OEM front swaybar brackets are WEAK
 

I have a question, please:

Does ANYONE make a 440 stainless steel, titanium, or stronger set of swaybar retaining brackets for the W124 chassis?

I break one or both of mine at LEAST once a year, as the result of hard-core corner-mashing and superspeed merges, et cetera. I am running a RENNtech front swaybar, for those not familiar with my 500E setup.

The Mercedes-Benz OEM part#s for the main bracket pieces (I am not referring to the rubber bushing) are as follows:

124-323-05-25
124-323-05-26

Any help/advice would be most appreciated. If no one knows,
perhaps I will have a kit made at my local machine-shop.

Scott,
Try either Delsing (http://www.delsingmotorsport.com/) or MRP (http://www.mrp-engineering.com/pages/4/index.htm)

Both are small businesses and make parts for the 190E but I believe the swaybar mounts are the same...but you should probably verify! ;)

thank you, Glen
 

I will contact both companies, today.

:)

scott
 

I am getting the sway bar brackets from MRP engineering for my 190E 2.6 5-SPEED aka WHITE LIGHTNING !!!! . I have seen their products and the quality is top notch :D I would think it could easily be modded ta fit your SILVER BULLET ;)

I've had the same experiences with my 500e & RennTech front bar.
I now make it a habit of checking the brackets at every oil change interval, although I will eventually make some HD units,,,,,like the Delsing ones on my 190 racecar.

This is not a problem only on the 500e through. I have seen many a broken swaybar bracket on most 124 chassis cars.


The Delsing units are two (actually three pieces) one steel and two aluminum. They are beefier than stock,,,,(but I've heard of them breaking too if you are hard enough on the car)

In my opinion, something has to give in the suspension, or you will bend something. I would rather those break because they are cheap, than something more expensive. What do you think scott?

Austin
 

I would rather shore up all loose ends and minimize/eliminate points of failure than agree upon an "acceptible" margin of error. This is analogous to an "acceptable casualty rate" in combat/training/daily driving. "Anticipated" and "probable" are not synonymous with "planned."

Perhaps it would be wise to deploy polyurethane bushings, in addition to stronger brackets/mounting hardware.

I wonder if anyone makes front shock bushings in polyurethane (as used in skateboard truck grommets) - instead of OEM (Turkish?/German?) rubber.

I have to wonder to myself if some/most of these kinds/types of problems are, in fact, carefully planned variables of obsolescence - enabling Mercedes-Benz (and ALL automobile manufacturers, for that matter) to exact years of iterative, scheduled service from its customers - or if technology truly has yet to be perfected to the degreee that parts can be manufactured which will survive the test of time...

If you want a car that doesnt break, you should get a w123 like me.

But if you cant find some stronger brackets, I would be willing to make some if we could get enough people. I have been thinking about it already. I have made brackets to drop the sway bar down more already, but I havent made stiffer brackets yet.

Scott - it's not planned obsolescence, it's an engineering compromise between max performance and comfort. Denser bushings will improve wear and handling, but transmit more vibration and shock. But you know that...

Mark
 

Yes, but I LOVE to feel the ride/the bass... it makes me feel ALIVE!!!

I really look forward to seeing your beast!

Come to think of it, I put high-performance sway bars on my Tahoe and the new brackets and bushings have grease fittings in them. I wonder if lubing the sway bar bushings regularly would extend the brackets' life? My wife's 300TE likes to have its sway bar bushings lubed to get rid of a creaking noise in the front end.

exhibit "A" = OEM POS
 

for your review...

Re: OEM front swaybar brackets are WEAK
 

<grin> Somehow I just knew that when the question got asked about fabricating titanium brackets, Scott had to be in back of it.

Actually, titanium has gotten quite cheap recently (lots of Russian metal, that had previously gone into the USSR strategic reserve for making submarine hulls and the like, is now on the world market).

Finding someone who can machine it competently, well, that might be tough.

Stainless would probably just stretch under a serious load. I always handle stainless bolts carefully after having learned how easily their threads will gall.

Perhaps the simplest request to put to your machinist would be to ask for a clone of the factory part, but simply in a heavier gauge of a standard automotive steel. Or perhaps 6061 aluminum?

As far as the bushings themselves go, I agree with your polyurethane idea. I just installed urethane bushings underneath the Acura, and they are a sweet piece of work. The car feels vastly more dialled-in and taut. Plus, they are not going to wear out before all of the rest of the car does. Ozone resistant, brake heat resistant, immune to fuels and oils, what's not to like?

Well, for one thing, the fact that you can't get them for most Mercedes applications. The biggest users of urethane seem to be off-roaders and rice racers. Unfortunate, really. Urethane is phenomenally good stuff. Which is why no one will ever routinely install it from the factory!

s/b

Think about it, rubber wears out, dealer makes money reinstalling all rubber...

I think the OEM's like rubber because above all else, it is "quiet".

Usually, the harder you bush something, the more roadnoise it will transmit.

If you drive a hot streetcar with poly bushings & a couple of heims here & there, it is noticably noisier than a stock production car......

......now hop out of that and into a racecar with heims everywhere & solid alum bushings, etc & it is like riding in a coffee can full of loose bolts!