You definitely need a spring compressor. A good one saves a lot of time. Mine hardly fitted between the spring-rows and was complicated to work with. I used "The MacStrut" ATD-7551 and they worked, but I had to take them apart and bend the parts in place. (Setting them in the middle doesn't help much - they need to be far apart.) There might be a product with a better fit, but this was all I could find.
- If there is a shop that you can take your rear's to for the spring swap, it is worth considering. Removing them off the car and mounting them is easy.
I did not change my rear springs, as I did not want to lower my car. Could not find a spring that would keep the height intact.
I'm very happy with the results of my sway bar and shock change. The ML keeps its path better on highway and reacts in city traffic with more confidence. Don't feel that I lost anything.
Have fun.
/Nimo
Quote:
Originally posted by rik320
Hi,
Reading this thread convinced me to upgrade my stock suspension to "tighten" the ride of my 98 ML320 (it has 46k miles).
I began by purchasing the Bilstein shocks from Fastlane. I couldnt believe how quick it arrived (next day) with free shipping. Now that's service!
I installed the front Bilstein shocks just as documented on this forum (took about 1.5-2 hours). My concerns are now on the rear. I am now ready to install the rear Bilstein shocks but I would also like to install new springs as well. Nimo & FastRobert noted that it's a tougher job (difficulty scale is 7 out of 10) which concerns me a bit. A couple of questions I have before I tackle the job are:
a. For the new springs, how can I tell if my ML has flat end springs or not?
b. To remove the old spring/shock, do I need to compress the spring to remove it from the car?
Thanks in advance, you guys rock!
-rik320
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