Air suspension connection 300SEL

[Tony H]

I am designing the air bag mounts for my front suspension and want to duplicate the 300SEL air line routing if possible. does any one have detailed pictures of how the air line exits the bellows? I have seen pictures of the bellows and air line but not on the car.
Thanks

[Tony H]

Got it figured out. it exits in the area under the upper suspension stops. I will post some pics. Still would not mind some pics of the routing as it is near moving suspension parts.

[Idle]

I took one of these apart once. I needed the steel pipes to replace some that had rusted through on a 6.3.

Some of these were very short in length and would be impossible to bend, at least for me, unless I had a pattern.

I remember thinking if I ever had to do this and didn't have a donor car I would have some steel braded hoses made up that were the same length as the rusted out steel ones. Yeah, they would not be original, but they would likely last better than the ones the car came with.

But before I would do this I would need to know the working pressure of the system. I don't.

Can anyone answer that question?

[Tony H]

Good idea with the braided hoses where they might get rubbed by moving parts. Then transition to the air brake tubing. The goal would be to have no interference to start with but the tubing will be very close to the upper control arms.

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by Idle

But before I would do this I would need to know the working pressure of the system. I don't.

Can anyone answer that question?

I think it's 150 psi.

[Tony H]

I got my front mounts built. I will take some pics soon.

[Tony H]

here's a few pics. I used 5" OD tubing so the mount would fit snugly in the spring pocket. I welded some bolts on to keep the mount from shifting/rattling and to give the tubing a solid base. The washers create a 3 point mounting surface so the mount does not rock. I located the bag to the outside as far as possible by offsetting the mount and mounting pad on the control arm. I am going to sleeve the air line with transmission cooler tubing to protect it where it comes out of the mount and under the control arm.

[Tony H]

A few more pics. The outer washer is notched so the tube is slightly canted to the outside.

[Tony H]

It's been sitting on the bags for a week now without going down after fixing a few leaks in the fittings. Goal is to get it on it's wheels so I can load it on a trailer.
I'm just using air valves for now-no management system yet.
Just pushing it up and down feels much less "springy"and bouncy-even without shocks. Front took 60pis-rear 80psi but no engine or gas in the tank.

[alabbasi]

How has this project come along? I'm wondering if there's an aftermarket solution for my W109 which needs all new airbags.

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by alabbasi

How has this project come along? I'm wondering if there's an aftermarket solution for my W109 which needs all new airbags.

Airbags are the cheapest part of fixing your air suspension. If you need new airbags just buy them and install them.

[alabbasi]

Originally Posted by ScooterABC

Airbags are the cheapest part of fixing your air suspension. If you need new airbags just buy them and install them.

Yeah I don't want to throw money at factory airbags right now. I have other things that I'd like to tackle first.

[Tony H]

Still here. Have not made any progress due to multiple moves but finally have a shop in the making. The bag solution I used would work just fine for a 109 as far as the bags are concerned-especially since I used 109 front lower control arms. The rears are very straight forward. Here are the bags I used:https://www.ebay.com/itm/204296277688?itmmeta=01HQSPY7ANS1E9NKH63C5M8CCN&hash=item2f9101ceb8:g:2dEAAOSwxRVkrcdZ&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwNe5LFMz17g7aNAuyzKJu525y%2B8nELXv4tuB4cyildtJ1%2F4mmb7HLaGNd3yIhpFuXOxUXEGPCw% 2BmyR5SAU50Xn1jSQ%2Fdn9Qi6cZ3YZfcM9hf%2BGYV95wmReMVRS8bPFJJWS5quPesxdFqqwmbmmn44Xj9zJaw%2FSF8E7Wg73K CMT6mMHBpVBagqc5W7ytvIx6hHjzVpSBwXaYRXhMHvQYcTfnVfhRvq7a4I%2FXNlnjIZwuhMMbAJBOkkFaboBYg%2BMQbuQ%3D%3 D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7z1-La-Yw

[alabbasi]

Thank you. Fantastic work

[cth350]

It's the control valves, not the bags that will cost you. New bags from the classic center aren't much more than 2x the cost of those aftermarket ones.

I have a set of new ones for my 6.3, which has been resting for 10 years. One of these days, bags and car will be at the same place at the same time.

-CTH