W123 vs curb - curb won the battle - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dinman · #1 04-14-2018, 09:07 PM

As the title says- I smashed an intense curb at a pretty high rate of speed last night, only on the passenger side. I managed to drive home about 10 miles down backroads, but it was a fight with the steering wheel. I didn't feel safe getting over 20 mph. It's not driveable at all. I don't really care about my tires, they came on the car and I paid $400 for the car.

Wondering if anyone else has had a similar accident. The wheel is pulled back in the fender, rubs on the fender, and is completely off center when compared to the other side. It also does not roll uniformly- but when off the ground, the tire spins perfectly smooth (maybe the hub assembly is okay and the suspension is just so bent it's causing the wheel to roll like that?)

Pics. The coil spring is incredibly scary.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/137222699@N06/Gd5j21

https://www.flickr.com/gp/137222699@N06/222005

https://www.flickr.com/gp/137222699@N06/346ST7

I can get better pics. That's just all I have on my phone at the moment.

So- the guide rod is mangled.

The tie rods look OK.

The UCA hit the top of the fender pretty good

The LCA itself looks sort of bent- but the spring perch is.... Not looking like it can be trusted.

My car has ~300k, no rust, and none of this stuff has been replaced as far as I know.

I want to keep the car, so this is now my excuse to rebuild the ENTIRE front end.

I'm going to do:

-Both front springs
-Both front shocks
-Both front UCA's
-Both LBJs
-Both LCA bushings (probably will replace the damaged LCA from a junkyard car local to me that has a great looking front suspension)
-All steering related components (front end has always been really sloppy/noisy/boots are destroyed on tie rods)- needs to be done anyways.
-Both guide rod mounts, and obviously the bent guide rod (from aforementioned junkyard car)

Am I on the right track here? This just happened last night and I haven't really messed with this front suspension before- so other than knowing how incredibly dangerous these springs are- I'm a newbie.

I looked at the back of the guide rod mount and it looked OK. Looks like the rod took the majority of the impact.

My main concern is how in the hell am I going to safely remove that coil spring? It is so scary seeing it sit like that. I know I need the correct compressor so I don't die.

Thanks guys

BWhitmore · #2 04-14-2018, 09:15 PM

You are correct about renting, borrowing or buying the correct/quality spring compressor. W123 front springs can be a bear.

bigpanda16 · #3 04-14-2018, 09:22 PM

You're never going to get a spring compressor on one that's so wrapped up

Junkman · #4 04-14-2018, 10:46 PM

Find out whether you can tie the spring to the control arm or anything else by using a heavy tow chain. I've seen where people get by without a spring compressor by letting the lower spring perch drop and decompressing the spring. You don't want the spring to go flying into you in the process.

Consider the current situation very dangerous because of the spring tension.

Get it disassembled, make sure there is no damage to the body then decide what parts to buy.

t walgamuth · #5 04-14-2018, 10:59 PM

It sounds like a bent wheel to me.

tangofox007 · #6 04-15-2018, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

It sounds like a bent wheel to me.

Perhaps you should apply additional weight to the visual evidence.

moon161 · #7 04-15-2018, 10:51 AM

I did that too. I forget what I did about the spring, except that I definatelly didn't die. I have a borrowed scary kind of compressor (two clamps that go around the outside) I think I used that and the spring sort of came into line as I shortened it up. I may have used some heavy nylon straps to feel more comfortable about things as I worked.

t walgamuth · #8 04-15-2018, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tangofox007

Perhaps you should apply additional weight to the visual evidence.

Point taken. I had skimmed over all the links before. Just one thing popped out making me think of the bent wheel.

ROLLGUY · #9 04-15-2018, 11:26 AM

If it was mine, I would heat the spring up with a torch on a couple of the coils. That will reduce the tension so it can be removed safely. Of course you will need to replace the spring and use a quality compressor to install the new one(s).

vstech · #10 04-15-2018, 01:46 PM

I repaired a 240 that met a curb improperly.

Guide rod was bent, LCA brace was pushed in, wheel was destroyed.

Fairly easy to repair though.

I'm sure I posted the progress on here.

Possibly jaybob started the thread.

vstech · #11 04-15-2018, 01:54 PM

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/325737-1983-240d-hit-curb-suspension-damage.html

leathermang · #12 04-15-2018, 03:43 PM

FIRST you need to check to see if your FRAME is bent...
before you start putting a bunch of money into the specific items you know are bent.

The Chassis manual , which is two volumes , has all the specs to figure that out... which may require you taking it to a competent MB dealer... which has the plate to put the car over to Measure the distances to various points to check for structural stuff..
It may be so that even replacing all those things obviously bent... would not make it where you could align the car properly in the future... and we are talking front and rear wheel alignment...

torsionbar · #13 04-16-2018, 11:31 AM

I'm not familiar with the w123 suspension, but on many cars, you can unbolt the shock absorber from above, which will provide a few more inches of suspension travel and should take some of the tension out of the spring.

ROLLGUY · #14 04-16-2018, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by torsionbar

I'm not familiar with the w123 suspension, but on many cars, you can unbolt the shock absorber from above, which will provide a few more inches of suspension travel and should take some of the tension out of the spring.

With the shock removed, there is still a great amount of pressure on the spring.

dinman · #15 04-16-2018, 12:10 PM

Thank you for all the responses everyone, especially vstech for that thread. Pretty much what i did.

If only the pictures would load on that thread

There is no way for me to take the car to a dealer- my closest reputable dealer is 5 hours away.

All of the independent shops around here scoff at the idea of working on one of these.

I don't trust any of them anyways, i would have a $2-3k+ bill ran up by the time i left and a car thrown together with the cheapest parts.

I have never brought my cars in to a mechanic/dealer for anything other than alignments, tire changes, and that one time my transmission computer failed in my E63.

That is how bad the shops are around here. I feel more comfortable doing it myself, plus i get to learn more about the suspension of this car.

I am going to snap some more pictures of the damage when i get home. The one i posted does no good.

I have one stupid question to leave you guys with- So i have access to two w123 300d's (both 1983, like mine) in my local junkyard. This is incredibly rare to see. I have already snagged a lot of parts. Both have never been wrecked, i suppose they had drivetrain failures or are flood vehicles.

One has 270k on the odo and one has 160k. The parts are going to be dirt dirt dirt cheap, so i might as well grab as much as i can.

At the least, i am going to get the LCA for that side and the Guide rod. Possibly the two shocks up front because they are Bilstein and looked relatively new.

So to my dumb question- The LCA bushings look great in the lower mile car. Should i still replace them, or just slap that whole LCA in? My bushings are shot in my car

My stupid question continued- Do i set the eccentric bolt back to the way it was on the car i pulled the LCA from, or do i set the bolt like it comes out of my car? I would *think* i would set it back to the way it was coming out of the car i pulled the LCA from, but someone correct me if im wrong

Thanks