Which springs are best? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #16 05-08-2010, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Army

So you think they "seldom wear out"? That's interesting - here in Holland there is a cottage industry of W123 rear spring suppliers that say they DO wear out and that is the reason why so many older Mercedes have saggy rear ends. They are also quite keen on selling "help springs" here - these are dodgy looking things you attach to the side of the existing suspension in some way or other. (I considered that to be an undesirable solution)

Having taken the whole suspension apart I can see that a saggy rear end is also dependent on the sub frame bushings, trailing arm bushings and the rear differential mount...

Just speaking from my own experience. I've had about 20 some 123s with nary a saggy spring. I had a saggy spring on a 114 240d once though. That car had a 20 gallon auxiliary tank in the trunk though.

None of my cars had over 340K on them though, I suppose if someone has a car with 700K on it it could be a different story.

t walgamuth · #17 05-08-2010, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winmutt

Not entirely true.

How many nubs were on the rubber spacer? 1 2 or 3?

I've never seen or heard of progressives from the factory on a 123. You gonna share your wisdom with us?

juanesoto · #18 05-08-2010, 08:19 PM

Army, some time ago I did an extensive research about OEM springs for the W123. You can read the thread in this link.

The conclusion was that all W126 rear springs can be used in the W123 without any fitting issues. The front springs might fit, depending on the coil wire diameter. The ones I got didn't fit because of this. The wire was about 3 mm thicker, which made the springs not fit properly in the seat.

Good luck with your research!

Stretch · #19 05-09-2010, 08:21 AM

Wow great link - I can't believe I missed this one in my original search. Thank you very much.

winmutt · #20 05-10-2010, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I've never seen or heard of progressives from the factory on a 123. You gonna share your wisdom with us?

My old euro 300d (possibly taxi) had them. Came stock on some? all? 300CE.

t walgamuth · #21 05-10-2010, 05:09 PM

You know that they came from the factory on your car?

winmutt · #22 05-10-2010, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

You know that they came from the factory on your car?

No. My car was not assembled in a factory is was a crate delivery. But yes as far as I know when it was assembled they were on there.

franklynb · #23 05-11-2010, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I've never seen or heard of progressives from the factory on a 123. You gonna share your wisdom with us?

Stock W123 progressive, taken off my 1981 300TD rear,
on the right:

The measurements exactly match an entry in the table in the
field service manual. I have no reason to think they're not OEM.

Stretch · #24 05-13-2010, 01:09 PM

Well here's a sort of update with a little bit of information that might be of use to others...

I've tried to get some replacement springs. I tried two different places in Germany (on the internet) who say everything is in stock and ready to go - only to be told they can't deliver what they are advertising... so I've decided to clean up the old ones and if necessary fiddle about with the rubber spacers (1 knob, 2 knobs, 3 knobs, 4, day light come and I wanna go home).

Whilst shot blasting and sanding the old springs I found the following part number that may be of use to others:-

115 324 34 04

(This doesn't get any hits on any of my usual parts finding sites so I'll speak to the MB dealer to see if there is an equivalent number - which could be the number I've already given above in my first post - but who knows?)

juanesoto · #25 05-13-2010, 03:38 PM

Before you call the dealer, check the last chart I posted in the link I provided previously. Look for you spring in the chart and get the "travel per 1000N" and the "spring length".

With that info, you can look for a close match in the same chart. For example, spring 123 324 35 04 is the same length but a bit stiffer, which means it will work nicely in your application.

Stretch · #26 05-14-2010, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juanesoto

Before you call the dealer, check the last chart I posted in the link I provided previously. Look for you spring in the chart and get the "travel per 1000N" and the "spring length".

With that info, you can look for a close match in the same chart. For example, spring 123 324 35 04 is the same length but a bit stiffer, which means it will work nicely in your application.

Hi juanesoto,

Thanks again for the input - I see now why the dealer told me I needed that number (I'd called him before starting this thread)... great bit of information.