Mattman, the accumulators do play into the ride height, in that they keep the correct pressure/fluid in each rear shock. There is a level controller attached to the rear sway bar, that senses when the backend has been pushed down. When these accumulators lose pressure the ride becomes both bouncing and hard. Half of the accumulator has fluid the other side has nitrogen gas. When the gas leaks past the internal seal, the hyd. fluid fills in the other half of the accumulator. At least on the TDs the cells are about the size of a softball.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member