still desire info email me @ AGH3@PGE.COM

Tony