1987 300TD has excessive body roll. Mechanic says that there is nothing wrong with the car / suspension. Have a 420E that has almost no body roll when you come into a corner and expect the same with the 300TD. Is that possible and what would I need to check / replace to achieve this quality of handling? I prefer a stiffer suspension as opposed to a Mom's soft ride.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Robert

not sure about the wagons but my car has a fair amount of roll when pushing through a corner. must be all the weight transfer

i think it is normal and i have never even dreamed i could roll this car due to it's low center of gravity.

bob

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1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

Does it wallow while driving straight? if so, check your rear control arm bushings.

Well, you could upgrade the sway bars ($2-300) which would help reduce the body roll. You'll want the Sportline rear bar (17mm) or the 500E (18mm) rear bar, plus the front bar off a 93-95 300CE convertible (unless your stock front bar has the skinny little 18mm ends - then you can use the front Sportline bar and save a few bucks over the CE ragtop bar.)

But you should check other items first. How old are the shocks/struts? Are they Bilstein or some McParts brand? How are the rear subframe bushings, and rear torque arms? How are the sway bar bushings? Front ball joints? All of those items can cause wallowy handling to some extent. The rear lower "control arm" bushings rarely go bad, btw, it's the other 4 links (torque arm, camber arm, strut arm, etc) that sometimes have the rubber bushings fall apart. The torque arm in particular is really bad (if yours is original, I bet $20 that it needs replacement - see photo at URL below: )

http://www.meimann.com/images/mercedes/W124_stuff/rear_strut_arms.jpg


Anyway, you should be able to get your wagon at least equal to the E420 in terms of handling, if not better - it just depends how much $$$ you want to spend. If all else fails you can install aftermarket springs (or Sportline springs) which will definitely reduce body roll, at the expense of a soft ride. Neil V's claims his killer 1988 wagon handles better on the racetrack than his 500E (wagon photos at the URL below), and his wagon originally had the identical suspension yours does:

http://www.silcom.com/~neilv/sportline/index.htm


BTW - I have the full Sportline suspension stuff on both of my '87's. Ride is a lot firmer but boy the handling is great! The '84 feels like a leaky tuna boat by comparison.

Good luck,

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Dave
Boise, ID
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